joel mccrea star a tough u cavalry sergeant vinson and who have to take command of c troop when the senior officer be kill during an apache attack . but what drive vinson on . and be he the right man to lead the remain member of the troop . direct by joseph newman and the film photography come from carl guthrie and screenplay be courtesy of martin goldsmith and it film in cinemascope with de luxe colour and the co star list contain forrest tucker and john russell and george n. neise and susan cabot . a moody and tough psychological western that showcases the truly good side of the b western splinter . thematically strong with it anti racist core and and really tightly write by goldsmith and it also notable for contain a wonderful performance from mccrea . tho his western output be very hit and miss { the brilliant peckinpah film ride the high country be to come 4 year later } mccrea be always value for money in even the tardiest of oater . here he get to really grizzle for all his worth and his vinson be a bitter man and blind by hate and yet still capable of soften up if engage in the right conversation . mccrea be first rate in the role and never over do the hard nosed side of the character and garner believable sympathy when his guard be down . more known for be the director of this island earth and joseph newman be hardly the name one link to the direction of a psychological western . yet he do a surprisingly good job with the action sequence and rightly let his actor just tell the story . there a small complaint that the final battle be all too brief and but that a touch offset by a hillside c troop or apache battle that take place in the first third of the film . briskly construct and with no saggy male posturing to weigh it down and the battle show newman to be quite adept at craft a good old fashion fight to the death between two very old fashion foe . the film also look terrific . tho sadly not have a dvd release and therefore not get a remastered work over and the current print of the film available to television network be still a treat in this high definition age . where once the print be apparently murky and you now should be able to adjust and reap the benefit of what be on offer . film at three location and gallup new mexico and red rock state park new mexico and kanab utah and carl guthrie photography really utilise these location and one moment it be a beautiful sprawling landscape and the next the rock be envelop the character to portray the tension and confinement of their emotional and physical journey . all give the de luxe sheen a the brown and red and uniform blue come vividly to life . fort massacre be little known and certainly under see and thus it reputation have be found by the casual western viewer enter into it unaware of what type of character drive film it be . it hop that it can now find a new and more appreciative audience because it one of the good b western of the late 1950s . positive .