Seminole Uprising

Last updated

Seminole Uprising
Saminole Uprising.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Earl Bellamy
Screenplay by Robert E. Kent
Based onBugle's Wake
by Curt Brandon
Produced by Sam Katzman
Starring George Montgomery
CinematographyHenry Freulich
Edited byJerome Thoms
Music by Mischa Bakaleinikoff
Color process Technicolor
Production
company
Sam Katzman Productions
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date
  • May 1, 1955 (1955-05-01)
Running time
72 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Seminole Uprising is a 1955 American Western film directed by Earl Bellamy and starring George Montgomery based on the 1952 novel Bugle's Wake by Curt Brandon. [1]

Contents

Plot

Set in 1855 Texas, Army Lt. Cam Elliott (George Montgomery) is detailed in capturing a tribe of Seminole Indians who have fled their Florida reservation for the Lone Star state. Arriving at the Army fort to which he has been assigned, Elliott sees Susan Hannah (Karin Booth), the fort commander's daughter, with whom he was once infatuated. Finding that she is now engaged to Capt. Dudley (Ed Hinton), the two officers soon develop a dislike for each other.

Wise to Indian ways and somewhat sympathetic to their plight, Elliott tries to avoid bloodshed and negotiate a peaceful return with Black Cat (Steven Ritch), the Seminole leader. When the unscrupulous Captain Dudley knowingly condemns Black Cat's wife and son to certain death at the hands of aggrieved ranchers who are out for revenge, Black Cat wages war, attacking the fort and taking Susan Hannah captive. [2] Later, Black Cat's tribe attacks Elliott's detachment in the hills until they are defeated in the climactic battle scene. Black Cat surrenders and releases Hannah.

Cast

Critical reception

Variety gave the film a tepid review, saying that it was a "fairish Western" but too formulaic to build audience interest. Montgomery gave "some credibility" to his starring role and Hinton was "suitably unpleasant" as the villainous rival, the Hollywood trade journal opined. [2] But the film's re-use of stock battle scene footage was panned as "strictly contrived", suffering by comparison to the technicolor footage shot by cinematographer Henry Freulich. [2] Mischa Bakaleinikoff's music was singled out for praise as a "plus contribution". [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seminole Wars</span> Conflicts in Florida between the US govt. and Seminole Nation (1816–58)

The Seminole Wars were a series of three military conflicts between the United States and the Seminoles that took place in Florida between about 1816 and 1858. The Seminoles are a Native American nation which coalesced in northern Florida during the early 1700s, when the territory was still a Spanish colonial possession. Tensions grew between the Seminoles and settlers in the newly independent United States in the early 1800s, mainly because enslaved people regularly fled from Georgia into Spanish Florida, prompting slaveowners to conduct slave raids across the border. A series of cross-border skirmishes escalated into the First Seminole War in 1817, when General Andrew Jackson led an incursion into the territory over Spanish objections. Jackson's forces destroyed several Seminole and Black Seminole towns and briefly occupied Pensacola before withdrawing in 1818. The U.S. and Spain soon negotiated the transfer of the territory with the Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Osceola</span> Seminole leader

Osceola, named Billy Powell at birth in Alabama, became an influential leader of the Seminole people in Florida. His mother was Muscogee, and his great-grandfather was a Scotsman, James McQueen. He was reared by his mother in the Creek (Muscogee) tradition. When he was a child, they migrated to Florida with other Red Stick refugees, led by a relative, Peter McQueen, after their group's defeat in 1814 in the Creek Wars. There they became part of what was known as the Seminole people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second Seminole War</span> 1835–42 war in Florida

The Second Seminole War, also known as the Florida War, was a conflict from 1835 to 1842 in Florida between the United States and groups of people collectively known as Seminoles, consisting of Native Americans and Black Indians. It was part of a series of conflicts called the Seminole Wars. The Second Seminole War, often referred to as the Seminole War, is regarded as "the longest and most costly of the Indian conflicts of the United States". After the Treaty of Payne's Landing in 1832 that called for the Seminole's removal from Florida, tensions rose until fierce hostilities occurred in the Dade battle in 1835. This conflict started the war. The Seminoles and the U.S. forces engaged in mostly small engagements for more than six years. By 1842, only a few hundred native peoples remained in Florida. Although no peace treaty was ever signed, the war was declared over on August 14, 1842.

<i>The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin</i> American childrens television series (1954–1959)

The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin is an American children's television series in the Western genre that aired from October 1954 to May 1959 on the ABC television network. In all, 164 episodes aired. The show starred Lee Aaker as Rusty, a boy orphaned in an Indian raid, who was being raised by the soldiers at a US Cavalry post known as Fort Apache. Rusty and his German Shepherd dog, Rin Tin Tin, help the soldiers to establish order in the American West. James E. Brown appeared as Lieutenant Ripley "Rip" Masters. Co-stars included Joe Sawyer as Sergeant Biff O'Hara and Rand Brooks as Corporal Randy Boone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Montgomery (actor)</span> American actor (1916–2000)

George Montgomery was an American actor, best known for his work in Western films and television. He was also a painter, director, producer, writer, sculptor, furniture craftsman, and stuntman. He was married to Dinah Shore and was engaged to Hedy Lamarr.

