Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Brilliant and touching

Absolutely brilliant

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Notable B-Movie Director Phil Karlson Helmed this Above Average Early Fifties, Low-Budget Western with Little Style but its Social Concerns Rode the "New" Esthetic that Shined a much needed Light on Bigotry. There are some Corny Side-Elements to be sure, but the Aforementioned Elevate this one to Respectability. The Plot is all about a Military Doctor (Robert Francis) and His Treatment of Indians and viewed Them as, God Forbid, Equal People as seen from the Eyes of a "Medicine Man".Donna Reed is Awkward as a Centerpiece of the Soldiers Attention (one proposes to Her on sight), but the rest of the Cast do Yeoman's Work and it is left to Francis to Carry the Movie. He is Adequate, but the Strength is the Story and its Ramifications about the Mistreatment of a Defeated People thrown in the Trash Bin of History, until Recently.There are some Wild and Wooly Battles that Punctuate now and then for the Action Oriented Crowd that could give a Hoot about Empathy and Inclusion of a whole Race of People that Desired Respect that was Initially Withheld.

The beginning of this film makes you feel you are seeing one of the great westerns. What a good story, there is a fort, a butcher of a doctor, who after being responsible for the death of an officer is replaced by a young man (Robert Francis). There are the Kiowas which are dying of malaria in a reservation, a flirting woman (Donna Reed), a beautiful white woman (May Wynn) who lives among the natives. And then it all goes downhill. It is like all of the sudden they had to rush to finish the film and the last scene is very hard to believe. Phil Karlson, who directed was quite efficient in action movies like "Mask of the Avenger"(1951) and "The Texas Rangers" (1951), two films I greatly enjoyed. Donna Reed is not easy at all in her role, playing completely against type. Phil Carey is very good as the captain who hates the doctor (Francis).

When I found this on YouTube, I discovered that it was chopped up into various highlight segments that altogether ran only about maybe 50 min., more or less. Still, I highly enjoyed what I saw with Robert Francis as the new Calvary doctor sticking with his oath of caring for all human beings including the American Indians forced into the reservation near him. That gets him in plenty of hot water with superior Philip Carey who already doesn't trust doctors since the previous ones were drunk or just plain unreliable. May Wynn, Francis' co-star from The Caine Mutiny, is a white woman who was raised on the reservation after her parents were killed. And Donna Reed is the initial flirt who eventually gets on Francis' side when the others call him an Indian lover (the actual name they called him was "woodhawk".) Quite compelling what I saw so I decided to review this here in case I don't have the chance to watch the whole thing. Still, if I do, I'll come back here and either add some comments or rewrite the whole thing...

Dr. Allen Seward (Robert Francis) is assigned to a western cavalry post, due to his predecessors failings he finds that he is instantly disliked, and even worse, not trusted. Things worsen when during a confrontation at an Indian Reservation, Seward attempts to help an ill Indian infant and befriends the tribe doctor. As the war with the Indians escalates, so does the hatred from the camp towards Seward, with the men even refusing his medical treatment, but with the support of the lovely Laurie MacKaye, and a bond formed with Manyi-ten, an Indian Bride, Seeward may just be the solution to end this troubled conflict?They Rode West is nothing special in the pantheon of inspiring and intelligent Westerns, what it isn't is one of those boorish standard Cavalry Vs Indians shoot them ups. Playing out with a lot of heart and a purpose of intent, it's a film that has a nice colour sheen, has some real solid acting and doesn't outstay its welcome. Notable for being the first of only four films that a 25 year old Robert Francis would make before being tragically killed in an aeroplane crash, They Rode West will not excite those in search of wall to wall gunfights, it will however be of interest to those who like a story of humane conflict via verbal beliefs. Of the other notables in the cast, Donna Reed adds the required touch of prettiness as Laurie MacKaye and Philip Carey does a nice line as the grumpy commander, Captain Blake. Direction from Phil Karlson is as steady as you would expect for this type of production, to leave me only left to say that it's a recommended film to see the first work of an interesting actor in the making, and of course for a bit of nous in the story. 6/10