A Distant Trumpet (1964)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Raoul Walsh

Writers:

John Twist (screenplay)
Richard Fielder (adaptation) ...

Release Date:

30 May 1964 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Plot:

Lt. Hazard, fresh out of West Point, arrives in Arizona Territory at hot, dusty, Fort Delivery. Appalled by the lax discipline of its troops...

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman | Tortured To Death | Branding Iron | Based On Novel

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Troy Donahue	...	2nd Lt. Matthew 'Matt' Hazard
Suzanne Pleshette	...	Mrs. Kitty Mainwarring
Diane McBain	...	Laura Frelief (Quaint's niece)
James Gregory	...	Maj. Gen. Alexander Upton Quaint
William Reynolds	...	1st Lt. Teddy Mainwarring
Claude Akins	...	Seely Jones
Kent Smith	...	Secretary of War
Judson Pratt	...	Capt. Cedric Gray MD
Bartlett Robinson	...	Maj. Hiram Prescott
Bobby Bare	...	Pvt Cranshaw
Larry Ward	...	Sgt. Kroger
Richard X. Slattery	...	Sgt. Fry
Mary Patton	...	Mrs. Jessica Prescott
Russell Johnson	...	Capt. Brinker (Judge Advocate's office)
Lane Bradford	...	Maj. Miller

Runtime:

117 min | Germany:96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

West Germany:12 (nf) (cut version) | West Germany:16 (nf) (original rating) | USA:Approved (certificate #20573) | Finland:K-8

Filming Locations:

Dijon Street, Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Final film of Raoul Walsh.

An "A" movie with a "B" cast

This may have started out as an "A" production and its visual elements are certainly first-rate. The ever-reliable William Clothier contributes sparkling color photography which fills the wide-screen with some of the most impressive vistas you're ever likely to see in a western. Unfortunately, by casting Troy Donahue in the lead role, Warner Bros. indicated it was relegating this production to "B" status, and the result is just another cavalry-and-Indians movie. Suzanne Pleshette shows promise as "Kitty" but it's hard to do good work when one's leading man is of the Ken-doll variety. Diane McBain has little to work with as the fiancee and merely adds to the feeling that "A Distant Trumpet" is a spin-off from Warner Bros. stable of TV westerns. At least the cavalry soldiers actually get dusty in this movie, and there's a good scene of Bobby Bare being branded on the back for cowardice.