Smoke Signal (1955)

It seemed to me a lot was made of the Utes fearing the river because it went through a no man's land of dangerous rapids and unknown terror, but once the soldiers made their escape in boats, the Indians pretty much followed along in order to take out the cavalry. That was a disconnect for me, making me wonder why the story line brought it up in the first place. I guess it sounded good as a rationale for Brett Halliday (Dana Andrews) to pitch the idea.This is one of those stories where the female lead, in this case Piper Laurie as Laura Evans, switches allegiances mid-way through the picture, throwing over her fiancé Lieutenant Ford (Rex Reason) when he sides with his commander Harper (William Talman) against Halliday for all the wrong reasons. Well OK, he was mostly following orders, but just like the Captain, he never did consider Halliday's point of view, even after Halliday proved his loyalty to the cause once hostilities got under way. Smooth move there Lieutenant, trying to take out Halliday and going over the cliff for his trouble; he should have watched that first step.It seemed to me Dana Andrews was pretty low key in his lead role here, almost like he wasn't invested in the outcome of the movie. We eventually get to learn his character's back story, but it seems he could have put more energy into the role. Say, what's with that scene when he tries to save Livingston (William Schallert) and right there in the middle of the river, the screen writer came up with a quicksand gimmick! Has anyone ever heard of that? A complete head scratcher for this viewer.Well this one winds things up pretty well up to expectation, with the headstrong Captain finally being convinced to see things the right way in regard to Halliday's circumstances. No feel-good romance ending to close out the picture though, since Talman allowed Halliday to escape according to the rule book.

Smoke Signal stars Dana Andrews as an army deserter who left because his late commanding officer was hell bent on starting an Indian war which he did. When the Indians went on the offense Andrews deserted them and is now a prisoner.Now the commander is dead and Andrews is a prisoner at his fort. But that might not mean much as most of the fort is dead and the Utes are closing in. There one chance for the survivors and it means heading down the Colorado River which as yet is unexplored, especially around that Grand Canyon area. One woman the late commander's daughter Piper Laurie, one trapper Douglas Spencer and a bunch of soldiers led by Captain William Talman who has a special reason for hating Andrews as his brother was killed in a battle with the Utes. But it's pretty clear that Andrews is the one guy who really knows what he's doing.The film is mostly the journey down the Colorado River where we see who makes it and who doesn't. Only six are left in the boat at the end, you have to see which six.Nice location cinematography and good ensemble performance by a veteran cast.

This otherwise routine western has two things going for it—great red rock scenery and William Talman as the cavalry captain. The scenery speaks for itself, but it's Talman's committed performance that lifts the human element. He makes his by-the-book officer utterly believable. Couple that with his screen time and it's really he who has the starring role. Too bad he settled into his long-running D.A. role on Perry Mason; then too, despite his semi-good guy role here, no one from that era could do bug-eyed psychos as well as Talman.At the same time, it's too bad Andrews couldn't get motivated for his role. He pretty much picks up a paycheck and leaves it at that. But then a Universal western is a comedown for this former TCF movie star, and it shows. It's also pretty much a ditto for Laurie who tags along in indifferent fashion, this not surprisingly being her last film for Universal. Good thing the supporting cast includes so many capable, familiar faces— Stone, Wilke, Jones—to help save the acting day.Frankly, the plot seems more complicated than the script could lucidly handle, then again, maybe that's just me. But one thing with most westerns—you can enjoy the scenery and action without having to follow the plot. And that appears the case here. On the whole, the centerpiece action on the river is well done with only a few blended process shots. And boy, I really jumped when the one boat suddenly struck a rock in totally realistic fashion.Anyway, as a western, the movie has its compensations without being anything special.

Smoke Signal is directed by Jerry Hooper and co-written by George F. Slavin and George W. George. It stars Dana Andrews, Piper Laurie, William Talman, Rex Reason, Milburn Stone and Douglas Spencer. A Technicolor production that's primarily filmed at the Grand Canyon of The Colorado, cinematography is by Clifford Stein and musical supervision is provided by Joseph Gershenson.After their fort is attacked by Indians a small group of survivors escape to the wild Colorado River. Their only hope of survival is to tackle the unforgiving stretch of water whilst holding off the pursuing enemy. But can they survive each other first?Very much a mixed bag in terms of production, Smoke Signal is enjoyable enough for the undemanding Western fan. The story is a safe one as it focuses on a fractured group dynamic having to come together in order to survive the terrain and hold off the enemy pursuing them. The group consists of a pig-headed Captain (Talman), soldiers with prejudice, a pretty lady (Laurie), a trapper (Spencer) and a prisoner (Andrews), the latter of which is a despised "Indian Lover" because of him having been married to an Indian woman and therefore lived with the Ute tribe. Many human traits and qualities will be tested on this journey, the narrative strong enough to warrant the interest being held to see how it will all pan out.The central idea and its themes has been done far better before in films like The Last Wagon and River of No Return, to name just two. However, Smoke Signal does feature unique location work on the Big Bend of the Colorado River (Stine doing fine photography work), and it's good to see a rarely seen tribe of Indians featured in a Western, the Utes. Bonus, too, is Talman (The Hitch-Hiker), who gets a good meaty part to show what he could give as an actor. Yet the makers give good stuff with one hand and take it away with the other. Great scenery is coupled with poor back projection shots, dummies are all too evident and Laurie is arguably the ultimate token lone female character in a Western. Even the normally reliable Andrews looks weary throughout, were it not for Talman and Spencer, this would fall into the badly acted drawer.Western fans don't demand too much from a "B" production, but some of the efforts here are dangerously close to being "Z" grade. A shame because the strong story and the real location photography carry a high interest factor for the genre follower. A better director than Hooper would have certainly improved things, or at the least someone who could stitch things together more knowingly with tricks of the trade. The Pegasus DVD release has a decent print, not pristine, but clear in picture and colour levels. It's not one to recommend with great confidence to like minded Western fans, but there's enough in here to rank it just above average. 6/10