Themes: Daring Rescues, White People Among Indians
Main Cast: Guy Madison, Frank Lovejoy, Helen Westcott, Vera Miles, Dick Wesson
Release Year: 1953
Country: US
Run Time: 95 minutes
Plot
With all those flaming arrows being aimed directly at the audience, it is fairly obvious that Charge of Feather River was originally released in 3D. Fresh from his TV success as Wild Bill Hickok, Guy Madison stars as frontiersman Miles Archer (his character name will be amusing to fans of The Maltese Falcon). In the company of cavalry sergeant Baker (Frank Lovejoy) and a column of troops, Archer heads into Indian country to rescue a pair of white female captives. One of the two girls, Ann McKeever (Helen Westcott), is reluctant to return because she's been despoiled by her Indian captors; the other girl, Ann's sister Jennie (Vera Miles), is in love with the tribal chief and intends to betray her rescuers at the first opportunity. The rescue has been staged to divert the Indians' attention away from the railroad that is being constructed across their territory. The trick now is for Archer, the soldiers and the women to return to Cavalry headquarters in one piece. The film ends with the eponymous charge, excitingly staged by director Gordon Douglas. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Made during the brief 3-D movie craze of the early-middle 1950s, Gordon M. Douglas's The Charge at Feather River (1953) does, indeed, have its share of arrows (flaming and not), lances, and other weapons flying directly at the audience in several scenes -- though most interesting use of the effect may well be a scene in which Frank Lovejoy's tough-as-nails Sgt. Baker backs down a rattlesnake with some venom of his own. It's better than that in its use of 3-D, however -- the movie consistently makes use of the extra-dimensional element in framing its action and the activities of the tiny guerilla cavalry unit at the center of its action. For those who do get the chance to see it in 3-D, it's unexpectedly rewarding on that level, as much more than an exploitation effect. As with most of the best 3-D movies, however, it's also a good 2-D movie, principally because of its script and some unexpectedly strong characterizations. The story isn't just about the mission to rescue two women held for five years by the Indians -- a mission that makes sense militarily, the way it is presented here; it's also about unwilling leader Madison's mission to turn a rag-tag unit of cavalry rejects, guard house and stockade habitues -- thieves, drunks, and malcontents of every stripe -- into a functioning, cohesive fighting unit in the field, indeed, modern viewers will find some parallels between this script and the plot of Robert Aldrich's The Dirty Dozen (1967), and this movie has the writing and acting to support the comparison in the characters and portrayals of Lovejoy's Sgt. Baker, Steve Brodie's Trooper Ryan, Onslow Stevens as a fatalistic artist, and Lane Chandler as Poinsett, with Neville Brand not far behind as the brutal Morgan, and Dick Wessel and Henry Kulky providing comic relief. Add the two strong female portrayals by Helen Westcott and Vera Miles, and The Charge At Feather River can be seen as good viewing, in 2-D as well as 3-D, especially as Douglas ratchets up the violence and tension as the plot takes several unexpected (and savage) turns. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
Onslow Stevens - Grover Johnson; Steve Brodie - Ryan; Ron Hagerthy - Johnny McKeever; Fay Roope - Lt. Col. Kilrain; Neville Brand - Morgan; Henry Kulky - Smiley; Lane Chandler - Poinsett; Fred Carson - Chief Thunder Hawk; James Brown - Connors; Ralph Brooke - Wilhelm; Fred Kennedy - Leech; Dub Taylor - Danowiaz; John Damler - Dabney; David Alpert - Griffin; Louis Tomei - Curry; Carl Andre - Hudkins; Ben Corbett - Carver; Wayne Taylor; Steve Wayne; Dick Wessel - Cullen; Vivian Mason
The movie is most notable for originating the name of the "Wilhelm scream", a sound effect used in the Star Wars series, as well as countless other movies. Sound designerBen Burtt named the sound after "Pvt. Wilhelm", a minor character in the film who emits the famous scream after being shot by an arrow (although the recording actually originated in the film Distant Drums in 1951). The film was released in 2-D and in 3-D.
The climax of the film has many similarities to the Battle of Beecher's Island, though instead of Army Frontier Scouts, Madison's character recruits "the Guardhouse Brigade" from Army prisoners and arms them with repeating rifles.
