brilliant actors, brilliant editing

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Leonard Maltin must have delicate ears. He called 1951's "Slaughter Trail" soundtrack "indescribably awful." Something "indescribably awful" to hear is a Siamese cat giving birth. The soundtrack is like the Sons of the Pioneers with below-par lyrics, with an occasional zinger mixed in. This is a sublimely stupid Western, where the "Indians" wear obvious wigs, the makeup people painted their chests but forgot their backs, the soldiers throw up their arms and fall and die before the sound effects tell the viewer they've been hit, the leading lady smooches with a highwayman and her very obvious lipstick is on his face and yet nobody comments on it. When asked if anyone was killed during a robbery, Andy Devine says "just the stagecoach driver. No one important"(!?) Another line that seems to indicate the film was meant as a satire (or maybe just poorly written). Devine asks if an Indian had been hit. Soldier: "No, but he won't be riding a horse for a longgg time." I'd pass on this one. The western genre was big in the 50's because so many social issues could be discussed in the context of the old west rather than cause controversy by discussing them in a modern setting. But then there was always a film just trying to make a buck off the popularity of the genre. This is one of those films.

After robing a stage coach. Three bandits shoot some Indians for their horses and from their actions. The Indians of that area break a peace treaty and go on a war path, until they get there hands on those three men. Capt. Dempster learns of the breakdown in relationship with the Indians and tries to convince the Indian Chief that those men would be brought to white-man's justice, but they want to hand out their own justice.What makes this one stick out from the textbook examples of cheaply done Hollywood westerns is the filming device of using a rumbling ballad to link the film's generically straight-forward narrative together. It's an unique novelty and was worked in accordingly, but I did find it to get rather distractingly tiring. In all "Slaughter Trail" is an earnestly tempestuous and rugged western outing. The story's outline might have been done to death, but its still in certain patches it manages to provide a breath of fresh air to the project. A causal flowing script kicks up snappy dialogues and hammers in some amusing comical elements too. Irving Allen's zippy direction never lets the pacing get bogged down and provides some scope on its location photography. Cinecolor gives the film a suitably penetrating colour scheme and the musical score stays lively throughout. While, the final battle sequence is an excitingly well done display. The performances are pretty solid and reasonably likable from the main players. Brian Donlevy is unshakably stout as the part of Capt. Dempster. Virginia Grey is delightfully strong in her role as Lorabelle Larkin. Andy Devine is having a good time. While Gig Young and Terry Gilkyson churn out good performances too.I thought it was a curiously decent b-grade effort, but couldn't help but get that feeling. I probably would've got something more out of it when I was that kid who loved to watch cowboys and Indians. Not easy to come by, but worth a look for fans of the genre.

I was very excited to see this movie come up on the database. I remember seeing this movie in the theaters when I was young, and the song keeps going through my head, even now.I have not seen it on TV at all, and would really LOVE to add this movie to my library. I know that what I remember as a child and what it would be like now are two completely different things, but since it took me at least 30 years to find anyone who even knew about this movie I think is an incredible thing.It must have been pretty good, or I wouldn't have remembered the title, the song, or the movie all of these 50 odd years!!!!

There are some good things to say about "Slaughter Trail." For instance, seeing Brian Donlevy and Gig Young in an oater IS different. But the annoying song that runs throughout, seems to have been written by a third-grader. There is much use of stock footage for the Indian wars, and the plot is predictable and pedestrian. This one is very easy to pass up.