The story occurs in 1876 , Chuka (Rod Taylor) is a grizzled gunfighter who helps an unexperienced though honorable cavalry officer to appease renegade soldiers and hold a tribe of Arapahoe Indians . When the main characters arrive at the fort a soldier being flogged for desertion (though whipping had been prohibited by the U. S. Army as of 5 August 1861) . There Cavalry commandant (John Mills) is saddled not only problems with the American Natives but also the irritability among his own troops (Louis Hayward) . Chuka eventually puts the bridle on tight and protects a pair of damsels (gorgeous Luciana Paluzzi and Angela Dorian or Victoria Vetri , famous Miss Playboy) in distress . Meantime , the violent Indians are out on a rampage of killing , vengeance against the white intruders and with the aim for getting food .
This is an unusually brutal tale of a hard-bitten gunslinger assembling a detail of misfit cavalrymen to hold-off rampaging Indians . Rod Taylor and an expert all-star-cast shine in this gripping story about a surrounded garrison and director takes a fine penned screenplay creating a cavalry vs. Indians tale that is far from ordinary , exploring the anguish and desperation of the stressed soldiers . It's the habitual theme about an unit stranded by enemies and their grueling efforts to break the siege , issue imitated many other times . The picture contains nice moments but partially unsatisfying for the reason of the claustrophobic environment . Produced by Rod Taylor , this Western is predictable and conventional but entertaining enough . It displays a colorful and adequate cinematography by Harold E. Stine . In addition , atmospheric as well as evocative musical score by Leith Stevens .
The motion picture was professionally directed by Gordon Douglas . He was an expert on adventures genre , such as ¨Black arrow¨ , ¨Fortunes of Captain Blood¨ , both starred by Louis Hayward and Western genre , as he proved in the enjoyable films starred by Clint Walker such as ¨Fort Dobbs¨, ¨Yellowstone Kelly¨ , ¨Gold of seven Saints¨ , Gregory Peck as ¨Only the valiant¨ in similar plot to ¨Chuka¨ , Richard Boone as ¨Rio Conchos¨ considered the best , and others concerning legendary bandits as ¨Doolins of Oklahoma¨ , ¨Great Missouri raid¨, and anything else . Rating Chuka : 6/10 . Acceptable and decent Cavalry/Indian Western . Well worth watching.
