Chuka (1967)

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

CHUKA is a fun western for Rod Taylor, not one of the best of its type but solid enough as a piece of entertainment. The film is set within a fort occupied by the US army and laid to siege by a vengeful army of Indians. With little chance of rescue from outside, tempers fray within the walls and danger comes from inside as well as out.This kind of backdrop typically brims with suspense and so it proves here. Taylor was always one of my favourite stars of the decade and he plays the ultimate tough guy here with his tough-bitten, unsentimental turn. The film has better characterisation than you'd expect for the genre as well as solid action scenes and a surprisingly pessimistic feel. The violence has a harder edge than expected. It feels a little like THE ALAMO in places albeit a version made on a lower budget.John Mills has a fine role as the alcoholic colonel in charge of the fort's defences while Ernest Borgnine is a hard-as-nails sergeant. Borgnine's dragged-out fist-fight with Taylor is one of the great ones, up there with those featured in COOL HAND Luke and THEY LIVE. Louis Hayward is the old timer and James Whitmore has a good character part as a boozer. THUNDERBALL actress Luciana Paluzzi's red-haired beauty is a nice addition to the mix to boot.

Confronted with impending starvation and death "Chief Hanu" (Marco Lopez) of the Arapaho tribe mulls attacking a nearby United States Army outpost to acquire food and weapons. Although the commanding officer of the fort "Colonel Stuart Valois" (John Mills) fully understands the plight of the Arapaho, his superiors don't believe an attack is imminent and have forbidden him to help them out. Adding to his concern is the fact that the soldiers he has under his command are extremely undisciplined and a search party he has recently sent out has yet to return. Along with that a stagecoach carrying two female passengers and a gunslinger has arrived and with them the driver brings even more ominous news. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this film turned out to be a solid, no frills western for the most part. Admittedly, some of the action scenes were a bit too far-fetched with the gunslinger "Chuka" (Rod Taylor) being much too fast and accurate with his pistol to be believed. Even so, I liked the way the story progressed and I thought that Luciana Paluzzi was perfectly cast as "Senora Veronica Kleitz". Be that as it may, I enjoyed this movie and because of that I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

This movie dealt with a fort that was being surrounded by Arapahoes Native Americans as the soldiers were defending supplies and food that the Arapahoes wanted. Rod Taylor plays a man, Chuka, who comes upon this rather dire situation. He helps a former lover of his and a niece who become stranded while traveling on the road. The visitors become stuck inside the fort as the Arapahoes prepare to attack it. There are several scenes involving Chuka and the other fort soldiers that show the personalities of the fort's defenders. There are even a few light moments in the movie as the imminent attack draws near. Rod's character also has a love scene with the former lover (gorgeous Luciana Paluzzi). Chuka tries to persuade the commanding officer of the fort to abandon it and allow the Arapahoes to take the supplies, which he refuses. The concept of following duty appears to be an unconvincing aspect of the situation given that the safety of the fort's occupants should have been paramount. John Mills, who plays the commanding officer, is the guilt driven colonel who refuses to allow the soldiers to abandon the fort as a way out of the situation. The movie reminded me of situations where the number of fighters on one side was way outnumbered by the opposition. There was little sympathy for those that followed the orders blindly. Chuka was one of the few who offered a possible alternative to the impending massacre.

When "Chuka" was released back in 1967, who knew it'd be one of the last of those westerns which used to come out of the studio system with annual regularity? As an example of the genre it's quite competent and it benefits from a better than average cast -- including Oscar winners John Mills and Ernest Borgnine -- but the market for this kind of movie was drying up in the late 1960s and has never really recovered. Look for a sweaty Michael Cole, (soon to achieve fame on TV's "Mod Squad), getting a flogging as the stagecoach rolls into the fort. This flogging ranks 15th in the book, "Lash! The Hundred Great Scenes of Men Being Whipped in the Movies." Also look for the scene near the end when a freshly-dug grave is mentioned. Opinions may differ as to just who is occupying this grave.