L'urlo dei comanches

From the moment that kids of the 1950s got a look at Clint Walker on the opening episode of Cheyenne (fall, 1955), we knew that he would be the John Wayne of our generation, just as a year earlier Fess Parker as Davy Crockett became our combination of Jimmy Stewart and Gregory Peck. So why didn't filmmakers make use of their potential? At first, Warner Bros. didn't want Walker to do movies at all, perhaps thinking it would take away from the high ratings of his show. That was of course ridiculous. He threatened to walk out and they belatedly gave him the lead in this B+ black and white actioner. He's the strong silent type (what else?) who comes across a gorgeous woman (Virginia Mayo) and her little boy (Richard Eyer) on the prairie - after the success of Shane, every western had to have an adoring little boy! Eyer was a fabulous child actor, and there's a terrific performance by Brian Keith as the sort of friendly-enemy that Dan Duryea played in so many of the Audie Murphy oaters. The cast makes this routine western seem a cut above the average, and I can't remember any other cowboy getting off more shots per second with his Winchester (other than Chuck Connors on the Rifleman series, of course) than Keith does here. One bit you'll get a kick out of - at the end, Walker and company get to the title fort and are attacked by Indians. When they ride up, there is no water in sight. Anywhere! But when the Indians attack, they have to cross a large river. Wha? Here's the reason - the Indian attack footage is lifted from a 1954 big budget western called The Charge at Feather River. (guy 'wild bill hickock' madison was the star). And if Walker fans had a sense of deja vu, even in 1958, there was a good reason for that too: An early Cheyenne episode, titled "West of the River," was a remake of "The Charge at Feather River" with Walker substituted for Madison, and all the large scale action scenes taken from that film.