''Ten Who Dared'' is a 1960 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

William Beaudine William Washington Beaudine (January 15, 1892 – March 18, 1970) was an American film actor and director. He was one of Hollywood's most prolific directors, turning out films in remarkable numbers and in a wide variety of genres. Life and car ...

and starring

Brian Keith Brian Keith (born Robert Alba Keith, November 14, 1921 – June 24, 1997) was an American film, television, and stage actor who in his six-decade career gained recognition for his work in films such as the Disney family film '' The Parent T ...

Ben Johnson Ben, Benjamin or Benny Johnson may refer to: In sports Association football * Ben Johnson (footballer, born 2000), English footballer * Ben Johnson (soccer) (born 1977), American soccer player Other codes of football *Ben Johnson (Australian foot ...

, John Beal and James Drury. It was produced by

Walt Disney Productions The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October 1 ...

and released by

Buena Vista Distribution Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, formerly known as Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc. until 2007, is an American film distribution studio within the Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. It h ...

. It tells the story of

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

officer

John Wesley Powell John Wesley Powell (March 24, 1834 – September 23, 1902) was an American geologist, U.S. Army soldier, explorer of the American West, professor at Illinois Wesleyan University, and director of major scientific and cultural institutions. H ...

, who was the first to travel down the

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. s ...

, and the dangers that he and nine other men had to face while making a map of the region during their 1869 expedition. Hired by Walt Disney Studios in 1959 as a technical adviser,

Otis R. Marston Otis Reed "Dock" Marston (February 11, 1894 – August 30, 1979) was an American writer, historian and Grand Canyon river runner who participated in a large number of river-running firsts. Marston was the eighty-third person to successfully compl ...

led a film crew through the Grand Canyon to film river running and background scenes for the film.

Plot

The film is set in the United States, in 1869. Thanks to the activity of explorers, soldiers and trappers, the American territory is now well known. On the cards, there are few places marked with an explicit Unexplored (unexplored). One of these places shrouded in mystery and avoided because they are believed to be full of danger is the Colorado River. John Wesley Powell, a former Northern major of enormous scientific culture, but without an arm, lost at the Battle of Shiloh during the Civil War, gathers 9 men, including his brother Walter, marked by the sufferings of Southern captivity, and obtains 4 boats to set out to discover Colorado. The journey is long and difficult. On the way, a boat is destroyed by the whiskey drunk occupants. The meeting with Baker, trapper husband of an Indian and friend of Powell, who tells of terrible waterfalls, makes one of the men abandon the company. Three others mutiny, continuing the journey overland alone, but are killed by the Indians who pass them off as the killers of a squaw. Powell eventually finds the point where the Colorado flows into Lake Mead, concluding the great feat with success.

Cast

as Bill Dunn * John Beal as Major

* James Drury as Walter Powell *

R. G. Armstrong Robert Golden Armstrong Jr. (April 7, 1917 – July 27, 2012) was an American character actor and playwright. A veteran performer who appeared in dozens of Westerns during his 40-year career, he may be best remembered for his work with director ...

as Oramel Howland *

as George Bradley *

L.Q. Jones Justus Ellis McQueen Jr. (August 19, 1927 – July 9, 2022), known professionally as L.Q. Jones, was an American actor and director. He appeared in Sam Peckinpah's films ''Ride the High Country'' (1962), '' Major Dundee'' (1965), ''The Wild Bun ...

as Billy "Missouri" Hawkins *

Dan Sheridan Dan Sheridan (September 3, 1916 – June 29, 1963) was an Irish-American actor who appeared in more than thirty-five television series between 1957 and his death at the age of forty-six in 1963. He was cast in forty-one episodes of the ABC/W ...

as Jack Sumner *

David Stollery David John Stollery, III (born January 18, 1941 in Los Angeles, California) is a former American child actor and, as an adult, an industrial designer. He appeared in numerous Disney movies and television programs in the 1950s. He is best known for ...

as Andrew "Andy" Hall * Stan Jones as Seneca Howland *

David Frankham David Frankham (born 16 February 1926) is a British retired actor. After serving in India and Malaya in the Second World War, Frankham worked first as a news reader, and then a writer, interviewer and producer for the BBC from 1948 to 1955. In ...

