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IMDb > Springfield Rifle (1952)

Springfield Rifle (1952) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
6.5/10   386 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 2% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
André De Toth
Writers:
Charles Marquis Warren (screenplay) and
Frank Davis (screenplay) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for Springfield Rifle on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
25 October 1952 (USA) more
Genre:
War | Western more
Tagline:
The Gun That Made One Man The Equal Of Five! more
Plot:
Major Lex Kearny becomes the North's first counterespionage agent as he tries to discover who's behind the theft of Union cavalry horses in Colorado during the Civil War. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
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NewsDesk:
Character Actor Phil Carey Dead At Age 83
 (From CinemaRetro. 12 February 2009, 4:07 AM, PST)

User Comments:
Slow-paced 1950s western/war drama more

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Gary Cooper ... Maj. Alex 'Lex' Kearney
Phyllis Thaxter ... Erin Kearney
David Brian ... Austin McCool, Raider Leader
Paul Kelly ... Lt. Col John Hudson (Ft. Hedley CO)

Lon Chaney Jr. ... Pete Elm, Leader of Non-military Raiders (as Lon Chaney)
Philip Carey ... Capt. Edward Tennick
James Millican ... Det. Matthew Quint
Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams ... Sgt. Snow
Alan Hale Jr. ... Mizzell
Martin Milner ... Pvt. Olie Larsen
Wilton Graff ... Col. George Sharpe
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Additional Details

Runtime:
93 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color (Warnercolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (RCA Sound System)
Certification:
West Germany:12 (nf) | UK:U (cut) | Canada:PG (video rating) | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 (1953) | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #16005)

Fun Stuff

Goofs:
Continuity: When attempting to drive out the horse thieves by burning them out, the wagon section that Kearney drove is twice pushed over the edge in flames. more
Quotes:
Sgt. Snow: Never exactly doubted you, sir, and that raw deal they gave you at your court-martial gave us a pain in the collar!
Maj. Alex 'Lex' Kearney: Where do you suppose it gave me a pain?
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Movie Connections:
Referenced in Golden Saddles, Silver Spurs (2000) (TV) more

FAQ

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6 out of 10 people found the following comment useful:-
Slow-paced 1950s western/war drama, 23 August 2000
Author: qsm1965 from Bottomout, NV

As noted, the film has more to do with horses than rifles. The Springfield Rifle (in this case, the Trapdoor Springfield that the Army adopted after the Civil War) of the title does not makes its appearance until the end of the film when it becomes a decisive factor in the final battle sequence. The story concerns a late-Civil War conflict on the frontier to gain horses for the forces fighting back East. Cooper plays a Union officer who sacrifices much to prove the value of counter-espionage to the Federal military authorities. Cooper manages to transcend some of his famous rigidness as an actor to make his character engaging and sympathetic. The pacing of the direction is slow by today's standards. Some of the stock footage of horses on the range is not well-integrated into the rest of the film. While the setting is southeastern Colorado, the film was actually shot in the area of Lone Pine, CA--as were many Westerns. Anyone who knows the Mt. Whitney-Owens Valley landscape will recognize it immediately. The script contains some authentic mid-19th century frontier colloquial usage such as "jayhawker" and "hardtack." With Cooper's famous Western drawl, such words give the film an old-fashioned frontier edge.

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