Audrey Totter plays Marion Warner, a woman who travels West to claim her uncle’s land, the Red Dusty, which includes the water source for acres and acres of arid land.
That almost immediately puts her at odds with a businessman named Morgan (Forrest Tucker), who tries to convince her the property is worthless. Marion, of course, is too smart for that.
She also provides refuge for a pretty young Indian girl named Yashi who’s been turned over to Morgan to serve as his plaything because her father, a Navajo chief, owes the white man money. And Marion winds up seeking the help of Blandy (Scott Brady), the one Navajo in these here parts who doesn’t cower before Morgan and his Apache scouts.
Pretty quickly, Marion starts to feel sympathetic toward the Navajo and the way they’ve been mistreated. Her new top priority becomes exposing Morgan for the land thief he is. With Blandy’s assistance, of course.
But they face daunting odds. In addition to his band of Apache scouts, Morgan has a pair of quick guns — played by Lee Van Cleef and Jim Davis — to do his bidding. And he decides the best place for Blandy and Marion is six feet deep.
Review:
A so-so Western in which director Joseph Kane keeps the focus the attempts of Marion and Blandy to topple Morgan and his co-conspirators rather than on the Vanishing Americans in the Zane Grey novel on which the film was supposedly based.
The film does feature a certain offbeat appeal. Totter’s character is well-equipped to deal with the likes of Morgan, whether by wit or by six-shooter, something the villain of the piece doesn’t expect.
And there are plenty of Westerns in which the male lead falls for a pretty young Indian maiden or princess. In this one, Totter falls for the muscular and often shirtless Brady. He plays a Navajo who was raised by a white man, decorated for heroism for fighting in a white man’s war, but who has returned West to witness the end of his race. He might not cower before Morgan and his type, but he’s far from optimistic about the future of the Navajo.
Memorable moments include a circle fire, set by the Apache to kill a flock of sheep and help starve the Navajo, and Blandy’s explanation to Totter of the host of crimes that landed him in prison. For instance, he was convicted of attempted murder for tossing a sheriff in a water trough following a barroom brawl.
You won’t need an eagle’s eyes to spot lots of familiar faces, including Hank Worden as a Navajo buckboard driver and Jay Silverheels as Yashi’s Navajo lover in very small roles.
Directed by:
Joseph Kane
Cast:
Scott Brady … Blandy
Audrey Totter … Marion Warner
Forrest Tucker … Morgan
Gene Lockhart … Blucher
Jim Davis … Glendon
John Dierkes … Freil
Gloria Castillo … Yashi
Lee Van Cleef … Jay Lord
Julian Rivero… Etenia
George Keymas .. Coshanta
Charles Stevens … Quah-Tan
Jay Silverheels … Beeteia
James Millican … Walker
Glenn Strange … Beleanth
Runtime: 90 min.
Memorable lines:
Marion Warner: “You’re not taking my any place. I wouldn’t trust you as far as I can throw a ram with one hand.”
Blandy: “Believe me, you were never safer in your life.”
Blucher to Morgan, about Marion: “This female is poison. She spouts law like a judge.”
Marion to Yashi: “Getting walked all over is a Navajo habit, not mine.”
Marion Warner, after Blucher has read a laundry list of charges for which Blandy is allegedly guilty: “I heard he killed McKinley.”
Morgan, after Blandy has passed out while being tortured with a branding iron: “Throw some water on him. I don’t want him to die until after he talks.”
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