Harrison's Reports (1958)

January 25, 1958 HARRISON'S REPORTS 15 the body into a gorge, Walker leads the posse to believe that he had been killed by the Indians. Making his way on foot, he comes to a ranch occupied by Virginia Mayo and her 9-year-oid son (Richard Eyer). He warns them about the marauding Comanches and advises them to seek the safety of Fort Dobbs. Virginia rejects the advice, adding that she was waiting for her husband to return from a trip. But she changes her mind quickly when Walker's blazing guns break up a sudden Indian attack. She gratefully accepts his offer to escort her to the fort, but en route she recognizes Walker's jacket as one that belonged to her husband and accuses him of killing her man. He tries to explain but to no avail. Despite her open hatred, Walker continues to offer Virginia his protection and even saves her from the unwelcome advances of Brian Keith, a notorious gun runner, with whom they had crossed paths. Upon reaching the fort, Walker finds that the Comanches had massacred all the soldiers. Just as he prepares to leave, a wagon train approaches the fort, hotly pursued by the Indians. Walker joins the battle and helps the wagon train reach the security of the fort, only to learn that it was led by Sheriff Russ Conway, who had been on his trail. Conway reveals that he had found proof of Walker's innocence, and he informs Virginia that her husband really had been killed by the Comanches. Meanwhile the Indians launch a fresh attack on the fort and Walker manages to ride out to seek help. He comes upon Keith, who had a load of repeating rifles, which could turn back the Indians. Keith refuses to give them up to save the whites and attempts to shoot Walker, but the latter proves faster on the draw and kills him. Walker then returns to the fort with the rifles, which prove decisive in routing the redskins. It ends with Walker, Virginia and her boy heading for a new life together in Sante Fe. It was produced by Martin Rackin and directed by Gordon Douglas from a screenplay by Burt Kennedy and George W. George. Family. "The Quiet American" with Audie Murphy, Michael Redgrave and Claude Dauphin (United Artists, January; time, 120 min.) If an award would be given to the most garrulous picture of the year, this one would win the prize without difficulty. It subjects the spectator to incessant talk throughout its overlong two-hour running time, and mitigating against its acceptance by the rank-and-file movie-goers is the fact that the talk is mostly ideological, for it is concerned with arguments for and against the idea of a "Third Force" in IndoChina, rather than just a choice between Communism and Colonialism. Intellectual picture-goers may find food for thought in what is said by the principal characters, but the meaningful dialogue probably will go over the heads of the general run of movie patrons and, as a consequence, they will find little in the picture to entertain them. Aside from the story's concern with political ideologies, it offers nothing worthwhile except to show that a young American who believes in the "Third Force" falls in love with the Vietnamese sweetheart of a married British war correspondent who, motivated by jealousy and by opposition to the American's ideas, helps bring about his assassination. Dramatically, its impact is ineffectual. The explosion of a bomb in a public square and the destruction of a wooden watchtower by Communist forces offer the only excitement in the otherwise slow-paced action. Most of the picture was shot on location in Saigon, providing the proceedings with authentic and interesting backgrounds. The photography is good: — Michael Redgrave, an English journalist stationed in Saigon and covering the war in Indo-China, is questioned by police inspector Claude Dauphin about Audie Murphy, a young American, who had been murdered on the night of the Chinese New Year. Denying complicity in the killing, Redgrave recalls that he and Giorgia Moll, his sweetheart, had first met Murphy in a cafe. He had been an idealistic graduate student in political science, completely dedicated to the idea of a "Third Force" in Indo-China, much to Redgrave's annoyance. Murphy had become attracted to Giorgia, and he told Redgrave that he planned to propose marriage to her unless he (Redgrave) planned to marry her himself. Giorgia had rejected Murphy after Redgrave had written to his wife in England asking for a divorce. His wife, replying, had refused to grant the divorce, but he had kept this information from Giorgia. Shortly thereafter Giorgia had discovered the truth and she had left him for Murphy. Meanwhile Redgrave had discovered evidence that convinced him that Murphy, to put over his idea of a "Third Force," was engaged in terrorist activities, which were being blamed on the Communists. To save innocent people from further slaughter, Redgrave had cooperated with the Communists in setting up a trap that had resulted in Murphy's murder. In the complicated and somewhat obscure events that follow, Dauphin traps the actual murder but does not reveal this to Redgrave until after he strips him of his intellectual pretenses and informs him that, because of his obsessive jealousy, he had been duped by the Communists to help them remove one of their enemies. Shortly thereafter Redgrave receives a cable from his wife agreeing to a divorce. He locates Giorgia to give her the joyful news, but she rejects him because he could never give her the true love and understanding that she had experienced with Murphy. Friendless and dazed, Redgrave walks out into the night. It was produced and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz from his own screenplay, based on the novel by Graham Greene. Adult fare. "Gunfire at Indian Gap" with Vera Ralston, Anthony George and George Macready (Republic, Dec. 13; time, 70 min.) Just a moderately entertaining program western. It should slip by as a supporting feature wherever this type of picture is favored. Centering around a young Mexican who is wrongly suspected of being an outlaw and who is blackmailed by the outlaw leader into transporting a stolen payroll, the story offers little that is unusual and concentrates more on the development of characterization than on action. Nevertheless, it offers enough gunplay and hard-riding to satisfy the undiscriminating western fans. The production values, direction and acting are of average quality. The black-and-white photography, in Naturama, is good: — When three outlaws attack a stagecoach carrying a large payroll, sheriff Barry Kelley thwarts the robbery attempt and kills one of the outlaws. The other two, George Keymas and John Doucette, escape after wounding the driver. While the stage stops at a relay station to give the driver emergency treatment, another stage arrives, bringing with it Anthony George, whose horse had broken a leg. The sheriff suspects George of being one of the outlaws and detains him, despite his protests of innocence. Vera Ralston, an employee at the relay station, sympathizes with George, falls in love with him and plans to help him escape to Mexico. George Macready, a passenger on the stage that was attacked, reveals himself to George as head of the outlaws and, under threat of implicating him in the attempted holdup, blackmails him into taking the payroll money when he escapes with Vera and to meet him at a mountain pass. Vera helps George to escape, unaware of this arrangement. Later, when Vera discovers the payroll in George's possession, he explains the circumstances and tells her that he means to return it, but she does not believe him. The pair are soon joined by Macready, Keymas and Doucette. Macready gives George an equal share of the loot and forces him to become one of the gang. In the events that follow, Macready kills Keymas in an argument, and then finishes Doucette, who was about to shoot George for trying to protect Vera from his unwanted advances. With only Macready remaining, George demands the payroll money from him to return it to the sheriff. This leads to a showdown gun battle, which attracts the pursuing sheriff to the scene. Macready tries to shoot the sheriff, only to be shot dead by George. His innocence established, George rides off with Vera to start life anew. It was produced by Rudy Ralston and directed by Joe Kane from a screenplay by Barry Shipman. Unobjectionable morally.