Poseidon-3 Review of Yellowstone Kelly

Yellowstone Kelly (1959)

Yellowstone Silly, though a good-looking cast holds interest.

[10 July 2008]

The second of three western films Walker made with director Douglas during the down time of his tenure on "Cheyenne", this is the only one in color. He plays a scout and trapper who shares a tenuous relationship with the Sioux which is placed in jeopardy when Martin, an Arapaho held captive by the Sioux, decides to run away and seek sanctuary with him in his cabin. Things are complicated further by the presence of Byrnes, a greenhorn kid who has come to stay with Walker and learn how to live in the stark wilderness. Meanwhile, cavalry Major Reason wants Walker's help and resists taking no for an answer. Walker, a towering hunk who dwarfs everyone around him and sometimes even the landscape, lends a solid performance. He has one rough-and-tumble fight sequence in which he clearly performed his own stunt work. Clad in a red shirt and with a long shock of black hair, he is quite a sight to behold. In what must be one of his most alluring and sexy appearances in film, he has a nighttime sequence in which he reclines in bed, shirtless, with his hair deliberately tousled as he chitchats with young Byrnes. Byrnes enjoys an engaging role, lightly comedic, but with more serious elements than he would tend to be given elsewhere. His character displays an obvious respect for Walker (try counting how many times he says, "Mr. Kelly"!) and, like Walker, sleeps presumably in the raw despite allusions to the harsh weather! Russell plays the Sioux chief and provides dramatic weight and a dose of dignity that helps him to overcome his anachronistic hairstyle. Danton plays his nephew (with a similarly goofy, parted on the side, wig) and poses a nice threat as he obsesses over Martin. Martin, with gleaming grey-blue eyes and covered in buckets of body make-up, is unlikely as an Indian maiden, though this was the rule of the day then. She comes off as more of a Caucasian captive than a fellow Indian, so quickly does she adjust to washing plates in a bucket and keeping house! Like the two gentlemen, she also prefers to sleep in the altogether, which had to have seemed a tad daring in 1959! She undergoes a brief, but pretty harrowing, medical procedure in her first scene. However, some of her dialogue is a hoot ("You have looked at me…") Reason adds just that much more handsomeness to the film, though his role isn't anything special. He has two soldiers in his outfit who would go on to greater fame, Akins and Oates. Director Douglas liked to populate his films with good-looking men and here he had quite a bonanza, which does make viewing easier for those inclined. Additionally, he had quite an eye for location scenery and it is nicely exploited here as well. It's not a milestone film, but Walker in his prime is always worth watching and the rest of the able cast, along with the location work, helps make this a pleasure to watch.