That scene,when the good doctor courts danger ,when he comes towards an army of angry bloodthirsty Indians ,strongly reminds you of that scene in "the war of the worlds" (1953) when Uncle Matthews ,the minister ,faces up to the Martians ,a Bible and a cross in his hands .But those Indians were supposed to be Christians whereas the ETs were not .Which would tend to show that religion does necessarily calm people down !Jeff Chandler is efficient as sergeant Bell but the love affair is totally bland and Dorothy Malone is totally wasted (hardly 10 lines to say in the whole movie)-she would win an AA for her next movie the famous "written on the wind" melodrama -.Some (Indian only) sadism in certain scenes.

Since I love westerns, and usually have no problems watching actors like Jeff Chandler, Dorothy Malone, Ward Bond and Lee Marvin, I thought for sure I would enjoy this movie.Wrong. The lead, "1st Sgt. Emmetr Bell" (Chandler) was a unlikeable, bitter guy who gets a quick slam in about "having no use for the Bible" and appearing as a bitter guy. My major complaint, however, was that - especially in a western - you better grab the audience's attention early on, if you want to hold. Nothing happens in this movie for at least the first half hour. By then I was bored, and I couldn't have been the only one. If memory serves me, the big calvary-vs. Indians battle doesn't happen for at least an hour.Malone also did not look the part at all. Marvin with an Irish accent? Puh-leeze! They and some of the others either had no credibility or they sounded like they just mailed in their performances. At least they were good enough to film this on location, in the Pacific Northwest, which always looks impressive on film. This might have been an interesting had they punched it up in the first half, but you can't expect to hold audiences with something this lackluster.

Slow-paced story gets off to a ponderous start with too much talk and too little action, with only some gorgeous scenery for eye comfort. The fault seems to be George Marshall's sluggish direction of a uniformly bland cast.All of the actors go through their paces in rather standard roles, including JEFF CHANDLER, KEITH ANDES, WARD BOND and LEE MARVIN and for a western that promises some action when the plot thickens, it's a good half-hour before the conflict between cavalry and Indians provides any thrills.DOROTHY MALONE has the only substantial female role, as a woman no longer in love with her husband. In make-up and hairstyle, she looks and acts more as though she's a woman of modern times rather than frontier days. The romantic triangle (Malone, Chandler, Andes) is a weak one.The big set piece is the Indian attack that occurs an hour into the film and wipes out most of the command. It's well staged and vigorously mounted for western action. But it comes too late to alter the slow pacing of most of the story which is either Marshall's or the scriptwriter's fault.A minor quibble: All of the night scenes have a soundstage look to them, in sharp contrast to all the daytime locations.Summing up: Lackluster western needed the John Ford touch from George Marshall, with Lee Marvin and his Irish accent less than credible in the sort of supporting role Victor McLaglen usually played. Nothing more than average.

This fine western is a cavalry-Indian affair that has the usual treaty-breaking by the government as it builds a road and fort on Indian land that causes an uproar and leads to war. The military's action sets in motion cavalry-Indian hostilities and the tribes gather for an attack on the fort. Many of the Indians have been baptised and converted to Christianity by a white missionary and live in peace with the soldiers, many serving as scouts under a sergeant played by Jeff Chandler. Complicating matters are two white women the Indians hold as hostages who are at great risk should war break out. Chandler did some his best work in westerns and is the lieutenant whom the Indian soldiers respect and follow faithfully. Chandler's flirtation with a married woman, played by Dorothy Malone, doesn't have much to do with the story other than to give the leading man a romantic interest. Ward Bond, Michael Ansara and Keith Andes are good in supporting roles. Oregon's scenic beauty is on display in this CinemaScope film.