chipe This movie is a waste of time. I wanted to like it, but couldn't. The only positive things I could say about it is (1) the mountain/dessert scenery, which unfortunately was in black and white, and (2) Brian Keith's performance, which is the only thing that brought the movie to life. Clint Walker's performance was pleasant, not a great recommendation.Along with other reviewer's, I also noticed the well-directed scene where Virginia Mayo had been fished out of the river by Clint Walker, and is seen (obviously naked) under her blanket. The good direction is how she awakes and slowly realizes the situation (undressed by Walker). The point I want to make is that it was a good scene, but an obvious, easy one, and that so many would take the time to draw attention to it reveals how listless the rest of the production is.***spoilers galore***** What prompted me to write this review is to draw attention to some remarkably implausible scenes, maddeningly implausible even for a B-Western: (1) early on, Walker comes upon the lone woman and son in an isolated ranch house during an Indian uprising. A dozen Indians with rifles attack the ranch house with only Clint and the boy shooting their rifles through windows. That the Indians couldn't finish them off, attack from all sides, climb up on the roof, set the place on fire, etc., drove me to distraction. Then later in the darkness, Clint strangles an Indian and the three ride away. Yeesh! (2) later on, white townsfolk in wagons outrace Indians on horseback to a fort. Yeesh! (3) finally, later on, Clint leaves the fort, alone, to go for help and just happens to come across Brian Keith with a few dozen repeating rifles. OK! But he then saves the day by riding alone with some pack horses (packing the rifles) through the Indians surrounding the fort, to save the day. Yeesh, again! (I also disdained the stock action footage.)

audiemurph "Fort Dobbs" is a leisurely paced movie - perhaps too leisurely. Long periods of time pass without a lot of dialogue. Instead the film seems to depend on atmosphere and gorgeous black-and-white desert camera-work to keep us entertained. Clint Walker made a few noteworthy and very interesting Westerns, but he seems to be underutilized in this one. His character is very one-dimensional, and very terse, even though he dominates the screen throughout the film. Both Walker's character and "Fort Dobbs" in general feel like a lot of unrealized potential.Even the Indians are monolithic. This was 1958, but it still feels like Stagecoach and 1941 - the Indians are good for nothing more than rifle fodder. The potential relationship between Virginia Mayo, who plays the strong-willed widow very well, and Walker, also remains just that - potential. Speaking of Virginia Mayo, she has one particular moment that allows her to go outside the box: after being rescued from drowning by Walker, she wakens to find herself naked under a blanket. The camera allows her a good portion of a minute to register the fact of her nakedness, to see Clint Walker with his bare chest cleaning his rifle near by, to see her clothes on a clothesline not of her own making, and finally, putting 2 and 2 and 2 together, recognizing that Walker, after rescuing her, must have stripped her, and - well, the horror and embarrassment are clearly distressing, and quite funny. A nice moment for Ms. Mayo.Perhaps the most interesting character is "Clett", played by Brian Keith. Clett is a drifter, like Walker's character, and they have clearly crossed paths a number of times in the past. Keith's character is curiously not completely unsympathetic. He wants to put the past disagreements between him and Walker behind them, and work together, but Walker will have none of it. He even appears at the last moment at one point to save Walker from a Comanche attack. You know right from the beginning, however, that Walker will prevail if the seams between them come apart. There is enough ambiguity in Keith's genial character, though, to make him worth thinking about.Russ Conway has a larger role than you would expect, playing the very grim sheriff of the town of Largo. He is an appealing character. The same cannot be said of the child actor, Richard Eyer, playing Mayo's young son. Not the worst child actor ever, but I could have done without him. Interestingly, the child is the only character to bring out the taciturn Clint Walker's gentle side. The film would have been better if Clint had been allowed to show more emotion.In sum, then, not a bad Western, though not Walker's best. And a curious thought - did the name of the town, "Largo", inspire the other Clint (Eastwood, of course) to name his town "Lago", in High Plains Drifter?

NewEnglandPat This western follows a familiar genre theme of a loner who comes to the aid of a woman and her son and guides them to safety through Indian country. The plot is spare with a twist of mistaken identity thrown in as an innocent man on the run scrambles to escape a hanging posse hot on his trail. Clint Walker is the reformed gunfighter whose reputation places him on the sheriff's wanted poster as fate takes him to a woman's ranch in the midst of an Indian uprising. Virginia Mayo is the widow and reluctant trail companion of Walker along with her son as they make their way to Fort Dobbs. Brian Keith steals the film as an unsavory gun runner whose rifles play a large part in the Indian attack on the fort. The film is not a polished feature but is a straightforward, no-frills drama and is worth watching.

Poseidon-3 A fairly standard western tale is uplifted by the calm, towering presence of Walker. He plays a man on the run from a posse who throws them off his trail and winds up at the ranch of a woman and her son who are waiting for her husband to return. They hardly have time to exchange hellos when a Comanche war party shows up outside. It is now Walker's duty to get the woman (Mayo) and her boy to the title fort despite the fact that she blames him for her husband's failure to return and he risks arrest once he gets there. There are a couple of minor twists and turns in the story to hold interest (along with a lot of now-cliched dialogue....occasionally one can put words in the characters' mouths and like clockwork, out if comes!) Keith shows up in a stock role of friend/foe, but adds a spark of creativity to it through some effective character work. Mayo doesn't get a lot to do besides scowl and get into trouble, but does have one amusing moment when she realizes that Walker has seen her naked. Walker is his usual gorgeous self. His soothing, dulcet voice and his monumental frame add much to the film. He plays a sort of mysterious "yep/nope" character along the lines of something Gary Cooper would have done. He's believed to be a killer, but the audience knows that there's more to the story. His willingness to allow himself to be hunted and disdained is in order to protect the honor, even if undeserved, of others. Walker, a true western star, appears to have done most (if not all) of his own riding and stunts. Also, after one particularly wet scene, he is seen shirtless polishing his rifle....quite a visual treat. Anyone should have felt safe in his care. Indians in the film are nothing but savage, faceless plot devices with no discernible reason given for their behavior. This is pretty typical for the time this film was made. The film is nothing amazing, but is pleasantly brief, has some nice scenery, a Max Steiner score and has its share of action and drama to make it watchable.