''Only the Valiant'', also known as ''Fort Invincible'', is a 1951 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 produced by William Cagney (younger brother of James Cagney), directed by Gordon Douglas and starring Gregory Peck,

Barbara Payton Barbara Lee Payton (born Barbara Lee Redfield; November 16, 1927 – May 8, 1967) was an American film actress best known for her stormy social life and battles with alcoholism and drug addiction. Her life has been the subject of several bo ...

, and Ward Bond. The screenplay was written by

Edmund H. North Edmund Hall North (March 12, 1911 – August 28, 1990) was an American screenwriter who shared an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay with Francis Ford Coppola in 1970 for their script for ''Patton''. North wrote the screenplay for the 1951 ...

and Harry Brown, based on the 1943 novel of the same name by Charles Marquis Warren. Gregory Peck, in a role he considered a low point of his career, plays Captain Richard Lance, a by-the-book

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

graduate who is not very popular with the men under his command. This film is in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...

Plot

Following the American Civil War, peace is maintained in the New Mexico Territory by Fort Invincible, a fortification set up outside a mountain pass that blocks marauding bands of Apache. The Apache are able to eventually take the fort by cutting off its water supply, then assaulting the fort when its garrison is at its weakest and killing all the defenders. Captain Richard Lance arrives with a patrol soon after the battle and captures Tucsos, the charismatic leader of the Apache. Lance's scout advises the captain to kill Tucsos, but Lance will not shoot a prisoner. Back at the headquarters of the 5th Cavalry, the invalid commanding officer orders Lance to assign an officer to command an escort to take Tucsos to a larger post. Lance decides to lead the patrol himself, but at the last minute, the colonel says he needs Lance to stay at the fort in case of an Apache attack, and orders him to assign another (but more popular) officer, Lieutenant Holloway, to lead the small group of men escorting Tucsos. The Apache free Tucsos and Lieutenant Holloway ends up dead. The men at the fort blame Captain Lance, unaware of the colonel's order. They believe that his decision to assign Lieutenant Holloway to the dangerous mission was for a personal reason (both officers were vying for the affection of Cathy Eversham, an officer's daughter). Cathy Eversham believes it too, and bitterly breaks up with him. Lance's standing with the soldiers at the fort only gets worse when he assembles a group of misfit cavalrymen to hold off the rampaging Indians at the ruins of Fort Invincible, which is considered a suicide mission.

Cast

* Gregory Peck as Captain Richard Lance *

as Cathy Eversham * Ward Bond as Corporal Timothy Gilchrist *

Gig Young Gig Young (born Byron Elsworth Barr; November 4, 1913 – October 19, 1978) was an American actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performances in ''Come Fill the Cup'' (1952) and '' Teacher's Pet'' ...

as 1st Lieutenant William Holloway *

Dan Riss Frederic Daniel Riss (March 22, 1910 – August 28, 1970) was an American actor who had a career from 1949 to 1965. Filmography References External links * 1910 births 1970 deaths 20th-century American male actors American male f ...

as 1st Lieutenant Jerry Winters *

Clark Howat John Clark Howat (January 22, 1918 – October 30, 2009) was an American film and television actor. Life and career Howat was born in Calaveras County, California. He began his career in 1947, appearing in the Broadway play ''The Wanhop ...

as Lieutenant Underwood *

Neville Brand Lawrence Neville Brand (August 13, 1920 – April 16, 1992) was an American soldier and actor. He was known for playing villainous or antagonistic character roles in Westerns, crime dramas, and ''films noir'', and was nominated for a BAFTA Awa ...

as First Sergeant Ben Murdock *

Herbert Heyes Herbert Harrison Heyes (August 3, 1889 – May 31, 1958) was an American film actor. He appeared in nearly 100 films between 1915 and 1956, including the famed 1947 film '' Miracle on 34th Street'', in which he played an ahistorical "Mr. Gimbel ...

as Colonel Drumm * Art Baker as Captain Jennings *

Hugh Sanders Hugh Howard Sanders (March 13, 1911 – January 9, 1966) was an American actor, probably best known for playing the role of Dr. Reynolds in the movie ''To Kill a Mockingbird''. Biography Born in Illinois, Sanders graduated from Northwestern U ...

as Captain Eversham *

Lon Chaney, Jr. Creighton Tull Chaney (February10, 1906 – July12, 1973), known by his stage name Lon Chaney Jr., was an American actor known for playing Larry Talbot in the film '' The Wolf Man'' (1941) and its various crossovers, Count Alucard (Dra ...

as Trooper Kebussyan ("the Ay-rab") *

Warner Anderson Warner Anderson (March 10, 1911 – August 26, 1976) was an American actor. Early years Anderson was born to "a theatrical family" in Brooklyn, New York, March 10, 1911.Aaker, Everett (2006). ''Encyclopedia of Early Television Crime Fighters''. ...

as Trooper Rutledge * Steve Brodie as Trooper Onstot *

Terry Kilburn Terence E. Kilburn (born 25 November 1926), known for his acting work prior to 1953 as Terry Kilburn, is an English-American actor. Born in London, he moved to Hollywood in the U.S. at the age of 10, and is best known for his roles as a child ac ...

as Trooper Saxton * Jeff Corey as Joe Harmony *

Michael Ansara Michael George Ansara (April 15, 1922 – July 31, 2013) was an American actor. He portrayed Cochise in the television series '' Broken Arrow'', Kane in the 1979–1981 series '' Buck Rogers in the 25th Century'', Commander Kang in '' Star Tr ...

as Tucsos * Nana Bryant as Mrs. Drumm

Reception

According to Warner Bros accounts, the film earned $1,796,000 domestically and $1,630,000 foreign. ''Time Out'' said "The often brutal physical confrontations show the kind of edge he directorcould deliver when he put his mind to it, and a sinewy, unsympathetic Peck impresses." Leonard Maltin says it is "unusually brutal."Maltin, Leonard. "Leonard Maltin’s Classic Movie Guide", 2005. In a review of the 2013

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...

release, ''

Creative Loafing Creative Loafing is an Atlanta-based publisher of a monthly arts and culture newspaper/magazine. The company publishes a 60,000 circulation monthly publication which is distributed to in-town locations and neighborhoods on the first Thursday of ...

'' assessed that "This middling Western isn't awful so much as it's awfully indifferent." The reviewer cited a routine and largely nonsensical plot, but praised the fun supporting performances from Ward Bond and

, and gave the film two stars.

Plot

Cast

Reception

See also

References

Further reading

External links