Dakota Incident (1956)

A cracking start to this 1956 western which unfortunately tends to slow up towards the end. I loved watching Dale Robertson as Jim Hardie in Well Fargo on TV with his quick draw left handed gun belt, when I was a kid. I notice one reviewer here says 'No Major Stars' which made me smile a bit, as I imagine the author is from a more recent generation of film and TV fans. Linda Darnell was certainly a major star in the 1940's in films like My Darling Clementine and both Dale Robertson and Ward Bond were major TV western stars in the 1950's/60's in Wells Fargo as mentioned and Wagon Train, in fact their stars grew after this film Dakota Incident was made in 1956. Sadly Linda Darnell died in a house fire in 1965 at the young age of 41. As I said earlier, the film opens with a terrific scene involving three outlaws who fall out which climaxes in a street gunfight, obviously with that famous left handed gun being the winner. All this in the first half hour, after which the story involves a coach being pulled into town with all the occupants dead due to an Indian attack. Several residents want a ride on the coach to Laramie and insist on going so our hero, Robertson takes on the task. There follows more Indian attacks and double crossing until just a handful of characters are left alive, and regrettably the picture ends with a rather predictable toned down ending which is rather disappointing for a film that started out so promising. If only the second half had lived up to the first I would have recommended it more highly.

The screenplay is another variation of the "stagecoach " theme : a group of persons in jeopardy ,some of whom are enemies.At least in its second part:the first one,particularly the very first ,are confusing and the movie really takes off when ,in spite of an ominous warning,the travelers set off for territories where the Indians are a living threat.Sen Blakely is a politician we do not meet every day : his attempt at a truce with the Indians is the most moving moment in the movie -it recalls Uncle Matthews ' vain attempt to communicate (armed with a cross) with the Martians in " war of the worlds " (Byron Haskin, 1954)-;his sacrifice is not vain : John (Dale Robertson)does some soul-searching and makes a decision which is not so obvious:he will clear Hamilton/Carter's name whereas he could easily get away with it.Let's add that miss Darnell's sumptuous dress-in the middle of the desert!- helps .As for her French servant,Giselle,C'est Une Lâcheuse.

Scenarist Frederick Fox's sometimes memorable dialogue and a study cast of old-pros cannot save this lukewarm western about whites pinned down in the desert by a band of bloodthirsty Cheyenne Indians. Other than his occasionally catchy dialogue, you won't find any surprises in Fox's screenplay about this run-in between whites and Indians. The characters in "Dakota Incident" generate only minor interest, certainly not enough to make them stand-out as much as some of Fox's choice dialogue. Unfortunately, good dialogue is Fox's only contribution because this conventional little sagebrusher withers with a lackluster ending that contradicts its previous 80 minutes. The ending is as contrived as they come and lacks credibility. Most of the characters are sympathetic, but some just plain lack common sense.Dale Robertson is appropriately tough and leathery as outlaw John Banner, one of three bank robbers who has to shoot it out with his low-down, no-account partners. Veteran western character actor John Doucette (Rick Largo) fares the best of the badmen, while Skip Homeier, wasted in an inconsequential role as Banner's brother Frank Banner, later dies from an Indian arrow. Doucette tries to gun down Banner at the outset of in the action, but our left-handed gun-toting hero fakes his own death, tracks down Largo down later and slaps leather with him in a town called Christian Flats. Naturally, Largo bites the dust this time, but Banner makes an interesting discovery. One of the passengers on a stagecoach from Christian Flats to Laramie turns out to be none other than the bank teller from whom he stole the money. Not only is John Carter (John Lund) on a quest himself to find Banner, but also he wants to clear his own good name with the bank that has issued wanted posters for his arrest. Evidently, the authorities have mistaken and enlarged Carter's role in the robbery. Carter is prepared to take Banner to Laramie and turn him over to the law, but Banner has other ideas about Laramie. Banner's ideas change when he crosses paths with Amy Clarke (former Twentieth Century Fox beauty Linda Darnell) who wears a bright red dress and still packs quite a bosom. As everybody else here has mentioned in their reviews, Republic Studio's Truecolor brings out the RED in everything, from Darnell's fetching outfit to the blood spilled on the ground. The problem with director Lewis Foster's handling of this run-of-the-mill oater is that everything bogs down after the stagecoach loses a wheel and our heroes hole up in a dry wash to defend themselves against the Cheyenne. The good guys and the Cheyenne eventually run out of ammunition, but "Dakota Incident" never runs out of clichés. Ward Bond has several interesting moments as a politically correct politician who defends the way of the redskin. By the time that this 88 minute dust-raiser concludes, you'll feel like you've been trapped in a gulch and menaced by marauding Cheyenne yourself.

It would be easy to dismiss this low-budget, little-known film as just another western oater, but actually it has more to offer than one might expect. Robertson plays a bank robber who is shot down and left to die in the desert by his two cronies. He catches up to them in a run-down little town where several folks are waiting to board the stagecoach. Here he runs into Darnell, a famous dance hall performer and Bond, a preachy, pompous senator, among others. When the threat of Indians causes the stage line to halt passage, Robinson and Lund decide to drive it across the terrain with Bond, Darnell, Toomey (Darnell's musical cohort) and Bissell (a prospecting Easterner) as the passengers. The trip is eventful, to say the least, when the water supply runs low and the Cherokee attack from the hills. The film is like a mini "Stagecoach" with the disparate people who all seem to have mission or a connection. While it can't touch that legendary film, it still offers a lot in the way of solid acting, tart dialogue and visual appeal. Robinson (who looks and sounds a bit like Clark Gable at times) gives a decent enough performance in the lead role. Darnell (in a memorably eye-popping red dress) is beautiful and assured in one of her last roles. Lund's character is meant to be stoic, but he's downright wooden. The other actors all bring their particular brand of character skills to the picture. Even though the story is sometimes pat and trite, and the "Indians" are very unconvincing in their authenticity, there is some good tension and conflict within the film. There are also a couple of surprises along the way concerning the connections between the characters. Fans of Robertson might enjoy the bath he takes in a horse trough and Darnell admirers will have plenty to gaze upon as well. It's not a masterpiece, but it's an engaging way to spend an hour and half, especially for western fans.