I originally saw this movie back in 1965 when it first came out and I have always had fond memories of it . It is definitely not as substantial as Wild Bunch, Sam P's masterpiece western, but it is an intelligent movie that builds great characters who make up the film.
Tom Tryon is good as the maverick Captain who worries more about the lives and survival of his men then the prime directive of the General, played in his great evil fashion by Andrew Duggan. Harve Presnell,as Sol the scout makes a good foil for Tryon as they compete for the love interest,the widow Woodward, played by Senta Berger The standout characters to me are Slim Pickens as the long-suffering sergeant who must mold the misfits into a fighting troop, and a very young, brash James Caan as Dugan, the Irish ne'er do well, who becomes a soldier after all.
Because of the time period the Indians are pretty one dimensional and uniform, unlike later movie representations like Little Big Man, but they do pull off clever fighting tactics and the hand to hand combat is fierce for its day.
Like later war movies, the enemy is often the high brass or the law, just as much as the opposing forces.
I could only find this movie in VHS, so I recorded it on my DVD recorder so I could keep it for posterity.
