A former Union soldier heads West after the war with vengeance on his mind and stumbles into an unexpected situation.
During a skirmish in the war at Tennessee, a Union soldier named Johnny Tallon (Dane Clark) deserted the field rather than deliver word that the troops were about to be outflanked. A
s a result, Ben Shelby (Ben Johnson) was the lone survivor in his Arizona unit; his brother died in the fighting.
Now Shelby is after Tallon’s hide.
But when he reaches the Tallon ranch, he finds Johnny hasn’t made it back from the war yet. Instead he finds his blind brother Ned (Peter Graves) and his kindly older uncle Charlie (George Cleveland) trying to make a go of a small ranch.
Shelby takes a job on the ranch, planning to wait for Johnny’s arrival, but finds himself growing ever closer to Ned and Charlie. Ned idolizes his older brother, bragging about his heroism in the war; Charlie and Ben know better.
Not only wasn’t Johnny a hero, he’s spent his time since the war killing and looting. When they get word that Johnny’s been killed in a bank holdup in New Mexico, Shelby decides to put the old grudge behind him and become a partner in the ranch.
Then the supposedly dead Johnny shows up, planning to take his brother to San Francisco in hopes of finding a doctor who can cure his blindness.
Three things stand in his way: Shelby’s quest for revenge, a group of townsfolk with a desire to kill anyone named Tallon, and warring Navaho.
Ben Johnson as Ben Shelby, hunting down the man responsible for his brothers’ dead in Fort Defiance (1951)
Peter Graves as Ned Tallon, asking about his brother’s Civil War heroism in Fort Defiance (1951)
Review:
Ben Johnson was always better in supporting than lead roles, but this is one of the better Westerns with him as the top-billed performer thanks to the unique plot.
Ben Shelby isn’t your typical gunman with a score to settle. He’s got a soft spot for Ned Tallon, adopting him as a sort of replacement for the younger brother he lost in the war.
We also get fine performances from Clark and Graves. Tracey Roberts plays a saloon girl looking for a new start, a start she thinks she might get with Ned in spite of his blindness. She did most of her acting on TV, but had small roles in two other Westerns, “Frontier Gambler” (1956) and “Sam Whiskey” (1959).
Dane Clark as Johnny Tallon, showing why he’s so feared with a six-gun in his hand in Fort Defiance (1951)
Tracey Roberts as Julie Morse, the saloon girl forced out of town in the middle of an Indian uprising in Fort Defiance (1951)
Directed by:
John Rawlins
Cast:
Ben Johnson … Ben Shelby
Dane Clark … Johnny Tallon
Peter Graves … Ned Tallon
George Cleveland … Charlie Tallon
Tracey Roberts … Julie Morse
Craig Woods … Dave Parker
Dick Elliott … Kincaid
Ralph Sanford … Jed Brown
Iron Eyes Cody … Brave Bear
Dennis Moore … Lt. Lucas
Bryan “Slim” Hightower … Hankey
Phil Rawlins … Les
Jerry Ambler … Cheyenne
Kit Guard … Tracy
Wes Hudman … Stranger
Runtime: 81 min.
Craig Woods as Dave Parker, the man who wants all Tallons dead because of a Civil War disaster in Fort Defiance (1951)
George Cleveland as Charlie Tallon, the older man who looks after Ned (Peter Graves) while his brother is off at war in Fort Defiance (1951)
Memorable lines:
Uncle Charlie upon meeting Ben Shelby: “Look here, mister, I ain’t hostile to veterans, but the best you can get here is feed and water for your horse and a hunk of bacon for the trail. And don’t let any or our herd attach themselves to you on your way out.”
Johnny Tallon, inquiring about a grave: “I represent the angel Gabriel. Did you ever hear of him? It’s my job to check up on the latest burial take.”
Parker’s man: “All right, tramp, on your way.”
Johnny, pulling his gun: “If their deaths from natural causes, sometimes it’s my mission to speed up the take.”
Johnny Tallon: “Now I gotta figure out how to keep you from coming up against me, so I won’t have to kill you. It wasn’t enough of a puzzlement, on top of that I got the whole darn Indian nation to contend with. And on top of that, it’s colder than a tin-horn gambler’s heart.”
Johnny Tallon: “Man who gets killed doing his duty ain’t any more alive than a man who just gets plain killed.”
Ned Tallon: “I can remember Johnny. Them guns would come out of those holsters faster than a snake’s forked tongue, and twice as nasty.”
Ben Johnson as Ben Shelby and Peter Graves as Ned Tallon, on the run from Dave Parker and his men in Fort Defiance (1951)
Dane Clark as Johnny Tallon, realizing his younger brother is serious about parting ways in Fort Defiance (1951)
Peter Graves as Ned Tallon and Tracey Roberts as Julie Morse getting closer during an Indian attack in Fort Defiance (1951)
Ben Johnson as Ben Shelby, helping defend the stage from and Indian attack in Fort Defiance (1951)
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