Warpath (1951)

Edmond O'Brien was excellent, as usual, as was Tucker. But I may have missed something plot-wise; Dean Jagger's daughter appears to have no knowledge of her father's earlier career as a criminal, nor, more bizarrely, of the fact that his name had originally been Sam Morrison before he changed it to Quade to enlist in the cavalry! Normally that's the kind of thing a daughter would notice... Was this explained anywhere? If so it went right by me.

I think if I hadn't already seen several better revenge-themed westerns I would have liked "Warpath" much more. Now this isn't to say it's a bad film--it's quite good. But westerns of the same time period such as "Seven Men From Now" and "The Bravados" handled similar material just a bit better. But, considering it stars Edmond O'Brien, it's still well worth your time."Warpath" begins with O'Brien catching up to a man he's been tracking for years. When he confronts him for an almost decade-old murder, the man tries to shoot O'Brien but is plugged by him in the process. Next, O'Brien has a run-in with an obnoxious cavalry sergeant (Forrest Tucker)--and then, inexplicably, joins up with the outfit! It seems that the trail leading to the killers of O'Brien's wife leads to the 7th Cavalry. What's next? See the film.The film's biggest asset isn't the plot (which is decent) but the actors. O'Brien, Dean Jagger and Tucker are all quite good--as is young Harry Carey, Jr. in an interesting role as a commanding officer. Overall, you could do a lot worse and the film is interesting throughout.

O'Brien plays a man whose fiancé was murdered by three bandits. After killing one, he finds that another one is in the cavalry, so joins the cavalry to find him. He doesn't know what the two men look like, but they soon realize he is onto them. Along the way, he proves his worth, and is made an officer. He falls in love with a woman whose father may be one of the men he is looking for. After some skirmishes he is captured, along the woman, her father (Dean Jagger), Forest Tucker, Paul Fix, and others, and they await their deaths at the hands of Native Americans. First class story of revenge, and an all star cast, including the afore mentioned.

O'Brian is great as Vickers, the man on a quest for vengeance. Set against the backdrop of Custer's Last Stand this is an action-packed western with a fine supporting cast-especially Tucker and Carey Jr. The action is done on grand scale, and there's enough of it to satisfy.