Warpath (1951)

★ 5.8 1h 35m IMDb

Western

John Vickers has spent eight years hunting for the three men who murdered the woman he loved. He finds one, Woodson, and kills him in a gunfight, but not before learning that the other two men have joined the U.S. Cavalry.

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Cast

Edmond O'Brien as John Vickers Died 1985 · New York City, New York, USA Edmond O'Brien (September 10, 1915 – May 9, 1985) was an Academy Award-winning American film actor who is perhaps best remembered for his role in D.O.A. (1950). His many memorable films included The K...

Dean Jagger as Sam Quade Died 1991 · Columbus Grove, Ohio, USA Dean Jagger was an American film, stage, and television actor. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Twelve O'Clock High (1949). Other notable films in which Jagger appear...

Forrest Tucker as Sgt. O'Hara Died 1986 · Plainfield, Indiana, USA From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Forrest Meredith Tucker (February 12, 1919 – October 25, 1986) was an American actor in both movies and television who appeared in nearly a hundred films. Tucke...

Polly Bergen as Molly Quade Died 2014 · Knoxville, Tennessee, USA Polly Bergen (born Nellie Paulina Burgin; July 14, 1930 – September 20, 2014) was an American actress, singer, television host, writer and entrepreneur. She won an Emmy Award in 1958 for her performan...

Harry Carey, Jr. as Capt. Gregson Died 2012 · Saugus, Santa Clarita, California, USA Henry George "Harry" Carey Jr. (May 16, 1921 - December 27, 2012) was an American actor. He appeared in more than ninety films including several John Ford westerns as well as numerous television serie...

James Millican as Général George Armstrong Custer Died 1955 · Palisades, New Jersey, USA From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia James Millican (1911–1955) was an American actor with over 200 film appearances mostly in western movies. Description above from the Wikipedia article James Mi...

Director Byron Haskin

Cast Edmond O'Brien, Dean Jagger, Forrest Tucker, Polly Bergen, Harry Carey, Jr., James Millican, Douglas Spencer, Wallace Ford, Paul Fix

Wuchak 8/10 Dec 29, 2021

_**A flawed, but exceptional Cavalry vs. Indians Western from the early 50s**_

A vengeful former officer (Edmond O’Brien) joins the 7th Cavalry in order to track down those responsible for his wife’s death years earlier with everything leading to a showdown with the Sioux and events surrounding the Little Bighorn debacle. Forrest Tucker plays his sergeant, Polly Bergen a romantic interest and Dean Jagger her shopkeeper father. James Millican convincingly plays General Custer.

The plot of “Warpath” (1951) was ripped-off by writer Frank Gruber from Ernest Haycox’s novel “Bugles in the Afternoon,” which was made into an inferior stage-bound Western the year after this one (with Tucker in the same role, interestingly enough).

O’Brien is certainly serviceable, but arguably miscast because he’s a little too pudgy for the role that called for someone of Kirk Douglas’ robust demeanor or John Wayne’s formidableness. Another issue is the old-fashioned way the men typically deliver their obviously-scripted dialogue in an austere rat-a-tat-tat manner, which seems unnatural.

But, if you can acclimate, this is a great old Western that gets better as it proceeds and is superior to Ford’s renowned cavalry Westerns released just prior to this one. The movie delivers superbly in both human interest and action. The title “Warpath” has a duel relevancy in that the protagonist is on the warpath as well as the Sioux, and both justifiably.

Speaking of the Sioux, producers used real American Indians (with the exception of the sub-chief, played by John Mansfield), as well as authentic locations from the same general area of the real-life events (listed below). On top of this Polly Bergen was sure a beauty in her prime.

I’m surprised “Warpath” is so obscure. It must be because of the issues noted above, but they’re not significant enough to ruin what is a very compelling and worthwhile old Western that’s so meaty it could’ve easily ran another half hour. This is going down on my list of favorite Westerns.

The film runs 1 hour, 35 minutes, and was shot in the greater Billings area of southeast Montana, including Yellowstone County and the Crow Reservation.

GRADE: A-