as Frank Goodman *

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 Re ...

as Jim Baker *

Pat Hogan Pat Hogan (born Thurman Lee Haas; February 3, 1920 – November 21, 1966) was an American actor. He mostly played Native Americans over the course of his career. He was best known for his portrayal of Chief Red Stick in the film '' Davy Crocke ...

as Indian Chief * Ray Walker as McSpadden *

Jack Bighead John Bighead (April 23, 1930 – April 28, 1993) was an American football player. A Yuchi Indian, he starred in football at L.A. Poly High in the 1940s and played in the National Football League (NFL). He was a 1948 graduate of Pepperdine Un ...

as Ashtishkel * Dawn Little Sky as Indian Woman * Chickie The Dog as Jarvie The Dog

Production

Besides the Grand Canyon, other parts of the film were shot at the Big Bend of the

, Professor Valley,

Arches An arch is a vertical curved structure that spans an elevated space and may or may not support the weight above it, or in case of a horizontal arch like an arch dam, the hydrostatic pressure against it. Arches may be synonymous with vault ...

Dead Horse Point Dead Horse Point State Park is a state park of Utah in the United States, featuring a dramatic overlook of the Colorado River and Canyonlands National Park. The park covers of high desert at an altitude of . Amenities The park has several ...

, Dewey, Castle Valley, and Westwater Canyon 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 its ...

. The Grand Canyon production crew included producer

James Algar James Algar (June 11, 1912 – February 26, 1998) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He worked at Walt Disney Productions for 43 years and received the Disney Legends award in 1998. He was born in Modesto, California ...

, assistant director of script Herb Hirst, assistant director and production manager Russ Haverick, assistant producer Alessandro "Vee" Bodrero, head cameraman Gordon Avil, operative cameraman Richard Kelley, medical control Forrest "Doc" Reed, special effects Ray Bolton, makeup and wardrobe Frank LaRue, radioman Lester Gear, mechanic Don "Doc" Hill and rim control Matthew Bruttig. One of the replica boats used on the film, the ''Emma Dean'', was recovered by local raconteur, Stan A. Jones, in 1969 from the Golden Oak Ranch, a Disney movie lot in Placerita Canyon,

Newhall, Santa Clarita, California Newhall is the southernmost and oldest community in the city of Santa Clarita, California. Prior to the 1987 consolidation of Canyon Country, Saugus, Newhall, and Valencia into the city of Santa Clarita, it was an unincorporated area. It was ...

. The boat is on display at the Powell Museum in

Page, Arizona Page is a city in Coconino County, Arizona, United States, near the Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city was 7,247. History Unlike other cities in the area, Page was founded in 1957 as a housing co ...

Reception

According to ''

Allmovie AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne. History AllMovie was founded by popular-cul ...

'', critics consistently rate this as one of the worst movies made by Disney. ''

Halliwell's Film Guide Robert James Leslie Halliwell (23 February 1929 – 21 January 1989) was a British film critic, encyclopaedist and television rights buyer for ITV, the British commercial network, and Channel 4. He is best known for his reference guides, '' Fil ...

'' calls it "tedious and unconvincing". Leonard Maltin's annual publication "TV Movies" gives the film a BOMB rating, describing it as "rock-bottom Disney."

Comic book adaption

Dell Dell is an American based technology company. It develops, sells, repairs, and supports computers and related products and services. Dell is owned by its parent company, Dell Technologies. Dell sells personal computers (PCs), servers, data ...

Four Color ''Four Color'', also known as ''Four Color Comics'' and ''Dell Four Color'', was an American comic book anthology series published by Dell Comics between 1939 and 1962. The title is a reference to the four basic colors used when printing comic ...

#1178 (December 1960)

References

External links

* * {{William Beaudine Walt Disney Pictures films 1960 films American films based on actual events Films directed by William Beaudine 1960s adventure films American Western (genre) films 1960 Western (genre) films Films produced by James Algar Films produced by Walt Disney Films set in 1869 Films scored by Oliver Wallace Films adapted into comics Films shot in Utah 1960s English-language films