the leading man is my tpye

Disturbing yet enthralling

Am I Missing Something?

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Audie Murphy could never shake his " War Hero" status but this movie gave him a chance to just act. It was one of his many movies in which his shortness never stood in the way of his character. Though he was a badass in real life, his baby face, always made him appear as a soft little man from Texas. Good movie...

Copyright 1956 by Universal. New York opening at the Palace: 7 September 1956. U.S. release: 1 September 1956. U.K. release: 3 September 1956. Australian release: 1 November 1956. Sydney opening on a double bill at the Capitol (ran one week). 7,925 feet. 88 minutes.SYNOPSIS: John Philip Clum is appointed Indian Agent at the San Carlos Apache Reservation, where he finds the Army using violent means to suppress the Indians. Clum asserts his authority to help the Apaches, thus earning the displeasure of the people of Tucson. In gratitude, the Indians send Tianay to keep house for him. This arouses the jealousy of Clum's fiancée, Mary Dennison. COMMENT: In the present=day climate of racial tolerance, integration and understanding, it's a big surprise that this screen biography of a true-life Indian agent who blazed this particular trail, is not constantly revived. Admittedly, next to its patent earnestness, the picture's main virtue is its expansive CinemaScope location cinematography. However, regard for a movie's artistic scope has never stopped TV managers dead in their tracks before. So why now? Maybe the film lacks excitement. That it does, though those who decry Hollywood for distorting reality will certainly have cause to rejoice in this exception. No doubt the nagging wife is pretty close to the essence of what really happened too.It's a pity that the direction of this worthy script should be so flatly pedestrian. Less than talented directors like Jesse Hibbs (former football star) welcomed CinemaScope because it relieved them of the burden of having to think in terms of visual excitement. Now simply the scope itself is the thing. No dramatic compositions, no effective cutting, no pointed camera movement necessary. No need to draw fine performances either, because for most of the time the actors are lost in the landscape. When studio scenes take over, why that's a good time for patrons to duck out to the candy bar. Unless of course you're such a rabid fan of Audie Murphy, you don't care a fig what long speeches he gets off his chest, or how stiffly he stands, just so long as his magnified pudgy face is right up there in front of you!

In this true story about the Indian Agent John Clum, who went from the East to the Apache Indian reservation near Tucson, Arizona in 1874 to work with the mistreated Indians, Audie Murphy performs well in his role as a reserved man who is, nonetheless, bold toward the uncooperative U.S. Army and brave toward some Apaches who are mean with a killer's temper; he has to demonstrate his bravery more than once. The authentic Old Tuscon is, naturally, appropriate, and this movie set is very Old-West looking. The story can be provocative in a sense, for it begs a question concerning what our attitude should be toward Native Americans and any other minority group. Charlie Drake shows his acting prowess both as an army sergeant and as an occasional drunk. Pat Crowley is also capable in her role as Clum's wife, a lady herself from back East who must adjust to the situation into which her husband is thrown, if she can make such an adjustment. Anne Bancroft is very convincing as the lovely and tempting Indian widow who becomes so much in love with Clum. And Jay Silverheels shows what the mean Geronimo must have been like. It is not only a good western and a good biopic, but it does, again, challenge our thinking about our attitude toward minority races. The movie is worth the while for many reasons.

Walk the Proud Land is directed by Jesse Hibbs and adapted to screenplay by Gil Doud and Jack Sher from the biography of John Philip Clum, Apache Agent, written by his son Woodworth Clum. It stars Audie Murphy, Anne Bancroft, Pat Crowley, Charles Drake, Tommy Rall and Robert Warwick. A Technicolor/CinemaScope production out of UIP, music is supervised by Joseph Gershenson and cinematography by Harold Lipstein.1874, San Carlos, Arizona, and John Philip Clum (Murphy) arrives and attempts to broker peace with the Apache by way of letting them have autonomy away from army government.Don't turn your back on him. No matter what it says in the Bible.Colourful character driven Western that's based on a real Indian agent, it portrays his determination and faith to get the Apache to agree to peace whilst affording them dignity and honesty. As everyone who as seen it will attest, this is no action packed Audie Murphy Oater, but although it was met with indifference at the box office and by Western critics, film is never less than enjoyable or interesting. John Clum is a peaceable man, a humanitarian, film's strength lies in his driven will to succeed against many odds. Bigotry and stubbornness surrounds him, but his approach is infectious and as a man his efforts laid a firm foundation for a bit of history to be made. Not least that he was the man who captured Geronimo (here played by Jay Silverheels) without a shot being fired in anger. He was a man worthy of a film, and even though this is obviously condensed down and dressed up for Hollywood, it's worth watching to catch the essence of a special type of man, a man splendidly essayed by Audie Murphy. Harold Lipstein captures some beautiful Old Tucson scenery to add evocative flavours, and Hibbs' direction is unobtrusive.A domestic problem played out in the plot is a touch too saggy, and nearly pointless, and the all too familiar problem of white actors playing lead Native Americans is all too evident. But this is a very tidy production with a very worthwhile story being told. 7/10