<i>The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell</i> 1955 film by Otto Preminger

The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell is a 1955 American CinemaScope biographical drama film directed by Otto Preminger, and starring Gary Cooper and co-starring Charles Bickford, Ralph Bellamy, Rod Steiger, and Elizabeth Montgomery in her film debut. The film is based on the notorious 1925 court-martial of General Billy Mitchell, who is considered a founding figure of the U.S. Air Force.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Reed (actor)</span> American actor (1916–2001)

Walter Reed was an American stage, film and television actor.

<i>The Cat and the Canary</i> (1939 film) 1939 film by Elliott Nugent

The Cat and the Canary is a 1939 American horror comedy film directed by Elliott Nugent starring Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard. It is a remake of the 1927 silent film The Cat and the Canary, which was based on the 1922 play of the same name by John Willard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Pickard (American actor)</span> American actor (1913–1993)

John M. Pickard was an American actor who appeared primarily in television westerns.

<i>7th Cavalry</i> (film) 1956 film

7th Cavalry is a 1956 American Western film directed by Joseph H. Lewis based on a story, "A Horse for Mrs. Custer," by Glendon Swarthout set after the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Filmed in Mexico, the picture stars Randolph Scott and Barbara Hale.

<i>The Savage</i> (1952 film) 1952 film by George Marshall

The Savage is a 1952 American Technicolor Western film directed by George Marshall. The film stars Charlton Heston, Susan Morrow, and Peter Hansen. Much of The Savage was shot in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The film is based on L. L. Foreman's novel, The Renegade, first published in 1949 by Pocket Books.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Millican</span> American actor (1911–1955)

James Millican was an American actor with over 200 film appearances mostly in western movies.

<i>Indian Uprising</i> (film) 1952 film by Ray Nazarro

Indian Uprising is a 1952 American Western film directed by Ray Nazarro and starring George Montgomery, Audrey Long and Carl Benton Reid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fay Roope</span> American actor (1893–1961)

Fay Roope was a Harvard graduate and a character actor who appeared in American theater in New York City from the 1920s through 1950, and in American film and television from 1949 through 1961.

<i>Outpost in Morocco</i> 1949 film by Robert Florey

Outpost in Morocco is a 1949 American action adventure film directed by Robert Florey, starring George Raft and Marie Windsor. Paul Gerard (Raft), a Moroccan Spahi officer and his French Foreign Legion garrison, holds off attacks from the native tribes of the Emir of Bel-Rashad, the father of Cara (Windsor), the woman he loves. As a rarity amongst American films of the Foreign Legion genre, the Legion cooperated with the producers. A second unit led by Robert Rossen filmed scenes in Morocco. Some of the large-scale action scenes of the film were reused in Fort Algiers and Legion of the Doomed.

<i>The Guns of Fort Petticoat</i> 1957 film

The Guns of Fort Petticoat is a 1957 American Western film produced by Harry Joe Brown and Audie Murphy for Brown-Murphy Pictures. It was based on the 1955 short story "Petticoat Brigade" by Chester William Harrison (1913–1994) that he expanded into a novelization for the film's release. It was directed by George Marshall, distributed by Columbia Pictures and filmed at the Iverson Movie Ranch and at Old Tucson.

<i>The Iroquois Trail</i> 1950 American film by Phil Karlson

The Iroquois Trail is a 1950 American Western film directed by Phil Karlson starring George Montgomery and Brenda Marshall. It is set during the French-Indian War. It is an adaptation of James Fenimore Cooper's 1826 work The Last of the Mohicans, with significant alterations. As with the book, one of the major plot lines is based on the siege of Fort William Henry and the subsequent massacre.

<i>The Pathfinder</i> (1952 film) 1952 film

The Pathfinder is a 1952 American historical western film adventure film directed by Sidney Salkow and starring George Montgomery, Helena Carter and Jay Silverheels. It is based on the 1840 novel The Pathfinder by James Fenimore Cooper and was produced by Sam Katzman for Columbia Pictures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karin Booth</span> American actress (1916–2003)

Karin Booth was an American film and TV actress of the 1940s to 1960s.

Steven Ritch was an American actor, perhaps best known for his lead role in the 1956 film The Werewolf.

References

  1. Seminole Uprising (Bugle's Wake), Columbia Pictures (Retrieved July 2, 2021)
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Seminole Uprising". Variety . Vol. 198, no. 8. April 27, 1955. p. 6. Retrieved July 3, 2021.