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

Details

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

User Reviews

Low-rent Disney...but it does have Brian Keith

Supposedly factual account of the first group of men to explore the mysterious Colorado River, led by one-armed Civil War Major John Wesley Powell. Disney-made adventure isn't well-produced or well-written, but it does have a sort of ambling charm. Brian Keith is terrific as usual playing a grizzled amateur astrologist, Ben Johnson lends his solid support, but who is responsible for casting John Beal as Powell? He's unbearably wooden and has about as much screen-appeal as a desert tortoise. Overall, pretty slack, and not likely to engage youngsters.