Ten Who Dared (1960)

Major John Wesley Powell leads an expedition through the Grand Canyon to chart the Colorado River.

Director:

William Beaudine

Writers:

John Wesley Powell (journal) (as Major John Wesley Powell), Lawrence Edward Watkin

Stars:

Brian Keith, John Beal, James Drury

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Brian Keith	...	William 'Bill' Dunn
John Beal	...	Maj. John Wesley Powell
James Drury	...	Walter Powell
R.G. Armstrong	...	Oramel Howland
Ben Johnson	...	George Bradley
L.Q. Jones	...	Billy 'Missouri' Hawkins
Dan Sheridan	...	Jack Sumner
David Stollery	...	Andrew 'Andy' Hall
Stan Jones	...	Seneca Howland
David Frankham	...	Frank Goodman

Storyline

By 1869, most of the USA had already been mapped and charted with the exception of the Colorado River region. Therefore, the U.S. government sends geologist and ex-Union Army Major John Wesley Powell to map it. Major Powell, who's missing a hand since the Civil War, needs assistants but trustworthy skilled men are hard to find after the war. The Major has to accept any volunteer he can find and he assembles a team of nine men. The team departs from Green River, Wyoming, in four rowboats and is made up of men of different ages, backgrounds, personalities and motivations for joining up. In one rowboat there are two former army officers who fought on opposing sides during the Civil War. In another rowboat, one man is a recovering alcoholic and the other is a boozing Englishman who constantly taunts the abstinent. Second-in-command is Major Powell's brother, Walter, whose abrasive personality constantly offends the team. The Major excuses his brother's frequent violent outbursts by ...

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Plot Keywords:

canyon | chart | expedition | river | colorado river | 

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Taglines:

Fearless, reckless, adventurers who gambled their lives against a raging force of destruction !

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Genres:

Adventure | Family | Western

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Certificate:

Not Rated

User Reviews

Under-rated live-action Disney movie.

Many of the Disney live-action films from the 50's and 60's are too easily derided these days for their sepia-toned view of the past, and American past in particular. The main example of this would be Disney's interpretation of Davy Crockett. But without Walt's enthusiasm for the creation of America and it's people many a folk hero would be lost in time. So even though Disney may have painted a sugar-coated vision of these stories at least they were brought to the attention of a wider audience who could then discover them for real.

Ten Who Dared is a perfect example of this with it's exploration (pun intended) of the adventures of John Wesley Powell and his team who were the first people to explore and chart the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon in 1869.

As you can expect they get in to some scrapes with Native Americans as well as the river itself and a rebellion in the camp has some dire consequences.

Although the film may not sit with the best westerns ever made it is a fun journey, with a group of characters recognisable to any fan of men- on-a-mission movies, and is a great way to spend 90 minutes and learn some American history at the same time.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 November 1960 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Colorado Experiment

Filming Locations:

Dead Horse Point State Park, Utah, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.75: 1