The Siege at Red River (1954)

★ 5.9 1h 26m IMDb

Action War Western

Cavalry Captain Farraday attempts to prevent the delivery of Gatling Guns into the hands of hostile Indians.

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Cast

Van Johnson as Capt. James S. Simmons / Jim Farraday Died 2008 · Newport, Rhode Island, USA Van Johnson (1916–2008) was an American film, television theatre and radio actor, singer, and dancer. He was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during and after World War II..

Joanne Dru as Nora Curtis Died 1996 · Logan, West Virginia, USA Joanne Dru (January 31, 1922 – September 10, 1996) was an American former model, and actress of film and television best known for appearing in westerners like Red River (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribb...

Richard Boone as Brett Manning Died 1981 · Los Angeles, California, USA Richard Allen Boone (June 18, 1917 – January 10, 1981) was an American actor who starred in over 50 films and was notable for his roles in Westerns and for starring in the TV series Have Gun – Will Tr...

Milburn Stone as Sgt. Benjamin 'Benjy' Guderman Died 1980 · Burrton, Kansas, USA From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Hugh Milburn Stone (July 5, 1904 – June 12, 1980) was an American actor, best known for his role as "Doc" (Dr. Galen Adams) on the CBS Western series Gunsmoke....

Jeff Morrow as Frank Kelso Died 1993 · New York City, New York, USA New York-born Morrow developed an interest in the theater as a result of his studies at art school. As "Irving Morrow," he was acting on stage (in Pennsylvania) as early as 1927; he later appeared in...

Director Rudolph Maté

Cast Van Johnson, Joanne Dru, Richard Boone, Milburn Stone, Jeff Morrow, Craig Hill, Robert Burton, Pilar Del Rey, John Cliff, Ferris Taylor

Wuchak 6/10 Aug 29, 2024

**_Decent early 50’s Western with Van Johnson and Richard Boone marred by dubious bits_**

A Confederate captain (Johnson) goes undercover in the North to steal a Gatling gun with his sergeant (Milburn Stone), but a Pinkerton operative is suspicious (Jeff Morrow). As they take advantage of an unknowing Rebel-hating woman (Joanne Dru), they hook up with a mercenary (Boone) to help them get through Indian country.

The era of 1953-1954 featured great Westerns like “Shane,” “Destry,” “Garden of Evil,” “Johnny Guitar” and “Vera Cruz,” as well as formidable ones like “Arrowhead,” “Escape from Fort Bravo,” “Gun Fury,” “Hondo,” “Pony Express,” “Broken Lance” and “The Raid.” I bring that up because “Siege at Red River” (1954) doesn’t exactly place with these Westerns as it’s flawed by amusing, yet generally unfitting humor and a too-busy giddy-up score, which is seriously quaint.

This isn’t helped by splicing in Indian-fighting footage at the climax from “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon” from five years earlier. Another problem is the disingenuous geography in the first half that’s supposed to be areas near the Ohio River, but is obviously the Southwest (of course, this was more of a ‘B’ Western and it would simply cost too much to transplant the cast & crew to somewhere in the East for those particular scenes).

Nevertheless, there’s a lot to enjoy in this old Western. Van Johnson's non-cowboy mannerisms actual fit the role since Capt. James S. Simmons/Jim Farraday hails from Atlanta back East. Johnson had charisma to spare and Milburn Stone is entertaining as the sidekick. Meanwhile Boone was unsurpassable as the unlikable character with "toxic masculinity." Add to this winsome Dru, the beautiful scenery and the interesting Gatling gun subplot and you have an entertaining enough early 50’s Western with some lame elements.

It runs 1 hour, 25 minutes, with outside shooting done in east-central Utah at Professor Valley, Colorado River, Castle Valley and Dead Horse Point; as well as in Durango, Colorado, which is 158 miles southeast of there.

GRADE: B-/C+