Smoke Signal (1955)

So much average

A Masterpiece!

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Smoke Signal stars Dana Andrews as an army deserter who left because his late commanding officer was hell bent on starting an Indian war which he did. When the Indians went on the offense Andrews deserted them and is now a prisoner.Now the commander is dead and Andrews is a prisoner at his fort. But that might not mean much as most of the fort is dead and the Utes are closing in. There one chance for the survivors and it means heading down the Colorado River which as yet is unexplored, especially around that Grand Canyon area. One woman the late commander's daughter Piper Laurie, one trapper Douglas Spencer and a bunch of soldiers led by Captain William Talman who has a special reason for hating Andrews as his brother was killed in a battle with the Utes. But it's pretty clear that Andrews is the one guy who really knows what he's doing.The film is mostly the journey down the Colorado River where we see who makes it and who doesn't. Only six are left in the boat at the end, you have to see which six.Nice location cinematography and good ensemble performance by a veteran cast.

This otherwise routine western has two things going for it—great red rock scenery and William Talman as the cavalry captain. The scenery speaks for itself, but it's Talman's committed performance that lifts the human element. He makes his by-the-book officer utterly believable. Couple that with his screen time and it's really he who has the starring role. Too bad he settled into his long-running D.A. role on Perry Mason; then too, despite his semi-good guy role here, no one from that era could do bug-eyed psychos as well as Talman.At the same time, it's too bad Andrews couldn't get motivated for his role. He pretty much picks up a paycheck and leaves it at that. But then a Universal western is a comedown for this former TCF movie star, and it shows. It's also pretty much a ditto for Laurie who tags along in indifferent fashion, this not surprisingly being her last film for Universal. Good thing the supporting cast includes so many capable, familiar faces— Stone, Wilke, Jones—to help save the acting day.Frankly, the plot seems more complicated than the script could lucidly handle, then again, maybe that's just me. But one thing with most westerns—you can enjoy the scenery and action without having to follow the plot. And that appears the case here. On the whole, the centerpiece action on the river is well done with only a few blended process shots. And boy, I really jumped when the one boat suddenly struck a rock in totally realistic fashion.Anyway, as a western, the movie has its compensations without being anything special.

Since "broken arrow" it had become politically correct to treat the Indians as human beings and it was about time!Like James Stewart ,the hero lived with a tribe,married a squaw (who died too) ,but it was a bad idea cause he was a military man and by leaving his "people " behind ,he became a deserter .He was captured and held prisoner in a fort in jeopardy for the Indians are all around.The only way is the river which runs through the canyon.The screenplay is predictable to a fault ,the female part (Piper Laurie)is essentially decorative ,but the landscapes are worth the price of admission.Like Richard Widmark in " the last wagon" ,Dana Andrews will "redeem himself" (but he is actually so noble there is nothing to redeem indeed).This is a "river movie" ,in which the enemy is actually not the Indians but the dangerous waters and the white men's jealousy and hatred .Like this ? try these..."River of no return" ,Otto Preminger "The far horizons" ,Rudolph Maté

As a child in the 1960s I watched as many Westerns at the cinema as possible, and "Smoke Signal" was one of those that left a lasting impression. I had to wait many years for it to be shown on British TV, and then it wasn't quite as good as I'd remembered, but still quite novel, with the US Cavalry taking to the boats to escape Indians. Certainly the Grand Canyon made a spectacular background to much of the film, though with the white protagonists being confined to two small boats quite a lot of rather obvious back projection was necessary whenever one of them spoke.Few films of the 1950s (or indeed of any period)dared omit a female from the cast, however contrived her inclusion might be, and here we have Piper Laurie visiting her father at one of the most primitive forts I've seen portrayed in a film at a time of tension with the Indians.