Dragoon Wells Massacre

Last updated

Dragoon Wells Massacre
Dragoon Wells Massacre poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Harold D. Schuster
Screenplay by Warren Douglas
Story by Oliver Drake
Produced by Lindsley Parsons
Starring Barry Sullivan
Dennis O'Keefe
Mona Freeman
Katy Jurado
Sebastian Cabot
Jack Elam
Hank Worden
Cinematography William H. Clothier
Edited byMaurice Wright
Music by Paul Dunlap
Production
company
Lindsley Parsons Productions
Distributed by Allied Artists Pictures
Release date
  • April 28, 1957 (1957-04-28)(United States)
Running time
88 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Dragoon Wells Massacre is a 1957 American CinemaScope DeLuxe Color Western film directed by Harold D. Schuster starring Barry Sullivan, Dennis O'Keefe, Mona Freeman and Katy Jurado. [1] The supporting cast features Sebastian Cabot, Jack Elam and Hank Worden.

Contents

Plot

Wagons converge in the middle of nowhere. One is carrying Army captain Matt Riordan, the only survivor of an ambush by Chief Yellow Claw and his Apache braves. Another is a prison wagon carrying accused killer Link Ferris and a second man, known as Tioga, to town for trial, escorted by Marshal Bill Haney.

A stagecoach turns up next, owned by Jonah McAdam and carrying Matt's former sweetheart Ann Bradley with her new beau, wealthy Philip Scott, as well as Mara Fay, an entertainer. The passengers are warned that Yellow Claw is in the area. Link and Tioga have their shackles removed so they can assist the others when the Apaches attack.

Matt discovers that McAdam is smuggling weapons to the Indians illegally. At a relay station, a young girl is the only one left after the Apaches have burned it to the ground. Ann looks after her while Tioga sacrifices his life to save the child. Matt falls in love with Mara and joins forces with Link to defeat the raiders. For his help, Link is granted his freedom by Haney. As he rides away, Link is followed by Ann.

Cast

Production

Parts of the film were shot in Kanab Canyon, Johnson Canyon, the Gap, and the Kanab movie fort in Utah. [2]

Reception

Time Out called it "a highly enjoyable film, magnificently shot by William Clothier and with a surprisingly tight, inventive script by Warren Douglas ". [3]

Comic book adaptation

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>King Kong</i> (1933 film) 1933 film directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack

King Kong is a 1933 American pre-Code adventure horror monster film directed and produced by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, with special effects by Willis H. O'Brien. Produced and distributed by RKO Radio Pictures, it is the first film in the King Kong franchise. The film stars Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong and Bruce Cabot. In the film, a giant ape dubbed Kong captured from Skull Island attempts to possess a beautiful young woman.

<i>JFK</i> (film) 1991 American thriller film directed by Oliver Stone

JFK is a 1991 American epic political thriller film written and directed by Oliver Stone. The film examines the investigation into the assassination of John F. Kennedy by New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison, who came to believe there was a conspiracy to assassinate Kennedy and that Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone.

<i>Looney Tunes</i> Warner Bros. animated short film series and media franchise

Looney Tunes is an American animated franchise produced and distributed by Warner Bros. It began as a series of short films that originally ran from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series Merrie Melodies, during the golden age of American animation. Following a revival in the late 1970s, new shorts were released as recently as 2014. The two series introduced a large cast of characters, including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Porky Pig. The term Looney Tunes has since been expanded to also refer to the characters themselves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katy Jurado</span> Mexican actress (1924–2002)

María Cristina Estela Marcela Jurado García, known professionally as Katy Jurado, was a Mexican actress. Jurado began her acting career in Mexico during the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. In 1951, she was recruited by American filmmakers in Mexico and began her Hollywood career during the Golden Age of Hollywood. She acted in popular Western films of the 1950s and 1960s. Her talent for playing a variety of characters helped pave the way for Mexican actresses in American cinema. She was the first Latin American actress nominated for an Oscar, as Best Supporting Actress for her work in Broken Lance (1954), and was the first to win a Golden Globe Award, for her performance in High Noon (1952).

<i>The Outlaw Josey Wales</i> 1976 film by Clint Eastwood

The Outlaw Josey Wales is a 1976 American revisionist Western film set during and after the American Civil War. It was directed by and starred Clint Eastwood, with Chief Dan George, Sondra Locke, Bill McKinney and John Vernon. The film tells the story of Josey Wales, a Missouri farmer whose family is murdered by Union militia during the Civil War. Driven to revenge, Wales joins a Confederate guerrilla band and makes a name for himself as a feared gunfighter. After the war, all the fighters in Wales' group except for him surrender to Union soldiers, but the Confederates end up being massacred. Wales becomes an outlaw and is pursued by bounty hunters and Union soldiers as he tries to make a new life for himself.

<i>The Searchers</i> 1956 film by John Ford

The Searchers is a 1956 American Technicolor VistaVision epic Western film directed by John Ford and written by Frank S. Nugent, based on the 1954 novel by Alan Le May. It is set during the Texas-Native American wars, and stars John Wayne as a middle-aged Civil War veteran who spends years looking for his abducted niece, accompanied by his adopted nephew.

Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centered on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central character is lawman Marshal Matt Dillon, played by William Conrad on radio and James Arness on television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles W. Chesnutt</span> Writer, activist, and lawyer

Charles Waddell Chesnutt was an American author, essayist, political activist and lawyer, best known for his novels and short stories exploring complex issues of racial and social identity in the post-Civil War South. Two of his books were adapted as silent films in 1926 and 1927 by the African-American director and producer Oscar Micheaux. Following the Civil Rights Movement during the 20th century, interest in the works of Chesnutt was revived. Several of his books were published in new editions, and he received formal recognition. A commemorative stamp was printed in 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dennis O'Keefe</span> American actor (1899–1957)

Dennis O'Keefe was an American actor and screenwriter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gus Van Sant</span> American film director, producer, photographer and musician

Gus Green Van Sant Jr. is an American film director, producer, photographer, and musician who has earned acclaim as an independent filmmaker. His films typically deal with themes of marginalized subcultures, in particular homosexuality. Van Sant is considered one of the most prominent auteurs of the New Queer Cinema movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freddy Krueger</span> Main antagonist of the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise

Freddy Krueger is a fictional character and the primary antagonist in the A Nightmare on Elm Street film series. He was created by Wes Craven and made his debut in Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) as the malevolent spirit of a child killer who had been burned to death by his victims' parents after evading prison. Krueger goes on to murder his victims in their dreams, causing their deaths in the real world as well. In the dream world, he is a powerful force and seemingly invulnerable. However, whenever Freddy is pulled back into the real world, he has normal human vulnerabilities and can be destroyed. He is commonly identified by his burned, disfigured face, dirty red-and-green-striped sweater and brown fedora, and trademark metal-clawed, brown leather, right hand glove. This glove was the product of Krueger's own imagination, having welded the blades himself before using it to murder many of his victims, both in the real and dream worlds. Over the course of the film series, Freddy has battled several reoccurring survivors including Nancy Thompson and Alice Johnson. The character was consistently portrayed by Robert Englund in the original film series as well as in the television spin-off Freddy's Nightmares.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Crook</span> 19th-century U.S. Army officer

George R. Crook was a career United States Army officer who served in the American Civil War and the Indian Wars. He is best known for commanding U.S. forces in the 1886 campaign that led to the defeat of the Apache leader Geronimo. As a result, the Apache nicknamed Crook Nantan Lupan, which means "Grey Wolf."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2nd Cavalry Regiment (United States)</span> Military unit

The 2nd Cavalry Regiment, also known as the 2nd Dragoons, is an active Stryker infantry and cavalry regiment of the United States Army. The Second Cavalry Regiment is a unit of the United States Army Europe and Africa, with its garrison at the Rose Barracks in Vilseck, Germany. It can trace its lineage back to the early part of the 19th century.

<i>Nash Bridges</i> American police drama television series

Nash Bridges is an American police procedural television series created by Carlton Cuse. The show stars Don Johnson and Cheech Marin as two Inspectors with the San Francisco Police Department's Special Investigations Unit (SIU).

<i>The FBI Story</i> 1959 film

The FBI Story is a 1959 American crime drama film starring James Stewart, and produced and directed by Mervyn LeRoy. The screenplay by Richard L. Breen and John Twist is based on a book by Don Whitehead.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barry Sullivan (American actor)</span> American actor (1912–1994)

Patrick Barry Sullivan was an American actor of film, television, theatre, and radio. In a career that spanned over 40 years, Sullivan appeared in over 100 movies from the 1930s to the 1980s, primarily as a leading actor after establishing himself in the industry, and later as a character actor.

<i>Fort Apache</i> (film) 1948 film by John Ford

Fort Apache is a 1948 American Western film directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne and Henry Fonda. The film was the first of the director's "Cavalry Trilogy" and was followed by She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) and Rio Grande (1950), both also starring Wayne. The screenplay was inspired by James Warner Bellah's short story "Massacre" (1947). The historical sources for "Massacre" have been attributed both to George Armstrong Custer and the Battle of Little Bighorn and to the Fetterman Fight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hank Worden</span> American actor (1901-1992)

Hank Worden was an American cowboy-turned-character actor who appeared in many Westerns, including many John Ford films such as The Searchers and the TV series The Lone Ranger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western comics</span> Comic genre

Western comics is a comics genre usually depicting the American Old West frontier and typically set during the late nineteenth century. The term is generally associated with an American comic books genre published from the late 1940s through the 1950s. Western comics of the period typically featured dramatic scripts about cowboys, gunfighters, lawmen, bounty hunters, outlaws, and Native Americans. Accompanying artwork depicted a rural America populated with such iconic images as guns, cowboy hats, vests, horses, saloons, ranches, and deserts, contemporaneous with the setting.

References

  1. Dragoon Wells Massacre at the American Film Institute Catalog
  2. James V. D'Arc (2010). When Hollywood Came to Town: A History of Moviemaking in Utah (1st ed.). Layton: Gibbs Smith. p. 289. ISBN   978-1-4236-0587-4. Wikidata   Q123575108.
  3. "Dragoon Wells Massacre". Time Out . September 10, 2012. Retrieved September 9, 2014.
  4. "Dell Four Color #815". Grand Comics Database.
  5. Dell Four Color #815 at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original )