Nobody told them the war was over

Tweekums

As this film opens a group of men hide among the rocks in the Nevada desert waiting for a wagonload of gold belonging to the Union Army to arrive. After a brief fire fight the wagon is theirs; there is one surviving soldier and they tell him that they are Confederate troops, led by Major Matt Stewart; on a special mission... he tells them that the war has been over for a month! Not knowing whether or not to believe him they head to their rendezvous. Here they quickly realise the man was telling the truth but their contact doesn't say anything to them as he intends to keep the gold for himself while the troops returned to Texas. Bainter, a hot-headed soldier shoots the man and the rest of the troop takes his wagon and head onwards until they meet a posse looking for them; some quick thinking from Stewart buys them some time but they know they will soon be back looking for them. After an accident leads to the loss of the wagon they hijack the passing stage coach and head to the station with the posse in pursuit. Once there they are holed up along with the two passengers, one of whom is a Union Army nurse and the old man and his daughter who run the station. As the time passes it becomes clear that the posse wants them all dead so that they can get their hands on the gold; tensions also mount within the group as Bainter starts to make advances on the nurse. Not all of them will make it out alive and not all of the dangers are outside.

This was a solid B western with plenty of action at the start including the initial ambush and an exciting chase where the men on the stage flee the pursuing posse. Once in the station house there are still exciting moments although for the most part the events just serve to ratchet up the tension till the exciting finale where the survivors try to make their escape from the burning building during a heavy downpour. Randolph Scott but in his usual solid performance as Stewart and Lee Marvin was suitable unpleasant as Bainter. Donna Reid does a decent job as the beautiful nurse Molly Hull but her role is not as substantial as I'd expected given her second billing. At only eighty minutes in length the film doesn't outstay its welcome and still manages to tell its story effectively; something today's film makers could certainly learn a thing or two about! If you are a fan of westerns this one is certainly worth seeing and if you are a fan of Scott or Marvin I reckon it is a must see.

score 7/10

Tweekums 10 June 2012

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2625269/