A cavalry officer tries to keep a lid on a volatile situation when Indian leader Cochise is being prodded into starting a war.A cavalry officer tries to keep a lid on a volatile situation when Indian leader Cochise is being prodded into starting a war.A cavalry officer tries to keep a lid on a volatile situation when Indian leader Cochise is being prodded into starting a war.
Robert Griffin
- Sam Maddock
- (as Robert E. Griffin)
Victor Adamson
- Townsman
- (uncredited)
Chris Willow Bird
- Apache Brave
- (uncredited)
Buck Bucko
- Townsman
- (uncredited)
Bill Coontz
- Trooper
- (uncredited)
John Crawford
- Capt. Bill Lawson
- (uncredited)
Art Felix
- Comanche Brave
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaProducer Sam Katzman refused to shave the Indians heads, because it would take a too long time for hair to grow again for other films. So he decided that the actors would wear swimming caps. But Columbia mogul Harry Cohn was very angry because of this trick and asked why Indians fighters wore bathing caps.
- GoofsThe film states that there were 40,000 Apache warriors at war in Arizona, when in fact there were never anywhere near 40,000 Apaches in the entire state and never more than several hundred fighting the white settlers and the US Army at any one time.
- Quotes
Major Tom Burke: It is a custom of our people, the handshake. It means we each give our word to what has been said.
- ConnectionsReferenced in They Came from Beyond - Sam Katzman at Columbia (2023)
Featured review
Two steps forward, one big step back.
The 1950s saw a change in the average western. In many of the era's films, the American Indians are seen in a very sympathetic light and often Indian unrest is due to evil white folks. In this one, it's about the Chiracahua Apache war chief, Cochise, and how he was agreeable to becoming peaceful...but this is undermined by greedy jerks intent on provoking war.
While the story is laudable, it's also sad to see what ALSO was common in the 1950s...having big-name white actors portraying the chiefs. In most of these cases, they sure don't sound like Native Americans...and John Hodiak paints up and wears a wig and looks like a convincing Indian...and sounds exactly like John Hodiak! It really takes you out of the story...especially because his diction makes it sound as if Cochise went to charm school!
The story begins with the Gadsden Purchase at the end of 1953. With this land treaty with Mexico comes a new problem...what to do with marauding Chiracahua Apaches who go back and forth across the border of the USA and Mexico to attack folks. Major Burke (Robert Stack) is assigned the task to make peace with Cochise, the leader of these natives as well as making peace with the Mexicans who just became Mexican-Americans. But when negotiations go sour, the Chiracahua and Comanche get together and decide to make war on the white men. Can the Major convince them to do otherwise?
While it was nice to see the Indian portrayed more sympathetically and the film in vivid color, it's still a poor western. The dialog is often ridiculous, Hodiak is terrible and the story is in need of editing and improvement. Worth skipping.
By the way, EVERYONE in this film uses repeating rifles and handguns. Such things were pretty rare in 1853 and even during the Civil War, most of the troops used single-shot rifles. So much for attention to historical accuracy.
While the story is laudable, it's also sad to see what ALSO was common in the 1950s...having big-name white actors portraying the chiefs. In most of these cases, they sure don't sound like Native Americans...and John Hodiak paints up and wears a wig and looks like a convincing Indian...and sounds exactly like John Hodiak! It really takes you out of the story...especially because his diction makes it sound as if Cochise went to charm school!
The story begins with the Gadsden Purchase at the end of 1953. With this land treaty with Mexico comes a new problem...what to do with marauding Chiracahua Apaches who go back and forth across the border of the USA and Mexico to attack folks. Major Burke (Robert Stack) is assigned the task to make peace with Cochise, the leader of these natives as well as making peace with the Mexicans who just became Mexican-Americans. But when negotiations go sour, the Chiracahua and Comanche get together and decide to make war on the white men. Can the Major convince them to do otherwise?
While it was nice to see the Indian portrayed more sympathetically and the film in vivid color, it's still a poor western. The dialog is often ridiculous, Hodiak is terrible and the story is in need of editing and improvement. Worth skipping.
By the way, EVERYONE in this film uses repeating rifles and handguns. Such things were pretty rare in 1853 and even during the Civil War, most of the troops used single-shot rifles. So much for attention to historical accuracy.
helpful•11
- planktonrules
- May 28, 2024
- How long is Conquest of Cochise?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Runtime1 hour 10 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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