There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

Set in 1870s , it deals with Yellowstone Kelly, Clint Walker , a mountain man and explorer , he lives in the Sioux territory South of Missouri . Kelly has a particular code of survival and lives in a brutal land of isolated woods and mountains and hostile Indians , he becomes part of the wilderness , eventually taking on responsability a boy and acting as a protector . He is hired by a Cavalry Major : Rhodes Reason from the army at Fort Butford .Kelly reluctantly takes on responsability as preceptor and helper an obstinate young : Edd Byrnes , but both of them run into problems with the Sioux led by two tough warriors : John Russell and Ray Danton . Troubles emerge when Kelly and the boy fall in love with the same woman, the beautiful Indian Arapahoe , Andre Martin , and the Sioux warriors arrive ro reclaim her.It is a very nice film that could become another western worthy of any anthology . Interesting and moving screenplay by the notorious Burt Kennedy who wrote and directed several westerns .Being based on a true role , a historic figure who became a know scout and trapper in Wyoming territory. This agreeable and charming flick displays a colorful and brilliant cinematography by Carl Guthrie , adding an impressive production design by William Wallace .And pretty good musical score by Howard Jackson , full of thrilling and attractive sound . Enjoyable Indian western with adventures , thrills , noisy action , a love story , battles , and wonderful landscapes. Well developed story in leaps and bounds , strong energy , attractive roles , abundant action scenes , elegant camera movements , special dramatic pace and including a dialectic about racism .Stars Clint Walker as a trapper and Indian scout who saved the life of a Sioux chief and gives shelter to a runaway Arapahoe Indian played by the gorgeous Andre Martin and then problems emerge. The tall Clint does his own stunts and performed a lot of westerns and Tv series as Cheyenne , Yuma, White Buffalo , None but the brave, Pancho Villa, The bounty man, and Night of Grizzly also directed by Gordon Douglas .He is accompanied by the young tenderfoot Edd Byrnes who was a beefcake who made various Westerns and Spaghetti. Support cast is frankly excellent such as Claude Akins , Rhodes Reason , Warren Oates , Ray Danton and John Russell .The motion picture was well directed by GordonDouglas, at his best , though It was supposed to be shot by the great John Ford , later on , he turned down the direction to film The horse riders , instead. Gordon was expert on adventure genre as Black arrow , Fortunes of captain Blood , both starred by Louis Hayward ; and Western , as he proved in the movies starred by Clint Walker as Fort Dobbs , Gold of Seven Saints , Yellowstone Kelly ; Gregory Peck as Only the valiant ; Rod Taylor in Chuka and Rio Conchos with Richard Boone deemed the best and upon legendary bandits as Doolins of Oklahoma , Great Missouri raid , among others.

