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Simply A Masterpiece

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Jack Buetel's career never really took off after the "scandalous" "gay" western "the outlaw" ,where he was outstripped by Jane Russel,who became a true star .When he returned ,he was given uninteresting parts:for instance,in "best of the badmen" ,probably the best of the lot,he had to play the youngster opposite seasoned actors such as Robert Ryan and Claire Trevor and he was not able to shine,being already too old for this kind of role.I was expecting more of "the half-breed" .What a disappointment!Whereas the subject could have been interesting(the man torn between the White and the Indians),the screenwriters made of mess of it ,with a desultory script,mixing gambling,songs in the saloon which are mostly filler, love rivalry,male friendship,and Charley's sister who appears just to be raped(?) and killed .Like this? Try this....."The savage" (Marshall,1952,star. Charlton Heston)

There is a passage in the Shakespeare play " A Midsummer Night's Dream "that refers to the imaginary play of Pyramus and Thisby as being both " brief and tedious" .It would serve well as a description of this quite awful piece of garbage from the early 50's as well . The eponymous hero is Charley Wolf who is part white and part Apache and who seeks to maintain the existing uneasy peace between the two races in San Remo .He is helped by a former Confederate officer ,turned gambler (Robert Young ).The local Indian agent is a devious and corrupt individual who is seeking to get the Apaches evicted from their reservation in order to get at the gold which lies hidden there .The relationship between Wolf and his ally is shattered by their competing for the affections of the same girl -a saloon singer . The script is dire and the acting woeful ;in particular the slow and over emphatic delivery of the white actors playing Native Americans is tedious .Young -a capable enough player in other movies -looks out of sorts in the Western setting. Add muddy colour and a clichéd script and the result is racist tedium and unrelenting dullness .

Indians, gold-seekers and dance hall girls liven this hackneyed saga of a selfish politician trying to start an uprising in order to get to the gold on Apache land. Very good scenery and strong cast; but the story is too predictable. The players include: Robert Young, Janis Carter, Jack Buetel and Reed Hadley.

Poorly acted drama about Robert Young -- doing a badly acted William Powell impression -- coming between Janis Carter, doing a bad Lucille Ball imitation and Reed Hadley doing a surprisingly awful Charlton Heston imitation. Beautiful location shots don't do anything towards rescuing this picture. Not even awful enough to be interesting.