Column South (1953)

As Lt. Jed Sayre struggles to prevent pre-Civil War tensions and a racist commanding officer from triggering war between the U.S. Cavalry and Navajo Indians, he finds his efforts are being ... See full summary »

Director:

Frederick De Cordova

Writers:

William Sackheim (screenplay), William Sackheim (story)

Stars:

Audie Murphy, Joan Evans, Robert Sterling

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Audie Murphy	...	Lt. Jed Sayre
Joan Evans	...	Marcy Whitlock
Robert Sterling	...	Capt. Lee Whitlock
Ray Collins	...	Brig. Gen. B.N. Stone
Dennis Weaver	...	Menguito
Gregg Palmer	...	Lt. Ben Chalmers (as Palmer Lee)
Russell Johnson	...	Cpl. Biddle
Jack Kelly	...	Trooper Vaness
Johnny Downs	...	Lt. Posick
Bob Steele	...	Sgt. 'Mac' McAfee
James Best	...	Primrose
Ralph Moody	...	Joe Copper Face
Rico Alaniz	...	Trooper Chavez

Storyline

As Lt. Jed Sayre struggles to prevent pre-Civil War tensions and a racist commanding officer from triggering war between the U.S. Cavalry and Navajo Indians, he finds his efforts are being undermined by the machinations of Confederate sympathizers.

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Plot Keywords:

u.s. cavalry | navajo indian | u.s. army | cavalry charge | battle | 

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Genres:

Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 November 1953 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Colonne Süd

Filming Locations:

Victorville, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

Ray Collins's character is "Gen. Stone" in dialogue, but "Gen. Storey" in the credits.

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Quotes

Lt. Jed Sayre: My orders are to move you out.
Menguito: You speak of a place where vultures grow fat from the bodies of those who die without food in winter and without water in summer. This is our home. We will not move.
Lt. Jed Sayre: Here me well, Menquito. If you haven't given the word to your people by the time that cloud passes the sun, I'll open fire!

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Soundtracks

"Carmencita"
(uncredited)
Music by Milton Rosen

User Reviews

Below average

I dislike cavalry movies but the only reason I watched this was because of Audie Murphy. I certainly could give it a miss the next time it is shown on tv.

The story is so very predictable, but that is not the reason why the movie falls flat. None of the characters are endearing. The leading lady is a pretty bad actress and wholly unlikeable! All the stereotypes are reinforced here: indians are red-skinned savages, the woman screams when she sees a 'friendly' indian at the fort because, well, 'she is only a woman'; and the Murphy character is friends with the Navajo only to appease his guilty feeling for some past atrocity committed against them by his father.

One good thing about this is that Audie looks good!