The Sidewinder is terrorizing the territory. No one knows his identity, but he’s in cahoots with the Utes and they’re marauding, burning ranches and slaying settlers.
One of those ranches is owned by Tex McCloud (Sterling Hayden), who sets out to capture the Sidewinder and even bets cavalry commander Lt. Tom Blaine (Forrest Tucker) that he’ll find the culprit first.
Hayden tracks down and catches a gunslinger named Tombstone Jack (Ian McDonald) and thinks he’s got his man.
Turns out he’s wrong.
Meanwhile, a saloon singer named Carolina (Arleen Whelan) takes a liking to Tex and wants him to help her collect a $20,000 debt from miner-businessman Lucky Lee (Victor Jory).
In order to do it, she’d like him to kidnap Lucky’s bride-to-be, Nora Logan (Barbara Rush).
Instead, Tex finds himself protecting pretty Nora, from threats of all sorts.
Sterling Hayden as Tex McCloud, on the trail of the white man who led an Indian raid that destroyed his ranch in Flaming Feather (1952)
Edgar Buchanan as Sgt. O’Rourke and Forrest Tucker as Lt. Tom Blaine, cavalrymen in a race with Tex McCloud to find the notorious Sidewinder in Flaming Feather (1952)
Review:
With characters named Tex, Lucky, Sidewinder, Tombstone Jack and Showdown Calhoun — not to mention places like Horsethief Canyon — someone in the script-writing department had spent too much time reading dime novels.
Still, Hayden delivers a more spirited performance than normal. And the presence of three female characters — there’s also an Indian girl named Turquoise vying for Lucky’s affections — presents plenty of plot complications.
Add a rousing Indian attack and a climatic scramble to the Ute’s cliff dwellings, and you have an early 1950s Western that will likely hold your interest. That cliff assault, by the way, was filmed at the Montezma Castle National Monument in Arizona.
Barbara Rush as Nora Logan, convincing Tex McCloud she might need rescuing again in Flaming Feather (1952)
Arleen Whelan as Carolina, a woman out to collect a long overdue debt in Flaming Feather (1952)
Directed by:
Ray Enright
Cast:
Sterling Hayden … Tex McCloud
Barbara Rush … Nora Logan
Arleen Whelan … Carolina
Victor Jory … Lucky Lee
Ian MacDonald … Tombstone Jack
Forrest Tucker … Lt. Tom Blaine
Edgar Buchanan … Sgt. O’Roarke
Richard Arlen … Showdown Calhoun
George Cleveland … Doc Fallon
Carol Thurston … Turquoise
Runtime: 77 min.
Victor Jory as Lucky Lee, the rich trader who plans to marry Nora Logan in Flaming Feather (1952)
Ian MacDonald as Tombstone Jack, the man Tex suspects of being the Sidewinder behind the Indian raids in Flaming Feather (1952)
Memorable lines:
Tex McCloud: “I had a nice ranch and a few head of Herefords. When the Sidewinder left, I had a heap of ashes.”
Carolina, after Tex turns down a debt collection job despite an offer of $2,000: “Most men would figure walking out of here was a mistake, mister.”
Tex: “I like making a mistake once in a while, lady.”
Lucky Lee: “Remember, there’s a big celebration tomorrow. There’s the Sidewinder’s burial at sun-up and a wedding in the afternoon. You’re invited to both celebrations.”
Tex McCloud: “Kinda hard to figure you out. first, you send Joe down to kill me, then you turn around and save my life.”
Carolina: “I was just trying to show you the kind of woman I could be.”
Richard Arlen as Showdown Calhoun, the man who protects and is in love with Carolina in Flaming Feather (1952)
Frank Lackteen as Hopi Joe, Lucky Lee’s Ute assistant in Flaming Feather (1952)
George Cleveland as Doc Fallon, a doctor by name but a jack of many trades in Flaming Feather (1952)
Nacho Galindo as Jose, the friend of Tex McCloud killed in the Indian raid on his ranch in Flaming Feather (1952)
Carol Thurston as Turquoise, the Indian girl jealous of Lucky Lee’s love for Nora Logan in Flaming Feather (1952)
Arleen Whelan as Carolina, teasing Sgt. O’Rourke (Edgar Buchanan) while Lt. Blaine (Forrest Tucker) looks on in Flaming Feather (1952)
Sterling Hayden as Tex McCloud, wondering how his stolen rifle wound up at a trading post in Flaming Feather (1952)
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