''The Great Sioux Uprising'' is a 1953 American

Technicolor Technicolor is a family of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes. The first version, Process 1, was introduced in 1916, and improved versions followed over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black-and ...

western film The Western is a film genre defined by the American Film Institute as films which are "set in the American West that mbodythe spirit, the struggle, and the demise of the new frontier." Generally set in the American frontier between the Calif ...

directed by

Lloyd Bacon Lloyd Francis Bacon (December 4, 1889 – November 15, 1955) was an American screen, stage, and vaudeville actor and film director. As a director, he made films in numerous genres, including westerns, musicals, comedies, gangster films, and c ...

and starring

Jeff Chandler Jeff Chandler (born Ira Grossel; December 15, 1918 – June 17, 1961) was an American actor. He was best known for his portrayal of Cochise in '' Broken Arrow'' (1950), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting ...

, Faith Domergue and Lyle Bettger. It was produced and distributed by

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

Plot

During the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, in

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

, horse dealers Joan Britton ( Faith Domergue) and Stephen Cook ( Lyle Bettger) are competing to supply the Union Army with horses. A

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

, Stan Watie, is in the area to stir up the

Sioux The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin ( ; Dakota/ Lakota: ) are groups of Native American tribes and First Nations people from the Great Plains of North America. The Sioux have two major linguistic divisions: the Dakota and Lakota peoples (translati ...

against the Union just as Cook decides to steal a herd of Sioux horses. Ex-army doctor Jonathan Westgate (

) opposes Cook's unscrupulous methods as well as being Cook's rival for the affections of Joan. It seems Westgate is the only one able to prevent a new Indian war.

Cast

as Capt. Jonathan Westgate * Faith Domergue as Joan Britton * Lyle Bettger as Stephen Cook *

Peter Whitney Peter King Engle (May 24, 1916 – March 30, 1972), known professionally as Peter Whitney, was an American actor in film and television. Tall and heavyset, he played brutish villains in many Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, Hollywood fil ...

as Ahab Jones * Stacy Harris as Uriah *

Walter Sande Walter Sande (July 9, 1906 – February 22, 1972) was an American character actor, known for numerous supporting film and television roles. Films Born in Denver, Colorado, he was one of those stern, heavyset character actors in Hollywood no pe ...

as Joe Baird * Stephen Chase as Maj. McKay *

Glenn Strange George Glenn Strange (August 16, 1899 – September 20, 1973) was an American actor who appeared in hundreds of Western (genre), Western films. He played Sam Noonan, the bartender on Columbia Broadcasting System, CBS's ''Gunsmoke'' televisio ...

as Gen. Stan Watie * Ray Bennett as Sgt. Manners * John War Eagle as Chief

Red Cloud Red Cloud (; – December 10, 1909) was a leader of the Oglala Lakota from 1865 to 1909. He was one of the most capable Native American opponents whom the United States Army faced in the western territories. He led the Lakota to victory over ...

* Charles Arnt as Gist * Julia Montoya as Heyoka * Dewey Drapeau as Teo-Ka-Ha * Boyd 'Red' Morgan as Ray *

Lane Bradford Lane Bradford (born ''John Myrtland Le Varre, Jr.''; August 29, 1922 – June 6, 1973) was an American actor. He appeared in more than 250 films and television series between 1940 and 1973, specializing in supporting "tough-guy" roles predominan ...

as Lee *

Jack Ingram Jack Owen Ingram (born November 15, 1970) is an American country music artist formerly signed to Big Machine Records, an independent record label. He has released eleven studio albums, one extended play, six live albums, and 19 singles. Alt ...

as Sam * Clem Fuller as Jake * Virginia Mullen as Madge Baird

Production

In 1952 Jeff Chandler signed a new contract with Universal which doubled his salary. ''The Great Sioux Uprising'' was the first film under the new agreement. Alexis Smith and

Stephen McNally Stephen McNally (born Horace Vincent McNally; July 29, 1911 – June 4, 1994) was an American actor remembered mostly for his appearances in many Westerns and action films. His dark features often cast him as hard-hearted characters, crimina ...

were meant to co star with Chandler. Eventually Smith was replaced by Faith Domergue. McNally's wife then fell ill and he asked to withdraw from the film; he was replaced by Lyle Bettger. Filming took place in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

and

Pendleton, Oregon Pendleton is a city in and the county seat of Umatilla County, Oregon, Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. The population was 17,107 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, which includes approximately 1,600 people who are ...

References

External links

* * * 1953 films American historical films Universal Pictures films 1950s historical films 1953 Western (genre) films Films directed by Lloyd Bacon Films set in Wyoming American Western (genre) films Films shot in Oregon Films shot in Portland, Oregon 1950s English-language films 1950s American films English-language Western (genre) films English-language historical films Sioux in popular culture {{1950s-US-Western-film-stub