Well Deserved Praise

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

War Paint is directed by Lesley Selander and adapted to screenplay by Richard Alan Simmons and Martin Berkeley. It stars Robert Stack, Charles McGraw, Joan Taylor, Peter Graves, Keith Larsen, Robert Wilke and Walter Reed. Music is by Arthur Lange and Emil Newman, and cinematography by Gordon Avil.A cavalry patrol trying to deliver a peace treaty to Gray Cloud are being destroyed from within by an Indian brother and sister.Paper of lies!Filmed out of the superb presence of Death Valley, War Paint is as solid as one of that location's rocks. The title hints at some cheapo "B" Oater, the kind that is all hooray and jingoistic as the cavalry mow down the Indians, but that is not the case. Though an air of familiarity exists, with the core of the story about an army unit literally dying out in the desert, with saboteurs operating within, there's a two sides of the coin pinch in the narrative, with dialogue nicely written with thought and sincerity. Opening with a scalping, drama and suspense is never far away, so as the group implode, with suspicions, thirst and gold fever taking a hold, the viewer is always intrigued as to who will survive and will the treaty ever reach its destination? Plus you may find yourself feeling very thirsty during the viewing...Very nicely performed and handled with underrated tidy hands by Selander, this is well worth a look by Western fans. 7/10

Good, solid B-Western, despite some of the critical comments. Story follows cavalry patrol through Death Valley in the face of dissension in the ranks and Indian infiltrators. I filled a pitcher of water just looking at the merciless sun-baked terrain. What an excellent supporting cast, familiar faces who lend color and personality by individualizing the troopers beyond their look-alike uniforms. For example, the usually sinister Paul Richards gets a rare sympathetic turn as a lovelorn trooper (Perkins) who unfortunately swallows before he looks and pays the price. There's also the great Robert Wilke lending his usual brand of sneering thuggery to spice up the proceedings. And as the no-nonsense officer, Stack provides a humorless authority that, by golly, is going to get the peace treaty to Gray Cloud even if it kills him and his men. No wonder there's mutiny in the ranks. Of course, this is the glamour-obsessed 1950's when even the Indians resemble Park Avenue models. At the same time, historical accuracy has never been a major Hollywood concern, especially with the Western. So, certain liberties with detail here are not unusual and should not be allowed to deflect a basically good story. On the other hand, there's a nice bit of overlooked irony in this 90-minute horse opera. They may be the villains, but Indians Taslik and Wanima are correct in rejecting the treaty, after all. The white man will indeed ignore the treaty when it suits him, as proved by the mutinous troopers who renounce army authority once they find gold in the parched hills. The irony of the outcome is not made explicit, but it's there anyway. Anyhow, director Selander has a good action premise to work with, plus a colorful cast, and while he's no John Ford, he knows a good scenic set-up when he sees one. Meanwhile, I think I'll have another glass of water.

This could have been a well-made western. With Robert Stack, Peter Graves, and the line-up of supporting characters including a beautiful 'Indian' woman, the acting really wasn't half bad but someone skimped terribly on script-writing and the action scenes.The rattlesnake scene was horrible. The snake was clearly either dead or a rubber fake, you could see the string tied around its neck that was slowly jerking it along. That was the most fake rattlesnake I've ever seen in a western. I suppose they couldn't afford a real one.The scene where they drank at the water hole in the cave was even worse. Supposedly near-dead from thirst, all they did was shake their heads in the water and blow bubbles and make noises. Those that did draw water into their mouths spit it back out into the pool right in front of the others who were 'drinking'.The fight scenes and deaths were the worst. I won't even go into detail about how poorly scripted and acted they were. There was clearly a skinny male stunt person taking the Indian girl's place when she wrestled the soldier. And the way the combatants who were next in line to be killed would stand up in full view to shoot in order to be shot was laughable.I liked the overall plot and the cast, Robert Stack was good and the dialog not bad. But the director must have been so convinced that these elements would carry the film that he paid no attention to these details. I can't even rate it a 5 because of these blatant oversights.

This western has great natural beauty but more talk than action in a film that should have been better than it was. The plot is simply that of a cavalry patrol that has a few days to deliver a peace treaty to a chief and prevent the Indians from going on the warpath. Robert Stack is the big cast name here and he is in complete "Eliot Ness" mode as a no-nonsense lieutenant who drives his men hard in the name of honor and duty. The patrol is guided by the chief's son who has a completely different agenda. The supporting cast is terrific, with names like Charles McGraw, Douglas Kennedy, Peter Graves, Robert Wilke and John Doucette along to carry out their mission. The picture is not a cavalry-Indian western as the title implies but instead focuses on the travails and frustrations of the troopers, not the least of which is thirst, as they make their way to the Indian village. The movie is worth watching for the old-time character actors and the striking beauty of Death Valley.