PWNYCNY What I expected to be just another potboiler western turned out to be a well acted movie with a strong and compelling story. The story deals with issues of loyalty, compassion, ethics, and morality. The main character, a physician played by Robert Francis, has choices to make. Whatever he does, he will make enemies. He is challenged to stay true to his convictions. His only friend is a woman, played by Donna Reed, who provides him moral support. The movie dramatizes the issues that defined the war against the Native Americans. To the US Army, all Native Americans were the enemy, including those who were at peace. When rifles are stolen, the US Army panics and in the process riles up not one but two tribes, who, united, and whose warriors are armed with rifles, comprise a formidable foe that could defeat the Army. Under these conditions the doctor is forced to make certain decisions that could go against his values as a medical professional. But to stay true to his beliefs could put him at risk for being branded a traitor. It makes for strong drama. To find out how it gets resolved, watch the movie.

tavm When I found this on YouTube, I discovered that it was chopped up into various highlight segments that altogether ran only about maybe 50 min., more or less. Still, I highly enjoyed what I saw with Robert Francis as the new Calvary doctor sticking with his oath of caring for all human beings including the American Indians forced into the reservation near him. That gets him in plenty of hot water with superior Philip Carey who already doesn't trust doctors since the previous ones were drunk or just plain unreliable. May Wynn, Francis' co-star from The Caine Mutiny, is a white woman who was raised on the reservation after her parents were killed. And Donna Reed is the initial flirt who eventually gets on Francis' side when the others call him an Indian lover (the actual name they called him was "woodhawk".) Quite compelling what I saw so I decided to review this here in case I don't have the chance to watch the whole thing. Still, if I do, I'll come back here and either add some comments or rewrite the whole thing...

westerner357 Directed by Phil Karlson who later helmed the excellent GUNMAN'S WALK, this one involves an army surgeon (Robert Francis) who is at odds against his commander (Philip Carey) over the treatment of a malaria outbreak amongst the Kiowa.Carey hates army doctors as much as the Kiowa since the last three he's had on his post were drunkards who should never have been in the service to begin with, so he doesn't take too kindly to Francis and treats the guy with contempt. Francis also feels he has to step in order to prevent another Indian war and he disobeys a direct order from Carey to treat the Kiowa chief's ailing son.It's fairly standard fare that could have been better if the dialog wasn't so silly and they avoided using old stock footage of battle scenes that looked out of place with the rest of the film. Not to mention the fact that the rest of it was filmed on the same Columbia ranch locations that we've seen a hundred times before. It makes the whole thing look more typical than it should be.With Jack Kelly & James Best as the junior officers, and Donna Reed as the niece of the post commander who spends a lot of time flirting with the officers, I'd give this one a less than average rating than a subject treatment like this deserves.4 out of 10

bux I saw this one at the theater as a kid and was somewhat disappointed, probably too much story and not enough action to suit my taste at the time. However by today's standards, this one treats the Native American much more respectfully than other movies of it's time, most notably the God-awful "Arrowhead"(1953). The story moves along well and there really is enough action to go around and Francis shows that he had some real star quality, had he lived. Not a bad one.