7th Cavalry *** (1956, Randolph Scott, Barbara Hale, Jay C Flippen) – Classic Movie Review 6276

‘CHARGING THE BATTLE LINES OF THE SIOUX AND THE CHEYENNES!’ The early parts of cult favourite director Joseph H Lewis’s interesting minor 1956 Western are weighed down with words. So finish your conversations, get ready for the main event. But the last reels take off at satisfying speed. And this is a lovely looking movie, luminously filmed in Mexico in Technicolor by the expert Ray Rennahan.

Randolph Scott stars as Captain Tom Benson, who, on arriving at an army post with his fiancée (Barbara Hale), is accused of cowardice at Little Big Horn (some mistake surely!).

Captain Benson tries to clear his name by returning through hostile Indian territory to bury the 7th Cavalry dead and escort home the body of General Custer.

The screenplay by Peter Packer is based on a story by Glendon F Swarthout.

Also in the cast are Jay C Flippen, Jeanette Nolan, Frank Faylen, Leo Gordon, Denver Pyle, Michael Pate, Donald Curtis, Frank Wilcox, Pat Hogan, Russell Hicks, William Leslie, Peter Ortiz, Jack Parker, Edward F Stidder and Al Wyatt Sr.

It runs a compact 75 minutes, is released by Columbia, is produced by Harry Joe Brown and Randolph Scott, is scored by Mischa Bakaleinikoff, and designed by George Brooks.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 6276

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