When Cheyenne Bodie flies into the fort with an urgent message, the laid-back Army scout and the staunchly by-the-book Captain Quinlan (Richard Denning) get off to a rancorous start, and things go downhill from there. On hearing that the Indians are on the warpath, the fort's scatterbrained commander rashly orders that everyone--soldiers and civilians, including women and children--leave at once for a fort miles away using a more hazardous route than the one the marauding Indians guard. On the ill-advised march, after removing Quinlan from his position in a fit of pique, the garrison's incompetent commander makes some dangerous miscalculations that cost him his command and later his life.
With the support of the enlisted men and of Cheyenne, too, young Lieutenant Rogers (James Garner) takes over, much to Quinlan's chagrin. An Indian attack leaves the garrison bloodied but not bowed, and the long dusty march ends with the wagon train largely intact. Quinlan, who had steadfastly assured Cheyenne and Rogers that a firing squad awaited them, winds up changing his mind when he observes that so many lives had been saved by their actions. Cheyenne had told him bluntly, "It's a pretty sorry man that uses a book of regulations for a conscience." In the end, Quinlan proved that he wasn't quite the inflexible stickler he thought he was.
All the players in this action-packed drama are very good, and Clint Walker proves yet again that no one else could have played the part of Cheyenne Bodie so convincingly. It was rumored that Garner was WB's first choice for the part, but if that's true (and I seriously doubt that it is), seeing him and Clint Walker together onscreen must have made Jack Warner heave a huge sigh of relief, knowing that he had been right in choosing Clint Walker from the start. James Garner was born to play Maverick and, no matter what anyone says, the stalwart, levelheaded, intelligent character of Cheyenne Bodie belonged to Clint Walker alone.
With the support of the enlisted men and of Cheyenne, too, young Lieutenant Rogers (James Garner) takes over, much to Quinlan's chagrin. An Indian attack leaves the garrison bloodied but not bowed, and the long dusty march ends with the wagon train largely intact. Quinlan, who had steadfastly assured Cheyenne and Rogers that a firing squad awaited them, winds up changing his mind when he observes that so many lives had been saved by their actions. Cheyenne had told him bluntly, "It's a pretty sorry man that uses a book of regulations for a conscience." In the end, Quinlan proved that he wasn't quite the inflexible stickler he thought he was.
All the players in this action-packed drama are very good, and Clint Walker proves yet again that no one else could have played the part of Cheyenne Bodie so convincingly. It was rumored that Garner was WB's first choice for the part, but if that's true (and I seriously doubt that it is), seeing him and Clint Walker together onscreen must have made Jack Warner heave a huge sigh of relief, knowing that he had been right in choosing Clint Walker from the start. James Garner was born to play Maverick and, no matter what anyone says, the stalwart, levelheaded, intelligent character of Cheyenne Bodie belonged to Clint Walker alone.