New Mexico (1951)

As a young boy in 1952, I went to visit Acoma, a Native American village, near Albuquerque, New Mexico together with my parents and uncle. The scenery was so impressive that it remains alive in my mind , and I remember the houses where to reach the upper floor you had to go through an external ladder. So it was a deception to see this film where such a beautiful scenery is wasted. The DVD I purchased is in black and white, but I read in the IMDb it was made in Ansco Color. I wonder what happened. The story is interesting, about a truce made with the Chief Acoma, which is broken . Lew Ayres is an army captain on a mission to capture Acoma. Marylin Maxwell is Cherry, who joins them against all logic and even provides some musical numbers!!! She is not a bad actress, but here her character does not work. The script is good, but could have been brought to the screen in a much better way. Overall, frustrating, considering what it could have been.

Cavalry-Indian skirmishes highlight this film that somehow has been forgotten and seems to have passed from western movie memory. President Abraham Lincoln's death sets in motion the corrupt practices of a territory commissioner whose abusive policies destroy peace initiatives and the Indians go on the warpath. Lew Ayres, an army captain, leads a cavalry troop to track down his erstwhile friend, a chief who becomes an implacable enemy. The soldiers are plagued by thirst and dissension but find water and a large cache of rifles and ammunition. The fighting between the soldiers and the Indians is intense and quite violent for its time. The cast is good and the color captures the dry, dusty mesas and deserts of New Mexico.

"New Mexico" is a fair cavalry-versus-Indians movie that could have been better. It has a good cast and provides a couple good moments, but a routine script and a rather stereotyped set of characters keep it from realizing its potential.Lew Ayres, a fine actor, has the lead role of the cavalry's Captain Hunt, and the rest of a good cast is highlighted by Andy Devine, Raymond Burr, Marilyn Maxwell, and Ted De Corsia. Unfortunately, most of their characters are not given much depth, and they do not have much dialogue to work with either.The lack of depth of Captain Hunt is the most important, as the other characters are primarily defined in terms of their relationship with him. At the beginning, he seems to be developing as an interesting character. He is present at a meeting between President Lincoln and Chief Acoma (De Corsia), and seems to be sympathetic with the problems that Acoma's people face after Lincoln's untimely death, even defying for a while his insensitive and boorish military superiors. But when the inevitable conflict breaks out, Ayres is just given some stereotyped lines about how the Indians ought not to resort to violence. Likewise, Acoma, as the leader of the uprising, is a thoroughly conventional character, although at least portrayed with some degree of sympathy.There are some decent action sequences, and a couple of creative touches in the battle scenes, but it is likely that "New Mexico" will be of interest mainly to those who enjoy any and all Westerns.

The great cast here, including Ayers, Maxwell, Divine, and Conried cannot save this predictable and routine Western effort. All the stereo-types are here, the fallen woman, the honor-bound Cavalry Captain and comic relief, but none of it seems to work well. The ending attempts to be different, but by that time the viewer could not care less.