Duel at Diablo (1966)

James Garner is Jess Remsberg and he’s looking for the man who killed and scalped his Indian wife. On his way to Creel, he rescues Ellen Grange (Bibi Andersson), who’s being tracked by two Apaches.

Will Grange (Dennis Weaver) isn’t thrilled by her return. Seems the cavalry had already rescued her once; this time she was trying to return to the Apache of her own free will.

But Remsberg has more pressing worries, including a message from Lt. McAllister about the death of his wife. McAllister has the wife’s scalp in his possession. He got it from the sheriff at Concho. Remsberg vows to get even.

McAllister’s bound for Concho, too, with a troop of raw recruits, two wagons of ammunition, a freight wagon belonging to Will Grange and a former sergeant turned horse trader named Toller. Remsberg agrees to go along scout. After all, Ellen Grange has disappeared again.

With the Apache on the warpath under Chata, it promises to be a dangerous trip.

James Garner as Jess Remsberg, coming face to face with the man who once owned his wife’s scalp in Duel at Diablo (1966)

Sidney Potier as Toller, on a dangerous scouting mission at the request of Lt. McAllister in Duel at Diablo (1966)

Review:

One of the best cavalry-Indian Westerns, packed with well-filmed action scenes, a touch more violence than you’d find a decade earlier, an excellent score and a cast more than capable of pulling it all off.

Garner and Poitier, of course, scored top billing. They turn in fine performances. But equally impressive are Bill Travers in the role of the cavalry commander, Bibi Andersson as the white woman who has a special reason for wanting to rejoin the Apaches, and Dennis Weaver as the husband who can’t push the image of his wife with the Apaches out of his mind.

Director Ralph Nelson was best known for his work on TV, but would return with another, more controversial Western four years later — “Soldier Blue.” He also appears in cameo roles in both films, under the name Alf Elson.

Bibi Andersson as Ellen Grange, reacting to the screams of a man being tortured, Apache style, in Duel at Diablo (1966)

Bill Travers as Lt. Scott McAllister, wounded but still handing out orders to his men in Duel at Diablo (1966)

Directed by:
Ralph Nelson

Cast:
James Garner … Jess Remsberg
Sidney Poitier … Toller
Bibi Andersson … Ellen Grange
Dennis Weaver … Will Grange
Bill Travers … Lt. Scotty McAllister
William Redfield … Sgt. Ferguson
John Hoyt … Chata
John Crawford … Clay Dean
Ralph Nelson … Col. Foster
John Hubbard … Maj. Novac
Bill Hart … Cpl. Harrington

Runtime: 103 minutes

Dennis Weaver as Will Grange, unable to coop with his pretty wife’s time as an Apache captive and squaw in Duel at Diablo (1966)

John Hoyt as Chata, leader of the Apache band on the warpath in Duel at Diablo (1966)

Memorable lines:

Ellen Grange: “They all think any decent woman would prefer to die than live as an Apache squaw. Maybe they’re right.”
Jess Remsberg: “Death comes soon enough. Anybody hurries it is a damn fool.”

Jess Remsberg: “What’s over is done. You and your husband could go someplace where nobody knows what happened to you.”
Ellen Grange: “My husband would know.”

Ellen Grange: “You’re going to kill me.”
Chata: “No. You will be alive when I bury you in the grave of my son.”

Lt. Scotty McAllister: “You busting with things to say, too, Toller?”
Toller: “I don’t like it any more than Grange, but you’re the cockadoodledoo here, so I’m stuck. I just finished bustin’ you anotherr gut-twister. Mark it.”

Lt. McAllister: “Tell the men the water they’ve got in their canteens will have to last them until the reinforcements arrive. Any man who uses his up will just have to drink his own sweat.”

Toller to Lt. Scotty McAllister, his command pinned down by Chata: “Well, what’s next? General?”

Lt. McAllister: “Welcome to your gory bed. Or to victory.”

William Redford as Sgt. Ferguson, reviewing the sorry state of affairs with Lt. McAllister in Duel at Diablo (1966)

Bill Hart as Cpl. Harrington, one of Lt. McAllister’s most trusted cavalrymen in Duel at Diablo (1966)

John Crawford as Clay Dean, the lawman at Fort Concho who once owned the scalp that came off Jess Remsberg’s dead wife in Duel at Diablo (1966)

John Hubbard as Maj. Novac, dealing out orders about a patrol to Fort Concho in Duel at Diablo (1966)

Director Ralph Nelson as Col. Foster, leading the relief column to Diablo canyon in Duel at Diablo (1966)

Bibi Andersson as Ellen Grange, delivered back home by Jess Remsberg as the townfolks look on in Duel at Diablo (1966)

Bill Travers as Lt. Scotty McAllister, giving Toller (Sidney Potier) a word of advice about Jess Remsberg in Duel at Diablo (1966)

Dennis Weaver as Will Grange, admitting that his wife has fled again to return to the Apaches who captured her in Duel at Diablo (1966)

Sidney Potier as Toller, upset that he’ll have to break horses on a trip to Fort Concho in order to get full pay in Duel at Diablo (1966)

James Garner as Jess Remsberg, telling Ellen Grange about his Indian wife in Duel at Diablo (1966)

Bill Travers as Lt. Scotty McAllister, leading his troop into a dangerous canyon in Duel at Diablo (1966)

Dennis Weaver as Will Grange, looking on as Jess Remsberg sets out after his wife in Duel at Diablo (1966)

Bibi Andersson as Ellen Grange, holding her half-breed son, the reason she kept trying to return to the Apaches in Duel at Diablo (1966)

James Garner as Jess Remsberg, trying to shot a showdown between Toller and Will Grange in Duel at Diablo (1966)

Sidney Potier as Toller, taking command of the small force after Lt. McAllister is badly wounded in Duel at Diablo (1966)

Dennis Weaver as Will Grange, looking to defend his wagon full of supplies as the Apache prepare to attack in Duel at Diablo (1966)

Bill Travers as Lt. Scotty McAllister, on the watch for another attack by the Apaches in Duel at Diablo (1966)

James Garner as Jess Remsberg, on a desperate mission to get help for troops trapped in Diablo canyon in Duel at Diablo (1966)

Sidney Potier as Toller, freshly wounded as the Apache prepare for a final assault in Duel at Diablo (1966)

Bibi Andersson as Ellen Grange, saying a prayer as the Apache close in for a final attack in Duel at Diablo (1966)

Lt. McAllister shares plans for escaping an Apache ambush with Toller (Sidney Potier) and Jess Remsberg (James Garner) in Duel at Diablo (1966)