Cavalry Scout (1951)

Just what I expected

Disturbing yet enthralling

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

OK so this is a routine western but why is that, in itself, so bad? Studios such as Monogram and Republic were adept at turning out exactly what B western audiences wanted to see and understandably worked on the principle of "if it ain't broke don't fix it".For those of us who still enjoy reliving those magical days of yesteryear, this is perfectly acceptable stuff. Rod Cameron is noble and heroic, the bad guys are very bad, the pretty girl is feisty but needs male support and the soldiers and Indians sort out their differences in the end. In other words, all is as it should be in B Western Land! And to the reviewer who commented that no one had shown any interest in "restoring" the pale and washed out colour, I would make the point that the Cinecolor process was notoriously bad and what you see now is exactly what cinema-goers saw half a century ago. So there's really nothing to restore......

The major drawback of this movie is that it was shot in a truly mediocre colour process known as Cinecolor which gives it a dull,grainy ,washed out air which is not at all pleasant to look at .Ignore this ,assuming you can ,and you may find yourself able to give it a slightly higher rating than my modest 6 . The picture is set in 1870's Montana where former Confederate officer ,turned civilian scout for the US Cavalry ,Kirby Frye (Rod Cameron) is sent to find out who has stolen a consignment of Gatling Guns with the aim of using them on robberies and also selling them to the Cheyenne and Sioux who are readying for battle against Custer .The villain is a local freight hauler Martin Gavin (James Millican ) .Frye is helped in his task by Lieutenant Spalding (Jim Davis)and he also finds time to romance the shrewd and lovely local business woman Claire (Audrey Long) ,at whom Spalding has also set his cap.Future star spotters will enjoy seeing James Arness in a rare bad guy role .Some pro-Indian sentiments are voiced ,which sets it apart from some other movies of the era but essentially this is routine fare although brisk direction by veteran Lesley Selander helps as do some effective performances .It is just such a pity the colour is so drab as better and brighter colour would have boosted interest considerably.Its watchable but nothing more

This low-budget western programmer is as bland as they come. Even the colour, after half-a-century and nobody (understandably) showing any interest in restoring it, is pale and washed out. Rod Cameron plays the eponymous cavalry scout on the hunt for a stolen Gatling gun the government believes someone is trying to sell to restless Indian natives. He's a little too old for the role of leading man, but he probably needed the work and so was no doubt cheap to hire. The plot is strictly by-the-numbers stuff with no attempt at characterisation beyond the good-bad template Hollywood studios seemed to apply to all characters in their minor westerns. This one was produced by one of the Poverty row studios – Monogram or Republic, I forget which one – which probably goes a long way to explaining why it is so insipid and unambitious. Unless you're on some sad mission to be one of the few people in the world to have viewed all Rod Cameron or Poverty Row Studios' output I'd give this one a wide berth.

This Cinecolor B-western has the usual Calvary vs. Indians script, with a stolen Gatling Gun thrown in to boot !. The storyline drags at times, but is helped by strong performances from Rod Cameron and a pre-Gunsmoke James Arness. Arness had one of his first major roles here, as one of the Gatling Gun henchmen.The video quality was poor, with many of the color scenes actually seeming to have a greenish tint ! I enjoyed this film, mainly for the great acting job done by Jim Davis as a Cavalry Lieutenant. Davis was a very good actor who excelled in many western films...... he never quite became a star, but he was much better than many who did !