Jeff (actionrating.com) See it- This is a diamond in the rough. It is relatively unknown but a must-see for Gary Cooper fans. Cooper plays his usual character of a man on a mission to redeem himself, but this is not a typical western. Exciting from start to finish, it's the story of the inception of counterintelligence used by the Union in the Civil War. It is not necessarily James Bond with a cowboy hat. It is still very much a western, and a refreshingly good Civil War movie for a change. Movie buffs will also get a kick out of a young Fess Parker. Full of twists and lots of battle scenes, it's a good old-fashioned, fun movie. 4 action rating

ianlouisiana ...as indeed I was as to who exactly the bad guys are and what side he is actually on."Springfield Rifle" is a Civil War cavalry picture in a sub - sub John Ford vein with a tired - looking Mr Cooper as a Union officer pretending to be a Confederate or a Confederate officer pretending to be a Union officer.One of the two anyway.It's certainly overly complicated with lots of clandestine meetings,secret codes and people being thrown into prison only to escape with slightly worrying ease the moment the fortunately slow - witted guards' attention is distracted. The eponymous firearm doesn't get a mention until 2/3rds the way through the film and by then I'd forgotten all about it. Apparently its rate of fire is five times that of all other rifles;an invaluable tool indeed and one that must not be allowed to fall into the hands of the Confederates - or was it the Unionists?To tell you the truth I had lost track by then. Whichever,Mr Cooper and whatever side he was actually on triumphed,you won't be entirely surprised to hear. He is reinstated to his former rank and hundreds of thousands of Yankees and Rebs can continue to slaughter each other enthusiastically. In 1952 it was what passed for a happy ending,I guess.

Robert J. Maxwell Cooper is discharged in disgrace from the U. S. Cavalry during the Civil War in order to join a band of Confederate horse raiders undercover. There follow lots of tribulations and considerable confusion.It would be a strictly routine Western except for a few things. First, it has bankable stars, or at least one, in Gary Cooper. Second, there is some splendid horse riding on screen here -- he said, knowing absolutely nothing about horses except that they know a lot more than they're letting on. What is this "roan", anyway? Sadly missing are two outstanding horsemen. Ben Johnson was a picture of inspiration on a galloping horse, and Yakima Canutt seemed organic to the animal he rode."Winchester 73" came out in 1950 and it must have been a financial success because that's where this title came from -- "Springfield Rifle." It has little to do with a rifle. It's all about Cooper trying to keep his NOC status hidden, and about good-natured Confederate boys among whom are some trailer trash, and about colorful Union troopers in blue uniforms and capes with bright yellow liners, and horses and men falling downhill and rolling over and over in clouds of dust.Phyllis Thaxter, as Cooper's wife, is in the mix somewhere but she's dispensable. In the 1940s and 50s it was believed that you needed to have a love interest in the movie. I don't know why. Maybe it was assumed that you needed to draw in the female audience who might otherwise be listening to "Craig's Other Wife". Maybe they thought it would keep the women interested in between the shootings and fist fights that kept the men tumescent.Nice location photography by Edwin DuPar. Pedestrian direction by Andre De Toth. Philip Carey has an important supporting role. He's always reliable, a kind of second-string Charlton Heston.

FtValleyPS I agree the movie is an underrated western, it reminds one of John Ford movies, and the direction is great. Some of the acting and direction, e.g. when Col. Hudson figures out Lex is an agent, is really good, as well as other scenes with very subtly fine direction. What also occurs to me is that much of the cinematography in this film is pretty near fantastic. While the setting in Lone Pine, California is nice and makes the filming a little easier in that regard, the lighting and camera work are exceptional, including early and late day shots, and even for the average shots on the set, e.g. around the fort, lighting, etc. Some of the action shots are pretty darned amazing, too, including the running herds of horses. I noticed a mix of saddle horses, mules and draft horses in the herd, which I think lends some authenticity to the film.