Sorry, this movie sucks

Sadly Over-hyped

Crappy film

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

No need to recap the cavalry vs. indians plot. The 70-minutes may be okay for kids, but otherwise the movie's a hash. I'm not sure what the producers were aiming for, but the results are to a conventional Western what goulash is to steak and potatoes. The battle scenes, which should be the high point, appear staged for cartoonish effect. Every shot brings down an "Injun", while the blue coats crack jokes. But never mind since the Navajo chief forgives all by film's merciful end. Then there's the incessant top-of-the-lungs music that blends with events about as well as gravy on nuts. The movie's most interesting part is guessing where the next stock footage will come from as the Indians attack over what appears three southwestern states. I'm just sorry such capable performers as Donlevy, Grey, and Young got caught up in the nonsense. Then too the script does the cavalry few favors, the poker game portraying the rank and file as near idiots. Still, it's good to know that even a 300-pound specimen like Andy Devine has a place as a first-sergeant. Anyhow, kids might enjoy the silly humor and cartoonish violence, but first, parents have to get past that dubious title.

Slaughter Trail is a B western with some grand pretensions. But it's come down in Hollywood history for a most ignominious reason.Watching this film with it's musical score which can only be described as overbearing, I have a feeling what Howard Hughes was trying to do is recruit a singing cowboy for RKO films. They already had Tim Holt who was as reliable a B picture cowboy hero there ever was, but he was not a singer. I guess Hughes saw what money Herbert J. Yates was raking in with Roy Rogers over at Republic and decided he'd get one as well.So Terry Gilkyson who was a very good performer and much better song writer got recruited and sang some of his material which was not his best and worse, looked like they were shoehorned into the picture. But worse than that, there's this annoying chorus which sang a lot of the story and frankly overwhelmed the actors, extras, even the horses. Needless to say Terry never got to be a singing cowboy. But he did write such classics as The Bare Necessities and Dean Martin's great hit, Memories are Made of This.The plot concerns an inside woman on a stagecoach jewel robbery. That's right, the outlaws who are Gig Young, Myron Healey, and Ken Koutnik plant Virginia Grey in the coach as a passenger which they receive word is carrying some valuable jewels. It's a great act Grey and Young pull off. Young takes her away from the coach to presumably a fate worse than death and they do properly act out the scene within earshot of the passengers, but what he does is slip her the swag. Last place the authorities might look, if she doesn't run off with it.But when they flee the robbery it's on tired horses so they stop at a cabin to take some replacement mounts and shoot three Navajos who object. That puts the Navajos back on the warpath, didn't help that one of the casualties was Chief Ric Roman's brother.That's the situation that Captain Brian Donlevy at the fort has to deal with when the coach and the outlaws arrive there for protection. How it all works out is predictable, but in a gaudy sort of overproduced way.In fact that's the problem with Slaughter Trail. It's a simple no frills B western that got souped up into something almost grotesque.But the real reason Slaughter Trail entered into history is that this film apparently marks the official beginning of the blacklist. Originally Howard DaSilva was to play Donlevy's part and may have in fact completed his scenes, when Howard Hughes officially fired him for Communist sympathies. His scenes were completely re-shot with Brian Donlevy in the lead.Considering what a fiasco this film turned into, I'm not sure whether Donlevy or DaSilva ought to have thanked Hughes or kicked him in his private preserve.

After robing a stage coach. Three bandits shoot some Indians for their horses and from their actions. The Indians of that area break a peace treaty and go on a war path, until they get there hands on those three men. Capt. Dempster learns of the breakdown in relationship with the Indians and tries to convince the Indian Chief that those men would be brought to white-man's justice, but they want to hand out their own justice.What makes this one stick out from the textbook examples of cheaply done Hollywood westerns is the filming device of using a rumbling ballad to link the film's generically straight-forward narrative together. It's an unique novelty and was worked in accordingly, but I did find it to get rather distractingly tiring. In all "Slaughter Trail" is an earnestly tempestuous and rugged western outing. The story's outline might have been done to death, but its still in certain patches it manages to provide a breath of fresh air to the project. A causal flowing script kicks up snappy dialogues and hammers in some amusing comical elements too. Irving Allen's zippy direction never lets the pacing get bogged down and provides some scope on its location photography. Cinecolor gives the film a suitably penetrating colour scheme and the musical score stays lively throughout. While, the final battle sequence is an excitingly well done display. The performances are pretty solid and reasonably likable from the main players. Brian Donlevy is unshakably stout as the part of Capt. Dempster. Virginia Grey is delightfully strong in her role as Lorabelle Larkin. Andy Devine is having a good time. While Gig Young and Terry Gilkyson churn out good performances too.I thought it was a curiously decent b-grade effort, but couldn't help but get that feeling. I probably would've got something more out of it when I was that kid who loved to watch cowboys and Indians. Not easy to come by, but worth a look for fans of the genre.

I was very excited to see this movie come up on the database. I remember seeing this movie in the theaters when I was young, and the song keeps going through my head, even now.I have not seen it on TV at all, and would really LOVE to add this movie to my library. I know that what I remember as a child and what it would be like now are two completely different things, but since it took me at least 30 years to find anyone who even knew about this movie I think is an incredible thing.It must have been pretty good, or I wouldn't have remembered the title, the song, or the movie all of these 50 odd years!!!!