dbdumonteil The screenplay is another variation of the "stagecoach " theme : a group of persons in jeopardy ,some of whom are enemies.At least in its second part:the first one,particularly the very first ,are confusing and the movie really takes off when ,in spite of an ominous warning,the travelers set off for territories where the Indians are a living threat.Sen Blakely is a politician we do not meet every day : his attempt at a truce with the Indians is the most moving moment in the movie -it recalls Uncle Matthews ' vain attempt to communicate (armed with a cross) with the Martians in " war of the worlds " (Byron Haskin, 1954)-;his sacrifice is not vain : John (Dale Robertson)does some soul-searching and makes a decision which is not so obvious:he will clear Hamilton/Carter's name whereas he could easily get away with it.Let's add that miss Darnell's sumptuous dress-in the middle of the desert!- helps .As for her French servant,Giselle,C'est Une Lâcheuse.

bkoganbing Dakota Incident has to be one of the strangest westerns I've ever seen. Not good, but definitely strange.A driver-less stagecoach rides into the town of Christian Flats with all passengers killed. It's scheduled to go on, but very few for obvious reasons want to risk the Cheyennes on the warpath out there. But Linda Darnell, Regis Toomey, John Lund, Whit Bissell, and Ward Bond each have their reasons for going on. And Dale Robertson who killed John Doucette in a gunfight after Doucette and Skip Homeier shot and left him for dead in the desert, is so anxious to go he's willing to drive the team.Of course the Cheyennes attack the intrepid group of passengers if forced into a dry wash for cover. Who will live and who will die is the remainder of the film.Dakota Incident came at the very end of Republic Pictures before Herbert J. Yates pulled the plug on his little studio. Westerns were their specialty, but normally of the kind Roy Rogers made. This would not have been a Rogers product. In fact it's beyond belief. The characters aren't ground in any kind of reality. Whit Bissell is taking back ore samples from his claim, but Robertson discovers it's iron pyrites, fool's gold. Toomey is a guitar playing cynic who goes mad from thirst. Darnell is after a cheating manager of her's, but really doesn't know what to do when she finds him. Lund is looking to bring in Robertson who committed a crime he took the rap for, but has to bring him in alive. For that he'd require help, but doesn't have any.But the worst is Ward Bond who's a United States Senator on his own peace mission to the Cheyennes. In real life Bond was a most right wing individual and I'm not sure this wasn't some kind of a caricature of what he would perceive as a liberal. He's really quite the fatuous fool, but I think that might have attracted him to the role.I tried to get into Dakota Incident, but couldn't. And the ending was a bizarre fantasy to say the least.Give it three stars for the cast involved.

zardoz-13 Scenarist Frederick Fox's sometimes memorable dialogue and a study cast of old-pros cannot save this lukewarm western about whites pinned down in the desert by a band of bloodthirsty Cheyenne Indians. Other than his occasionally catchy dialogue, you won't find any surprises in Fox's screenplay about this run-in between whites and Indians. The characters in "Dakota Incident" generate only minor interest, certainly not enough to make them stand-out as much as some of Fox's choice dialogue. Unfortunately, good dialogue is Fox's only contribution because this conventional little sagebrusher withers with a lackluster ending that contradicts its previous 80 minutes. The ending is as contrived as they come and lacks credibility. Most of the characters are sympathetic, but some just plain lack common sense.Dale Robertson is appropriately tough and leathery as outlaw John Banner, one of three bank robbers who has to shoot it out with his low-down, no-account partners. Veteran western character actor John Doucette (Rick Largo) fares the best of the badmen, while Skip Homeier, wasted in an inconsequential role as Banner's brother Frank Banner, later dies from an Indian arrow. Doucette tries to gun down Banner at the outset of in the action, but our left-handed gun-toting hero fakes his own death, tracks down Largo down later and slaps leather with him in a town called Christian Flats. Naturally, Largo bites the dust this time, but Banner makes an interesting discovery. One of the passengers on a stagecoach from Christian Flats to Laramie turns out to be none other than the bank teller from whom he stole the money. Not only is John Carter (John Lund) on a quest himself to find Banner, but also he wants to clear his own good name with the bank that has issued wanted posters for his arrest. Evidently, the authorities have mistaken and enlarged Carter's role in the robbery. Carter is prepared to take Banner to Laramie and turn him over to the law, but Banner has other ideas about Laramie. Banner's ideas change when he crosses paths with Amy Clarke (former Twentieth Century Fox beauty Linda Darnell) who wears a bright red dress and still packs quite a bosom. As everybody else here has mentioned in their reviews, Republic Studio's Truecolor brings out the RED in everything, from Darnell's fetching outfit to the blood spilled on the ground. The problem with director Lewis Foster's handling of this run-of-the-mill oater is that everything bogs down after the stagecoach loses a wheel and our heroes hole up in a dry wash to defend themselves against the Cheyenne. The good guys and the Cheyenne eventually run out of ammunition, but "Dakota Incident" never runs out of clichés. Ward Bond has several interesting moments as a politically correct politician who defends the way of the redskin. By the time that this 88 minute dust-raiser concludes, you'll feel like you've been trapped in a gulch and menaced by marauding Cheyenne yourself.

Poseidon-3 It would be easy to dismiss this low-budget, little-known film as just another western oater, but actually it has more to offer than one might expect. Robertson plays a bank robber who is shot down and left to die in the desert by his two cronies. He catches up to them in a run-down little town where several folks are waiting to board the stagecoach. Here he runs into Darnell, a famous dance hall performer and Bond, a preachy, pompous senator, among others. When the threat of Indians causes the stage line to halt passage, Robinson and Lund decide to drive it across the terrain with Bond, Darnell, Toomey (Darnell's musical cohort) and Bissell (a prospecting Easterner) as the passengers. The trip is eventful, to say the least, when the water supply runs low and the Cherokee attack from the hills. The film is like a mini "Stagecoach" with the disparate people who all seem to have mission or a connection. While it can't touch that legendary film, it still offers a lot in the way of solid acting, tart dialogue and visual appeal. Robinson (who looks and sounds a bit like Clark Gable at times) gives a decent enough performance in the lead role. Darnell (in a memorably eye-popping red dress) is beautiful and assured in one of her last roles. Lund's character is meant to be stoic, but he's downright wooden. The other actors all bring their particular brand of character skills to the picture. Even though the story is sometimes pat and trite, and the "Indians" are very unconvincing in their authenticity, there is some good tension and conflict within the film. There are also a couple of surprises along the way concerning the connections between the characters. Fans of Robertson might enjoy the bath he takes in a horse trough and Darnell admirers will have plenty to gaze upon as well. It's not a masterpiece, but it's an engaging way to spend an hour and half, especially for western fans.