''Escort West'' is a 1959 American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film directed by Francis D. Lyon, and starring

Victor Mature Victor John Mature (January 29, 1913 – August 4, 1999) was an American stage, film, and television actor who was a leading man in Hollywood during the 1940s and 1950s. His best known film roles include ''One Million B.C.'' (1940), '' My Darlin ...

Faith Domergue Faith Marie Domergue (; June 16, 1924 or 1925 – April 4, 1999) was an American film and television actress. Discovered at age sixteen by media and aircraft mogul Howard Hughes, she was signed to a contract with Hughes' RKO Radio Pictur ...

, and

Elaine Stewart Elaine Stewart (born Elsy Henrietta Maria Steinberg; May 31, 1930 – June 27, 2011) was an American actress and model. Life Stewart was born in Montclair, New Jersey, the daughter of Hedwig (Haenssler) and Ulrich E. Steinberg. She was one of ...

. The movie is set after the U.S. Civil War, when a former Confederate officer, played by

, and his daughter help some survivors of an Indian massacre. The film was released by

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...

on January 23, 1959. It was the second of two co-productions between

Batjac Batjac Productions is an independent film production company co-founded by John Wayne in 1952 as a vehicle for Wayne to both produce and star in movies. The first Batjac production was ''Big Jim McLain'' released by Warner Bros. in 1952, and its ...

and Romina Productions. Their first was '' China Doll'' (1957). The movie was filmed largely on the

Iverson Movie Ranch Iverson may refer to: Computing * Iverson Award, an ACM honour for APL contributions * Iverson bracket, a mathematical notation * Iverson Notation, the syntactic basis of APL (programming language) Other uses * Iverson Movie Ranch, Chatsworth, Ca ...

Chatsworth, California Chatsworth is a suburban neighborhood in the City of Los Angeles, California, in the San Fernando Valley. The area was home to Native Americans, some of whom left caves containing rock art. Chatsworth was explored and colonized by the Spanish be ...

, with additional footage shot on the nearby Bell Moving Picture Ranch. The site of the Bell Ranch location shoot remained a mystery for decades until it was discovered on an expedition by film location researchers in early 2015. The researchers found the location by using information from "Escort West" and the first

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

movie, '' Love Me Tender'', which filmed its climactic sequence at the same site, known as the "Rocky Hill."

Plot

Now that the Civil War is over, former Confederate officer Ben Lassiter and his 10-year-old daughter ride west to

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

, where they stop off briefly at a stagecoach rest station. There they encounter sisters Beth and Martha Drury, who greet them in different ways. Beth is cordial to Ben, whereas Martha makes no secret of her dislike for rebel soldiers. Beth is engaged to an army captain, Poole, and plans to travel to

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

with her sister, whose husband was a Union officer killed in the war. Indians attack the rest station after Ben and his daughter ride off. When he sees warriors with liquor from the way station, Ben doubles back. He finds the Drury sisters safe, hidden in a cellar, plus an Army payroll that the Indians neglected to take. Ben escorts the women west and intends to deliver the payroll to Poole, who is fighting off Indian attacks himself. Ben's bravery repeatedly impresses Beth, but with each passing hour Martha becomes more unstable. She panics, flees and the Indians kill her. Ben copes with a pair of Army deserters and a renegade scout named Tago along the way, ultimately leading Beth and his daughter to safety.

Cast

as Ben Lassiter *Reba Waters as Abbey Lassiter *

as Beth Drury *

as Martha Drury * Noah Beery Jr. as Lt. Jamison *

William Ching William Brooks Ching (October 2, 1913 – July 1, 1989) was an American character actor who appeared in numerous films and on television during the later 1940s and 1950s. Ching may be best known for his supporting role in Rudolph Maté's 1950 f ...

as Capt. Howard Poole * Harry Carey Jr. as Trooper Travis *

Slim Pickens Louis Burton Lindley Jr. (June 29, 1919 – December 8, 1983), better known by his stage name Slim Pickens, was an American actor and rodeo performer. Starting off in the rodeo, Pickens transitioned to acting and appeared in dozens of movies and ...

as Corporal Wheeler * Rex Ingram as Nelson Walker * Leo Gordon as Trooper Vogel *

Ken Curtis Ken Curtis (born Curtis Wain Gates; July 2, 1916 – April 28, 1991) was an American singer and actor best known for his role as Festus Haggen on the CBS western television series ''Gunsmoke''. Although he appeared on ''Gunsmoke'' earlie ...

as Trooper Burch *

X Brands X Brands (July 24, 1927 – May 8, 2000), sometimes credited as "Jay X. Brands", was an American actor of German ancestry known for his roles on various television series and in some films between 1956 and the late 1970s. His best-known recurring ...

as Tago *

Roy Barcroft Roy Barcroft (born Howard Harold Ravenscroft; September 7, 1902 – November 28, 1969) was an American character actor famous for playing villains in B-Westerns and other genres. From 1937 to 1957, he appeared in more than 300 films for R ...

as Sgt. Doyle * John Hubbard as Lt. Weeks *

Claire Du Brey Claire Du Brey (born Clara Violet Dubreyvich, August 31, 1892 – August 1, 1993) was an American actress. She appeared in more than 200 films between 1916 and 1959. Her name is sometimes rendered as Claire Du Bray or as Claire Dubrey. Ear ...

as Mrs. Kate Fenniman *

Syd Saylor Syd or SYD may refer to: * Syd (name), including a list of people with the name * ''Syd.'', taxonomic author abbreviation of Hans Sydow (1879–1946), German mycologist * Sydney, New South Wales, Australia ** IATA code for Sydney Airport, New Sout ...

as Elwood Fenniman *

Chuck Hayward Charles Bert Hayward (January 20, 1920 – February 23, 1998) was an American motion picture stuntman and actor. He was associated particularly with the films of John Wayne. He doubled for most of the great Western and action stars of the 195 ...

as Indian *Charles Soldani as Indian * Eddie Little Sky as Indian (uncredited)

Production

Francis Lyon originally bought the story for his own Leo Productions. He eventually set up the movie with Batjac.

References

External links

*
Iverson Movie Ranch: History, vintage photos.
{{Francis D. Lyon 1959 films 1959 Western (genre) films American Western (genre) films Batjac Productions films Films produced by John Wayne Films directed by Francis D. Lyon 1950s English-language films 1950s American films

Plot

Cast

Production

See also

References

External links