Springfield Rifle (1952)

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

This film has 3 strikes against it from the beginning. First, production values were not the highest (for example, in one scene in the mountains, panning shots show a heavy snow, while closeups show a distinctly powdery snow...actually white sand). Second, the print currently being shown on TCM is very poor (in one scene it looks as if black snow is falling). And, third, Gary Cooper is the only big star in the picture. And, along with production values, there's a big difference in the Rockies of Colorado, where this is supposed to have taken place, and the Sierra Nevadas of California, where this was filmed.Putting those issues aside, it's not a bad story. It's pretty clear early on that Cooper is working undercover, and is not really a disgraced former army officer -- branded yellow. He's working to discover who is selling horse to the Confederates through Colorado. And, as we discover who the real traitors are...well, there are a few surprises.An interesting aspect of this picture are the supporting actors. Lon Chaney, Jr. (a long way down from his salad days as a werewolf), Alan Hale, Jr. (a la "Gilligan's Island"), Fess Parker ("Daniel Boone"), Martin Milner ("Route 66"), among others.

This is an enjoyable and underrated Western, but one aspect of it is particularly enjoyable and particularly underrated: the magnificent cinematography.Edwin DuPar's cinematography is excellent in every respect: the framing, the colour, the texture, the lighting and the location filming. He should have been nominated for an Oscar for it, which may have led to his filming top movies. Instead, he wasn't nominated, and he spent virtually his entire career in B movies and TV episodes - a sad loss to A movies.The film is underrated generally. Disgracefully, it doesn't even get a single star in Halliwell's Film Guide - it should have had at least one for the cinematography alone! Equally disgracefully, Edwin DuPar doesn't even get a mention in Halliwell's Who's Who in Films (at least, not in my edition).The cast of 'Springfield Rifle' is very good, the action scenes effective, and the plot works well, by and large. Well worth watching.

"Springfield rifle" is a western but it's not your usual average western.Its screenplay could be that of a spy thriller ,for it is primarily a story of spies ,of undercover agents.First thing you have got to bear in mind ,if you want to appreciate De Toth's movie ,is "don't rely too much on appearances ".Things are not what they seem indeed and the audience ,till the last third ,does not know who they can trust.De Toth was not apparently interested in the female character relegated to a position of secondary importance ,even with the moments of the plot which deal with her (and Cooper's ) son:this boy is expected to appear but all his adventures are verbally told (he only appears in the last scene).Just as the director does not tell us the story of two officers' hatred (which was what the audience expected ).Just as in De Toth's 1959 "Day of the outlaw" the "violent " dance and the chase in the snow were completely unexpected.

The Springfield Rifle is a fantastic counterespionage story. Sent to the Confederates as a Counterfeit Traitor, Major Lex Kearney (Gary Cooper) penetrates the horse thief ring to uncover the identity of the confederate ring leader. The simple plan is complicated when Major Kearney's son enlists to make good his father's apparent misdeeds and Major's contact is killed. Will the good Major successfully ex-filtrate and prevent the Confederacy from launching its last offensive?Although the title is deceiving, as rifles have comparatively little to do with the story, the plot is fast moving and the tension increases incrementally with each new disaster. The film favorably compares to John Ford's great cavalry trilogy and many of the techniques of Rio Grande seem to have been successfully repeated.