drmality-1 Here's a great example of a Western with all the fat and unnecessary baggage trimmed from it. The story is brutally simple and shows no mercy.Hard-bitten Lt. Billings (Robert Stack) and his motley crew of cavalrymen are charged with delivering a vitally important peace treaty to Chief Grey Cloud. If Grey Cloud doesn't get the treaty within a certain time limit, he and his braves will go on the attack, leading to a bloodbath.The mission is plagued with mishaps from the start. The Indian guide Tasslik is Grey Cloud's own son and he has his own agenda. Merciless heat and thirst stalk the soldiers, as well as a mysterious sniper and saboteur. The more misfortune strikes, the more tension grows between the men, until it explodes into violent conflict.Nothing is sugar-coated in this story and death can strike anyone at any time. Real Death Valley settings make heat and thirst almost palpable. The story starts with tension which only grows. But character is not ignored. Billings' strict discipline actually masks a man who is tired of war and hungry for peace...an optimist, at heart. The plight of the Indians is also given a sympathetic turn, even though their actions here lead to pain and death.The cast can't be described as "A-list" but everybody does their job just right. Stack is excellent and other reliable actors like Peter Graves, John Doucette, Charles McGraw and Douglas Kennedy provide great support.You want a tough, tense Western? "War Paint" is a perfect choice.

dougdoepke 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.

morris vescovi A cavalry patrol has six days to deliver a peace treaty and avoid an Indian war. The chief's son Taslik ( a somewhat miscast but still good Keith Larsen) agrees to lead the patrol to his father's village. Unknow to dedicated, stalwart Lt. Billings ( Robert Stack) Taslik wants war with the hated white men. Taslik's sister Wanima (a very good Joan Taylor)who also has no love for the white man, secretly follows the patrol sabotages their water supply and runs off their horses. Taslik Then leads the patrol to one dry water hole after another. He though isn't suffering as his sister sneaks water to him at night. Wanima also deliberately leads the patrol to a gold mine the Spanish discovered years before but whom the Indians killed. This leads some members of the patrol to start thinking that gold might be more important than peace.While this film may be a little short of action, it has very good suspense, a much better than average plot, better than average character development, good acting, good color photography and some great Death Valley locations. It is definitely worth watching, and a very worthy addition to a video library.

frankfob Robert Stack plays the officer in charge of a cavalry patrol entrusted with delivering a treaty to an Indian encampment, who encounters difficulties with outside and inside influences along the way. Stack is earnest, and despite some miscasting--Charles McGraw was always more at home playing a big-city detective or syndicate killer than he was playing a cavalry sergeant as he does here, and Keith Larsen often played Indians but seldom played them well--the performances are adequate, but if there's one thing that a western cries for it's action, and there's virtually none in this film. It moves like molasses and what little action there is doesn't occur until almost the end of the picture and it's not particularly well done. Director Lesley Selander was an old hand at westerns and has done far better. He must have had an off day. No need for you to have one by watching this snoozer.