Siege at Red River (1954)

Cavalry Captain Farraday attempts to prevent the delivery of Gatling Guns into the hands of hostile Indians.

Director:

Rudolph Maté

Writers:

Sydney Boehm (screenplay), J. Robert Bren (from a story by),

Stars:

Van Johnson, Joanne Dru, Richard Boone

Cast

Cast overview:
Van Johnson	...	Capt. James S. Simmons / Jim Farraday
Joanne Dru	...	Nora Curtis
Richard Boone	...	Brett Manning
Milburn Stone	...	Sgt. Benjamin 'Benjy' Guderman
Jeff Morrow	...	Frank Kelso
Craig Hill	...	Lt. Braden
Rico Alaniz	...	Chief Yellow Hawk
Robert Burton	...	Sheriff
Pilar Del Rey	...	Lukoa
Ferris Taylor	...	Anderson Smith
John Cliff	...	Sgt. Jenkins

Storyline

Cavalry Captain Farraday attempts to prevent the delivery of Gatling Guns into the hands of hostile Indians.

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Plot Keywords:

gatling gun | civil war | indian girl | b movie | siege | 

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Taglines:

"...And the two best soldiers in the line that day were the Captain from Georgia and the Yankee Spitfire!" (original print ad)

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Genres:

Action | War | Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 May 1954 (USA)

Also Known As:

Gatling Gun

Filming Locations:

Castle Valley, Moab, Utah, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Panoramic Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jean Peters was tested for a role.

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Connections

Features She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)

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Soundtracks

"Tapioca"
(uncredited)
Music by Lionel Newman
Lyrics by Ken Darby

User Reviews

Enjoyable and rousing Western

Jim Farady (Van Johnson)and his associate Benjy (Milburn Stone) appear to be hucksters ,travelling the West selling patent medicine (a muscle builder)but in reality they are spies for the Confederacy and are transporting a stolen Gatling Gun to the Confederate lines ,a journey that will take them through Indian Territory ,and the natives are not friendly. They attract the attention of a shrewd Pinkerton man Frank Kelso (Jeff Morrow)and are forced to smuggle the guns out concealed in a hospital wagon driven by the unsuspecting Nora Curtis (Joanne Dru)who is attracted ,somewhat against her will to Farady.they are betrayed by their ostensible escort ,Manning (Richard Boone)who has plans to sell the guns to the Indians for an attack on a nearby fort ,plans Farady sets out to foil.

The movie is immaculately shot in Technicolor by Edward Cronjager and Rudolph Mate ensures the action moves along with vigour .The acting is good and the movie never flags ,even finding time for a unique drunk scene -the inebriate in question being Nora .

The climax may appear familiar and if so this is unsurprising -the climactic battle is lifted from Buffalo Bill ,the Joel Macrae movie from an earlier decade ,and intercut with close up of the actors in this movie

Its a solid action Western and enjoyable for lovers of the genre