Trooper Hook (1957)

Joel McCrea plays Trooper Hook, a sergeant who mounts a successful attack on the Indian camp of feared Apache chief Nanchez.

When the dust settles, Nanchez is his prisoner and Hook discover a white woman (Barbara Stanwyck) and her half-breed son — Nanchez’s son, Quito — among the survivors.

Once back at the army post, the white woman is identified as Cora Sutliff, lone survivor of a wagon train heading West years earlier.

Her husband, Fred, has been located. Trooper Hook is given the task of returning the woman and child to him.

Naturally, they encounter plenty of prejudice from people who think any decent woman would have killed herself before becoming an Apache squaw and from people who aren’t willing to do anything to help the son of Nanchez.

And Cora worries about how her husband will react when he learns about Quito. He knows his wife is coming home; he doesn’t know she’s bringing along a son he didn’t father.

Turns out Cora, Quito, Trooper Hook and the rest of the passengers on a stage have a more immediate worry.

Nanchez has broken free from captivity and he has a band of warriors riding by his side. Their first objective, recapture the chief’s son.

That dust on the horizon — well, that would be the Apache warriors.

And inside the stage is a newly rich cattle baron named Charlie Travers, a man who will do almost anything to live long enough to enjoy those new riches. He’s determined no half-breed young boy is going to keep him from doing so.

Joel McCrea as Trooper Hook, assigned the duty of returning Cora Sutliff to her husband in Trooper Hook (1957)

Barbara Stanwyck as Cora Sutliff, rescued from captivity in Trooper Hook (1957)

Review:

Director Charles Marquis Warren serves up some powerful images — the captured cavalrymen being executed as the film opens; a closeup of Nanchez’s torso, chains broken, as he watches the stage in the distance; newly rich cattle king Charlie Travers reaching for his beloved money belt as he’s dying.

Unfortunately, even the presence of veteran actors Joel McCrea and Barbara Stanwyck can do little to enliven this story about racism in the Old West. “Devil’s Doorway,” “Broken Arrow” and even the low-budget “Ride Out for Revenge” from the same year handle the topic with more verve and vigor than this film. And a trite ending doesn’t help.

Particularly awkward are the scenes involving Stanwyck’s half-breed son, Quito. He sleeps fitfully in a bed at the army post. As soon as Cora Sutliff removes him from bed and places him on the wood flooring, he’s sleeping soundly. On two occasions, the youngster is acting up. One smack on the rump from Trooper Hook, and he immediately quiets down. Ah, if parenting were only that easy.

There’s also very little gray here. Nearly all the white characters are either tolerant or intolerant of Cora’s situation, and you can tell the good guys (and gals) from the bad by their attitude toward her and her young son.

Earl Holliman has an interesting early role as young and carefree cowpoke Jeff Bennett. John Dehner plays Cora’s husband, who has absolutely no interest in raising the son of an Indian chief. And Royal Dano plays the feisty stage driver determined to stay on schedule. The title tune, sung by Tex Ritter, returns at a few key points in the film to help narrate the action.

Earl Holliman as Jeff Bennett, the cowboy who warns of Indian trouble in Trooper Hook (1957)

Susan Kohner as Consuela, the lovely young lady who winds up on a stage with Trooper Hook and Cora in Trooper Hook (1957)

Directed by:
Charles Marquis Warren

Cast:
Joel McCrea … Trooper Hook
Barbara Stanwyck … Cora Sutliff
Terry Lawrence … Quito
John Dehner … Fred Sutliff
Earl Holliman … Jeff Bennett
Edward Andrews …Charlie Travers
Susan Kohner … Consuela
Royal Dano … Trude
Rodolfo Acosta … Nanchez
Celia Lovsky … Senora Sandoval
Stanley Adams … Heathcliff
Richard Shannon … Trooper Ryan
Sheb Wooley … Cooter Brown
Jeanne Bates … Ann Weaver
Patrick O’Moore … Col. Weaver

Runtime: 81 min.

Title tune: “Trooper Hook”
performed by Tex Ritter

Rodolfo Acosta as Nanchez, determined to get his son back in Trooper Hook (1957)

Edward Andrews as Charlie Travers, trying to buy his life from Nanchez in Trooper Hook (1957)

Memorable lines:

Sgt. Hook to Trooper Ryan: “Don’t worry, mister, (if) you die of thirst, I’ll put you in for corporal.”

Sgt. Hook, of Apache chief Nanchez: “We’re just a couple of dogs, haggling over the same bone. Only it happens to be his bone.”

Trude, the stage driver, as he cracks his whip: “I’m half mustang and half alligator, so get goin’, you critters.”

Trude, the stage driver to his passenger, about Cora: “You get her riled up, and she’s likely to cut your heart out with a dull knife.”

Jeff Bennett: “I sure wish you’d talk gentle, Mr. Trude. I’m hung over so far, I’ve got a hump on my back.”
Mr. Trude: “That’s what a fool boy gets for coyotin’ around without a man’s constitution.”

Sgt. Hook to the stage passengers, about the presence of Nanchez and his band of braves: “Just hold tight. We’ll start worrying hard when it counts.”

Nanchez to Hook: “My people have long called you Face of Stone. They were wrong. They should have called you Heart of Stone.”
Hook: “I do what must be done.”
Nanchez: “You are more Indian than you know.”

Royal Dano as Trude, the stagecoach driver in Trooper Hook (1957)

John Dehner as Fred Sutliff, faced with the return of her wife and her Indian son in Trooper Hook (1957)

Patrick O’Moore as Col. Weaver, the man who assigns Trooper Hook to Cora in Trooper Hook (1957)

Susan Kohner as Consuela, Celia Lovsky as Senora Sandoval and Edward Andrews as Charlie Travers in Trooper Hook (1957)

Barbara Stanwyck as Cora Sutliff with her song Quito (Terry Lawrence) in Trooper Hook (1957)

Joel McCrea as Trooper Hook checks on the stage passengers in Trooper Hook (1957)