A well-reputed fur-trapper, Apache-scout, and frontiersman, Luther "Yellowstone" Kelly, decides to "hire on" a teenaged Anse Harper (teen idol, Edd Byrnes) against his better judgment but grows fond of the boy. Always a loner, Kelly felt (up until he meets Anse, and later Arapaho beauty, Wahleeah (Andra Martin)) he was best on his own, but Anse is a gentle-voiced, non-combative, polite young man who does what he's told to the best of his abilities. Soon, Kelly and Anse run up on the Sioux (led by Gall (John Russell) and his fiery, antagonistic nephew, Sayapi (Ray Danton)), while journeying back to Kelly's cabin (traveling through "the snake" into the "high country" of Montana (where the "springs get quite green")). Saving Gall's "woman", Wahleeah (who wishes to return to her own people), from certain death, Kelly earns brownie points and is allowed to leave (along with Anse). The Calvary (with the likes of Claude Akins and debuting Warren Oates, as well as, Rhodes Reason and Gary Vinson) want to drive out the Sioux by taking an accompaniment of soldiers through "the snake", but Kelly warns against such foolishness. Kelly, though, understands that the White Man will eventually take the land due to strength in numbers.Clint Walker is hired for his screen presence and build (the camera of director Gordon Douglas shoots Walker's Kelly as if he were a towering legend, with the expected close-ups of his non-violent, peace-desiring, conflict-weary face) more than any serious acting chops, but I never felt he wasn't adequate in the part. It isn't like Kelly needed the "method touch" or anything. Edd was probably casted to secure the teen-youth market; he is the moral compass that questions the choice of Kelly to allow Wahleeah to return to the Sioux as she clearly is held by them against her will. Kelly has that dilemma upon him…Wahleeah escapes from the Sioux, stealing one of their ponies in the night, successfully making it to Kelly's cabin. Kelly makes a stance towards Gall regarding Wahleeah; because she's still in bad health due to her past injuries, Kelly refuses to allow Gall to escort her away when Wahleeah is in no shape to travel. Sayapi is the main heavy of the film as the prideful, aggressive, hostile Sioux warrior questioning Gall's judgment and bravery, soon responsible for tragedy involving Anse (who intends to take Wahleeah to her people despite Kelly's orders to keep her in the cabin), earning Kelly's vengeance. Of course, there's the battle at the end (as expected by these kinds of western adventures) where the Sioux engage Kelly and the remaining survivors left of the Calvary with guns firing, dust kicked up, and bodies hitting the ground. "Yellowstone Kelly" is surprisingly violent, with plenty of knife and gun violence, especially when Kelly goes after Sayapi and the Sioux in his company. This wouldn't be complete without fisticuffs so Walker tolerates the heckling of Akins and Oates up to a point until he has no choice but to lay the smack to them (yep, a water trough and window are used to subdue the rude soldiers who mocked Kelly by calling him an Indian; Kelly respects Native American tribes, and he doesn't even make much of a fuss when the soldiers first rib him in a bar, but a stagecoach dust up pushes him too far).The script doesn't actually bang the patriot drum, with some sympathy towards tribes affected by White Man's colonization of their land. Russell, as Gall, follows the lead of many Caucasian actors "dressed in red face" as he carries a "man-of-few-words, pillar of strength" approach to the Sioux leader not to be disrespected and not quick to rush into anything without thinking of the consequences. There's a great scene where Sayapi seems ready to approach Kelly (against Gall's wishes) when Gall grabs him by the throat in a clinch and makes the kid fall to the ground…this tells you that Gall is in charge for a reason. Gall's built for it while Sayapi goes too far and winds up just as he does by film's end. There's something that stayed with me regarding how Kelly tells Gall to take his men and go because the land no longer treats them well…the script has a lot of this (saying that the former occupants of a land that had been there's for ages is taken from them, with White Man telling them to find somewhere else to call home).

When the Clint Walker westerns showed up in the late fifties, they had to compete with the traditional actors like John Wayne, James Stewart, Randolph Scott, Audie Murphy, etc... No doubt it was hard to be a newcomer, with those guys there. That's why I missed his films, but the long wait gave me the thrill of seeing "Yellowstone Kelly" now, when westerns are so few, and we have seen most of the old ones. An unpretentious film, but with a top director, Gordon Douglas, an excellent script by Burt Kennedy, good actors like Edd Byrnes, Ray Danton, Andra Martin, Claude Atkins, and a great performance by John Russel as the chief Gall. It is a plain western story, with a sensual romance between Clint and Andra Martin, where they barely touch each other, but Wahleeah (Andra Martin) is very specific about " who looked at her" and "who she looked at" (guess!). The scenery, the music, and the action scenes, also help to place what would otherwise be a conventional routine western, one step higher.

I finally got to see Yellowstone Kelly today and found it to be a decent enough western. Back in the day I was going to see it at the age of 12, but did not want to deal with the unbelievably long lines or the screaming teens who came to see Kookie.This was not Edd Byrnes first feature film, but the first after his success on 77 Sunset Strip. The bobbysoxers were nuts about him back in the day and crowded out us connoisseurs of the western. I remember the long lines and the stories about how one could not hear the dialog with the adolescent females going gaga for Kookie.The real star in the title role was another Warner Brothers TV veteran, Clint Walker. He plays a mountain man trapper and scout, the last of a breed. He's allowed to do his thing on Sioux land because he saved John Russell's life who is the chief.After taking on Edd Byrnes as a young assistant, the two visit the Sioux where both of them catch the eye of Andra Martin who is an Arapahoe captive and Russell's personal squeeze. Another brave Ray Danton would like to replace Russell in her tepee. When she runs away and follows Walker and Byrnes to their cabin, Russell and Danton come calling with the tribe. These kind of things start wars as the Ancient Greeks would be the first to tell you.As much as Kookie got all the publicity and was the reason for Yellowstone Kelly's box office, this film belongs to the stoic Clint Walker who if he had come along a decade earlier would have been a great cowboy hero. Walker is smart and stoic in the title role.I have to say that Andra Martin as a blue eyed Arapahoe was most disconcerting. Just like Burt Lancaster in Apache.Despite that Yellowstone Kelly was a well made action western that any fan of the horse opera will love.