Massacre Canyon (1954)

Douglas Kennedy is Sgt. James Marlowe, given the unenviable task of getting a shipment of 300 Henry repeating rifles through blood thirsty Apache warriors to Fort Collins.

To keep from arousing suspicions, he’s in civilian dress and he has just two soldiers with him, Peaceful (Guinn Williams) and George Davis, a former officer demoted for cowardice.

At a way station called Spanish Bit, the men run into two mail order brides looking for husbands — Flaxy (Audrey Totter) and Cora (Jeff Donnell).

They also find a new officer assigned to Fort Collins, Lt. Robert Farraday (Philip Carey), who is trying to drown the memory of his dead wife with whiskey.

He sobers up soon enough. An Indian girl named Charlita learns there are rifles in the wagons supposedly carrying nothing more deadly than flour and sugar and carries the news to an ambitious young Apache named Black Eagle.

From then on, it’s a race to Fort Collins.

Philip Carey as Lt. Faraday, the oft drunk officer who takes command of the supply caravan in Massacre Canyon (1954)

Douglas Kennedy as Sgt. Marlowe, responsible for getting 300 repeating rifles through Indian territory in Massacre Canyon (1954)

Review:

A B Western chock full of 66 minutes worth of silliness.

Among the silliest scenes: Black Eagle, with just two warriors at his disposal, flips an arrow between the two. The warrior the arrow points to is wounded by the other brave, then left to be rescued by the whites.

That allows the Indian brave to infiltrate the three-wagon, repeating-rifle toting caravan with a tale of not wanting to harm the whites.

If that’s not silly enough for you, just wait until the end when Faraday tries to send the two ladies to safety, only to have them defy the command.

And finally, there’s a chase down a tunnel, which is conveniently just large enough to accommodate the wagon. Faraday tosses dynamite out the back, hoping to close the tunnel so Black Eagle and his warriors can’t follow. Somehow, the dynamite exploding landing behind the Indians!

Another sign of how little effort was put into this production: One of the posters raves about a race to Fort Collier. Yet an opening scene, and several of the characters, indicate they’re racing toward Fort Collins.

Guinn Williams as Peaceful, one of the men helping Sgt. Marlowe deliver repeating rifles in Massacre Canyon (1953)

Audrey Totter as mail-order-bride Flaxy, getting to know Lt. Faraday better in Massacre Canyon (1954)

Directed by:
Fred Sears

Cast:
Philip Carey … Lt. Faraday
Audrey Totter … Flaxy
Douglas Kennedy … Sgt. Marlowe
Jeff Donnell … Cora
Guinn Williams … Peaceful
Charlita … Gita
Ross Elliott … George Davis
Ralph Dumke .. Phineas J. “Parson” Canfield
Mel Welles … Gonzales
John Pickard … Lt. Ridgeford
Chris Alcade … Running Horse
Steven Ritch … Black Eagle

Runtime: 66 min.

Steven Ritch as Black Eagle and Charlita as Gita, hoping their ploy to infiltrate the caravan works in Massacre Canyon (1954)

Jeff Donnell as Cora, a mail-order-bride meeting Sgt. Marlow (Douglas Kennedy) for the first time in Massacre Canyon (1954)

Memorable lines:

Marlowe: “Six years, I’ve been waiting to get rid of sergeant stripes. Lt. James Francis Marlowe — sounds pretty good, huh? Got me a new uniform ordered, too.”
Peaceful: “And I’m gonna spit tobacco juice all over those nice new shiny boots of ours. Then I’ll be transferred somewhere else. Cause there won’t be no living with you.”

Lt. Farraday, turning to the two women after the other troopers cover has been blown: “Don’t tell me you’re soldiers in disguise too.”
Flaxy: “Another smart aleck. Do we look like soldiers? We’re mail-order brides. Only no one ordered us.”

Lt. Farraday: “Great stuff whiskey. Makes you forget. And helps kill you.”
Marlowe: “You keep on drinking that booze, you’ll be just about ripe for burial by the time we reach the fort.”