''Siege at Red River'' is a 1954 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
Rudolph Maté
Rudolph Maté (born Rudolf Mayer; 21 January 1898 – 27 October 1964) was a Polish-Hungarian-American cinematographer, film director and film producer who worked as cameraman and cinematographer in Hungary, Austria, Germany, France and the Unite ...
and written by
Sydney Boehm
Sydney Boehm (April 4, 1908 – June 25, 1990) was an American screenwriter and producer. Boehm began his writing career as a newswriter for wire services and newspapers before moving on to screenwriting. His films include ''High Wall'' (1947), ...
. The film stars
Van Johnson
Charles Van Dell Johnson (August 25, 1916 – December 12, 2008) was an American film, television, theatre and radio actor. He was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during and after World War II.
Johnson was described as the embodiment o ...
,
Joanne Dru
Joanne Dru (born Joan Letitia LaCock;Known as Joan Lacock in th1930 United States census/ref> January 31, 1922 – September 10, 1996) was an American film and television actress, known for such films as '' Red River'', ''She Wore a Yellow Ribbo ...
,
Richard Boone
Richard Allen Boone (June 18, 1917 – January 10, 1981) was an American actor who starred in over 50 films and was notable for his roles in Westerns, including his starring role in the television series ''Have Gun – Will Travel''.
Early lif ...
,
Milburn Stone
Hugh Milburn Stone (July 5, 1904 – June 12, 1980) was an American actor, best known for his role as "Doc" (Dr. Galen Adams) on the CBS Western series ''Gunsmoke''.
Early life
Stone was born in Burrton, Kansas, to Herbert Stone and the forme ...
,
Jeff Morrow
Leslie Irving Morrow, known as Jeff Morrow (January 13, 1907 – December 26, 1993), was an American actor educated at Pratt Institute in his native New York City. Morrow was a commercial artist prior to turning to acting. Early in his caree ...
, and
Craig Hill. The film was released on May 1, 1954, by
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
.
Plot
In
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
in 1865, a
Gatling gun
The Gatling gun is a rapid-firing multiple-barrel firearm invented in 1861 by Richard Jordan Gatling. It is an early machine gun and a forerunner of the modern electric motor-driven rotary cannon.
The Gatling gun's operation centered on a cyc ...
is being transported by a Confederate Army officer in civilian clothes, calling himself Jim Farraday, and a sergeant, going by Benjy, to aid the Southern cause in the war. They come to the aid of a Rebel-hating Yankee nurse, Nora Curtis, whose wagon is stuck in the mud.
Stopping off in a town for supplies and information, Farraday falls under the suspicion of a
Pinkerton detective, Frank Kelso, who has been assigned to locate the stolen Gatling gun. Behind her back, Farraday and Benjy smuggle the gun out of town in Nora's wagon.
A mercenary, Brett Manning, befriends the soldiers on the trail, then betrays them, shooting Benjy and stealing the gun. He sells it to tribal leader Chief Yellow Hawk, who uses it during an attack on a fort against soldiers, women and children. Farraday joins forces with Kelso to overcome Yellow Hawk's men and take the gun back, turning the battle in the fort's favor. Nora successfully argues that Kelso should reward Farraday by letting him go home to
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
. Knowing that the war is nearly over, he allows Farraday to leave.
Cast
*
Van Johnson
Charles Van Dell Johnson (August 25, 1916 – December 12, 2008) was an American film, television, theatre and radio actor. He was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during and after World War II.
Johnson was described as the embodiment o ...
as Capt. James S. Simmons / Jim Farraday
*
Joanne Dru
Joanne Dru (born Joan Letitia LaCock;Known as Joan Lacock in th1930 United States census/ref> January 31, 1922 – September 10, 1996) was an American film and television actress, known for such films as '' Red River'', ''She Wore a Yellow Ribbo ...
as Nora Curtis
*
Richard Boone
Richard Allen Boone (June 18, 1917 – January 10, 1981) was an American actor who starred in over 50 films and was notable for his roles in Westerns, including his starring role in the television series ''Have Gun – Will Travel''.
Early lif ...
as Brett Manning
*
Craig Hill as Lt. Braden
*
Milburn Stone
Hugh Milburn Stone (July 5, 1904 – June 12, 1980) was an American actor, best known for his role as "Doc" (Dr. Galen Adams) on the CBS Western series ''Gunsmoke''.
Early life
Stone was born in Burrton, Kansas, to Herbert Stone and the forme ...
as Sgt. Benjamin 'Benjy' Guderman
*
John Cliff
John Cliff (7 March 1883 – 18 October 1977) was the first Assistant General Secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union and later a prominent London Transport board member.
Cliff was born in Leeds in 1883, the son of John Cliff and ...
as Sgt. Jenkins
*
Jeff Morrow
Leslie Irving Morrow, known as Jeff Morrow (January 13, 1907 – December 26, 1993), was an American actor educated at Pratt Institute in his native New York City. Morrow was a commercial artist prior to turning to acting. Early in his caree ...
as Frank Kelso
*
Rico Alaniz
Americo Zorilla "Rico" Alaniz (October 25, 1919 – March 9, 2015) was a Mexican-American actor.
Early years
Alaniz was born in Juárez, Mexico, and began riding when he was a child.
Selected filmography
* '' The Capture'' (1950) - Policema ...
as Chief Yellow Hawk
*
Robert Burton
Robert Burton (8 February 1577 – 25 January 1640) was an English author and fellow of Oxford University, who wrote the encyclopedic tome ''The Anatomy of Melancholy''.
Born in 1577 to a comfortably well-off family of the landed gentry, Burt ...
as Sheriff
*Pilar Del Rey as Lukoa
*
Ferris Taylor
Robert Ferris Taylor (March 25, 1888 – March 7, 1961) was an American film actor and vaudeville performer.
Biography
Taylor owned a vaudeville company, the Taylor Players. Besides his acting, Taylor sometimes sang in vaudeville programs. ...
as Anderson Smith
Production
Parts of the film were shot in Professor Valley, Colorado River, Castle Valley and Dead Horse Point in
Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
, as well as in
Durango, Colorado
Durango is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of La Plata County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 19,071 at the 2020 United States Census. Durango is the home of Fort Lewis Coll ...
.
References
External links
*
1954 films
20th Century Fox films
American Western (genre) films
1954 Western (genre) films
Films directed by Rudolph Maté
Films scored by Lionel Newman
Films shot in Utah
Films shot in Colorado
1950s English-language films
1950s American films
{{1950s-Western-film-stub