SYNOPSICS
The Siege at Red River (1954) is a English movie. Rudolph Maté has directed this movie. Van Johnson,Joanne Dru,Richard Boone,Milburn Stone are the starring of this movie. It was released in 1954. The Siege at Red River (1954) is considered one of the best Western movie in India and around the world.
In November 1864, during the final weeks of the American Civil War, a Union train pulls into Greensburg, Ohio. Beside passengers, troops and mail the train also carries the latest military invention of Dr. Gatling, the Gatling Gun. Only four such weapons have been assembled and one of them is being sent out West to be tested by Union troops. However, Confederate spies, led by Captain James S. Simmons, of the Georgia volunteers, are well informed regarding the presence of the Gatling Gun on the train. The Confederates, masquerading as Yankees, have set-up an ambush at Greensburg's railway station. When the train stops at Greensburg, the Confederate spies manage to attack and capture the crates containing the disassembled Gatling Gun. After leaving the scene, the Confederate team disperses and only Captain Simmons and Sergeant Guderman carry the Gatling hidden in an elixir salesman's wagon. The two Confederates must cross all Union states undetected and reach Confederate lines with the ...
Same Actors
Same Director
The Siege at Red River (1954) Reviews
Travels of a stolen Gatling gun
This western is about two unreconstructed southerners who steal a Gatling gun from Union soldiers which winds up in the hands of an outlaw who sells the gun to Indians for gold. The film dwells on character development and takes a great deal of time detailing the two southern agents' travels from town to town delivering coded messages and trying to arrange a rendezvous with a contact to deliver the Gatling. The picture is another Blue vs. Gray conflict in the west with the Indians on the warpath against the soldiers, a plot angle that has been done better in other westerns. Van Johnson is okay as the hero and Joanne Dru is the gal who falls for Johnson. Richard Boone is a standout as a gun-running renegade in a role as a heavy he would reprise in other westerns. The supporting cast and color photography are good.
Feds and Rebs agin the Reds
It's a typical 50's Technicolor Western trotting out all the usual ingredients with the usual vim – no-nonsense people and plot was the motto. Two Rebs steal the being-developed Gatling Gun from the Feds in an ingenious segment, eventually toting it further south but ending up stuck in a small town. This town gets quickly filled to the brim with Federal soldiers still on the hunt for their gun. Van Johnson (Reb) and Joanne Dru (Fed) fall for each other of course although of course they don't realise it until the climax. What interested me was the implication that the gun could be used by civilised whites against each other in a civilised slaughter but that selling it to the savage Reds was beyond the Pale. Both Feds and Rebs are eventually united to prevent the Reds using it during the noisy 5 minute siege. And of course the implication was only the Reds were low enough to actually use the horrible weapon the Feds had had the brains to design – at the time of production America had the same idea about the Russian Reds and the atom bomb. It has a bit of everything Western in: romance and fights, trains and horses, shootings and slapstick comedy. It's fun, I loved it.
Tapioka.
I so wanted to like this, but ultimately it eased out to being a very average picture that is saved by its bookended gusto. The plot basically sees Capt. James S. Simmons (aka Jim Farraday), a Southerner hiding out as part of a spurious tonic selling double act, trying to prevent the mighty Gatling Gun being sold into the wrong hands. After the excellent opening, where a train robbery results in the said Gun being pilfered, the picture drifts along with enough charm but no amount of substance. Van Johnson as Farraday, Joanne Dru, Richard Boone and Jeff Morrow do what they can with the amiable but unimaginative script, and it's only really as we get to the last quarter that the film jolts back into action. Is it worth waiting for? Well yes it is, Gatling Gun blazing and heroes fighting against the odds should always perk up a movie, and so it does here, thankfully. Not one to recommend highly, but worth a watch once with a solid 5/10 rating.
Boy's Own Tales
Here's the situation: I'm about 9 years old and I'm standing in front of either the Regent or Gay, small, box-like, moderately ornate cinemas known to me for their triple-bills, smokey interiors and sticky floors. In the display case is a poster for "Siege at Red River" The large lettering is red. A guy is holding onto a beautiful woman. Behind them is a burning fort and a horde of injuns battling the cavalry in blue uniforms. Cool! I note that the movie is in Technicolor. That's a plus. I pay my quarter and go in. At the candy counter I buy a cherry ice cream bar and enter the darkened auditorium. I've probably sat down in the middle of a movie, but that's okay. It's fun trying to figure out what's going on. Then "Siege at Red River" starts. The grand 20th Century Fox logo with the moving floodlights. My favourite. I sink into my seat and a surge of anticipation rushes through me. Van Johnson is blonde, sturdy and stalwart - and maybe a scoundrel. There seems to be questions about his courage, but he sure gives that soldier bully what for! The beautiful lady doctor with the red lips likes him, then hates him, so I guess they'll get together at the end. He's up to his eyeballs in trouble regarding a Gatling gun and he's mixed up with a shady character with a whip played by Richard Boone, who's really, really nasty. Hiss. Boo. There's lots of good story, some funny parts, and tons of action with guys on horseback riding furiously around. The Technicolor is vivid and the outdoor scenery, with those huge pink/orange granite cliffs, is beautiful. There's a spectacular climax, with the cavalry, trumpet blasting, arriving in the nick of time. Too bad the injuns never win, though. Funny how the guys who are shot and fall off their horses never stay on the ground. I don't know for sure if I saw this movie as a kid - there were so many - but I probably did, and I probably sat through the entire triple bill twice. As an adult I still find this movie entertaining. It delivers what it promises. I don't know, as one reviewer has suggested, if it's a metaphor for the Cold War, but its equivalent in contemporary cinema might be a Matt Damon movie with a hero who can take care of himself, nasty arms dealers and Arab strife. One thing, though - I miss the cherry ice cream bars.
An underrated superior "B" Western
This western is,in my opinion,very underrated,and gives a nice blend of adventure,thrills,actiion and wry humour with the addition of some very catchy tunes. Van Johnson gives a good performance as one of a pair of undercover Confederate agents,carrying a stolen Gatling Gun through Union territory to aid the cause of the South. They travel as medicine salesmen contacting Confederate agents as they travel and picking up Joanne Dru on the way. The love interest between her and Van Johnson provide some nice humerous touches. Richard Boone steals the film,of course, as a really nasty,bullying,woman hating,unscrupulous,murdering cut-throat,who steals the Gatling gun from Van Johnson and sells it to the Indians and joins them, for money,of course, in attacking the Cavalry Fort. The fights,action scenes and Indian attack are very well-done. At the end Van Johnson gives Boone his come-uppance,the day is saved and Van goes off with Joanne into the sunset, but all in a very satisfying manner. Milburn Stone and Jeff Morrow provide excellent support. The direction,writing and acting are above par from all concerned. It is a western that one can see time and time again and still obtain great enjoyment.