Trooper Hook (1957)

★ 6.8 1h 21m IMDb

When Apache chief Nanchez is captured by the cavalry, his white squaw and infant son are returned to civilization by Sergeant Hook, but Nanchez escapes custody and attempts to re-claim his son.

Trooper Hook

Where to Watch

Netflix Netflix
Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video
Disney Plus Disney Plus
HBO Max HBO Max
Max Max
Hulu Hulu
Paramount Plus Paramount Plus
Apple TV Plus Apple TV Plus
Peacock Peacock
Showtime Showtime
Starz Starz
Paramount+ with Showtime Paramount+ with Showtime

Rent / Buy

Rent

Apple TV Apple TV
Google Play Movies Google Play Movies
Amazon Video Amazon Video
YouTube YouTube
Vudu Vudu
Fandango at Home Fandango at Home

Buy

Apple TV Apple TV
Google Play Movies Google Play Movies
Amazon Video Amazon Video
YouTube YouTube
Vudu Vudu
Fandango at Home Fandango at Home

Cast

Joel McCrea
Joel McCrea as Sgt. Clovis Hook Died 1990 · South Pasadena, California, USA Joel Albert McCrea (November 5, 1905 – October 20, 1990) was an American actor whose career spanned a wide variety of genres over almost five decades, including comedy, drama, romance, thrillers, adve...
Barbara Stanwyck
Barbara Stanwyck as Cora Sutliff Died 1990 · Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA Barbara Stanwyck (July 16, 1907 – January 20, 1990) was an American actress. A film and television star, she was known during her 60-year career as a consummate and versatile professional with a stron...
Earl Holliman
Earl Holliman as Jeff Bennett Died 2024 · Delhi, Louisiana, USA From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Henry Earl Holliman (September 11, 1928 - November 25, 2024) was an American actor, animal rights activist and singer known for his many character roles in films...
Edward Andrews
Edward Andrews as Charlie Travers Died 1985 · Griffin, Georgia, USA Edward Andrews (October 9, 1914 – March 8, 1985) was an American actor, one of the most recognizable character actors on television and films between the 1950s and the 1980s. His stark white hair, por...
John Dehner
John Dehner as Fred Sutliff Died 1992 · Richmond [now Staten Island], New York City, New York, USA From Wikipedia John Dehner (November 23, 1915 - February 4, 1992) was an American actor in radio, television, and films. Between 1941 and 1988, he appeared in over 260 films and television programs....
Susan Kohner
Susan Kohner as Consuela Age 89 · Los Angeles, California, USA Susanna "Susan" Kohner (born November 11, 1936) is an American former actress. She is best known for her role as Sarah Jane in Douglas Sirk's drama Imitation of Life (1959), which earned her a Golden...

Audience Reviews

John Chard 6.5/10 Feb 21, 2014
You're the army, do something.

Trooper Hook is directed by Charles Marquis Warren and collectively written by David Victor, Jack Schaefer and Herbert Little Jr. It stars Joel McCrea, Barbara Stanwyck, Earl Holliman, Royal Dano and Rudolfo Acosta. Music is by Gerald Fried, with theme tune song by Tex Ritter, and cinematography is by Ellsworth Fredericks.

Upon capturing a band of marauding Apaches, Cavalry Sergeant Clovis Hook (McCrea) finds a white woman amongst the group. Cora Sutliff (Stanwyck) was taken by the Apache years ago and became the squaw of their leader, Nanchez (Acosta), she also bore him a child, Quito (Terry Lawrence). The army decides to reunite Cora with her white husband and charge Hook with delivering both her and Quito safely across country to the Sutliff homestead...

Splendid cast is assembled for this black and white Oater that is more about racism and the problems of inter-racial relations in the Old West, than it is a Cavalry Vs Indians shoot 'em up. Story essentially follows a stagecoach travelling across country that finds Hook, Cora and Quito encountering all manner of characters along the way, most of whom are racist. While of course there is the small matter of the Apache being on their tail as well.

Hook is a grizzled old badger, orders are orders, regardless of if he had any sort of objections to his mission, he's there to keep order and see the job through. For various reasons, everyone on the journey will be looking to him for action and decisions, not least Cora and Quito who begin to form a warm relationship with him. It of course builds to a head once the Apache come back onto the scene, and there's the issue of if Cora's husband will accept her and her half-breed son into his life?

It's very competently performed, and with the exception of some of the lower budget aspects of the production, it's well crafted by Warren. Unfortunately the writing doesn't always give the outside characters a quality of script befitting the themes of the story. Hook and Cora get some good back story, she in explanation of her captivity and he with his rueful recollections as a prisoner of the Civil War. While Holliman is served well as a genial cowpoke and Dano as the crotchety stagecoach driver is great fun.

Coming as it did post far better movies that dealt with prejudice themes in the Indian Wars, it feels like a coat tail grabber, and a watered down offering at that. That it's still a worthy viewing experience comes down to the work of a committed set of lead actors. 6.5/10

Similar Movies