George Montgomery plays Capt. Chase McCloud, a cavalry officer who isn’t exactly fond of the Apache. The best way to keep them peaceful, he tells the woman he’s trying to woe, is with a bullet between the eyes.
Yet it’s McCloud who finds himself trying to play peacekeeper at Fort Steel. He comes to realize the best way to do that is to keep whites off the Indian reservation, and that means away from the rich gold deposits they’re itching to get their hands on.
That doesn’t sit well with businessman Ben Alsop and his allies. So they appeal to lawmakers in Washington; then have an old prospector anmed Sagebrush killed, knowing the arrow in his back will have everyone jumping to the conclusion that he was killed by Apache braves.
Sure enough, it works. White settlers murder some innocent Indians. Geronimo goes on the warpath.
And McCloud, who expected to become major and command Fort Steel, soon finds himself taking orders from a new commanding officer named Stark who’s eager to do battle with Geronimo.
George Montgomery as Capt Chase McCloud with his captive, Geronimo’s son Tobai (Robert Foster Dover) in Indian Uprising (1952)
Miguel Inclan as Geronimo, preparing to go on the warpath against the whites in Indian Uprising (1952)
Review:
It’s a cavalry vs. Indians tale that’s been told better and with a far bigger budget elsewhere. That fact, plus the use of poorly matched stock footage and a ludicrous last 15 minutes — just watch Montgomery pluck a lance from his shoulder like it’s a toothpick — might make this a Western you’ll want to skip.
That said, Montgomery is as competent as usual, and there is an unusual scene in which he’s forced to order his troops to fire on white settlers to keep them from mowing down innocent Apache boys. That, of course, wins him no fans in the military.
Audrey Long provides the love interest as the daughter of an Indian agent. This would mark her final film in a career that started quite promisingly with a major role in the 1944 John Wayne vehicle “Tall in the Saddle.”
Audrey Long as Norma Clemson, the woman who wants to teach at an Indian school in Indian Uprising (1952)
Hugh Sanders as Ben Alsop, the man who stands to profit from a war with the Apaches in Indian Uprising (1952)
Directed by:
Ray Nazarro
Cast:
George Montgomery … Capt. Chase McCloud
Audrey Long … Norma Clemson
Carl Benton Reid … John Clemson
Eugene Iglesias … Sgt. Ramirez
John Baer … Lt. Whitley
Joe Sawyer … Sgt. Keough
Robert Foster Dover … Tobai
Eddy Waller … Sagebrush
Robert Shayne … Maj. Nathan Stark
Hugh Sanders … Ben Alsop
Douglas Kennedy … Cliff Taggert
Miguel Inclan … Geronimo
John Call … Sgt. Timothy J. Clancy
Runtime: 75 min.
John Call as Sgt. Timothy J. Clancy and Joe Sawyer as Sgt. Keough, two of the men serving under Capt. McCloud in Indian Uprising (1952)
Robert Shayne as Maj. Nathan Stark, who doesn’t trust McCloud’s loyalty to the cavalry mission in Indian Uprising (1952)
Memorable lines:
Capt. McCloud to Norma Clemson: “There’s nothing as successful as a bullet between the eyes to make an Apache peaceful.”
Sagebrush, a prospector: “I hope the Indians get hives from sittin’ on all that gold.”
John Clemson, about Geronimo: “What’s he mean? Does he trust us or doesn’t he?”
Capt. McCloud: “Sure he trusts us. About as far as I can throw a buffalo.”
Capt. McCloud: “Never waste sympathy on a cavalryman, Nora. If he wasn’t in trouble, he wouldn’t be happy.”
Robert Foster Dover as Tobai, Geronimo son’s, who winds up being the key to peace in Indian Uprising (1952)
Eddy Waller as Sagebrush, an old-timer who has discovered gold on Apache land in Indian Uprising (1952)
Douglas Kennedy as Cliff Taggert, stirring up trouble with the Apaches again in Indian Uprising (1952)
John Baer as Lt. Whitley and George Montgomery as Capt. Chase McCloud. on a detail to find Geronimo in Indian Uprising (1952)
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