Comanche Territory is directed by George Sherman and written by Oscar Brodney and Lewis Meltzer. It stars Maureen O'Hara, Macdonald Carey, Will Geer and Charles Drake. Music is by Frank Skinner and cinematography by Maury Gertsman.
A government treaty set up to protect sacred Comanche land is due to expire, just as silver has been found beneath the mountains on the land. James Bowie (Carey) has been sent to negotiate a new treaty with the Comanche leaders, thus allowing the silver to be mined without upsetting the Indians. But there are underhand plans being drawn up by settlers in the town of Crooked Tongue, a town run by feisty Katie Howard (O'Hara). Can Bowie prevent the pillaging of the sacred Indian land? Something that will inevitably lead to blood being shed
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Good solid B Western that gets in and does its job without pretension or pointless filler. Shot in Technicolor and filmed impressively on location in Sedona, Arizona (Big & Little Parks/Red Rock), it's a film that offers an interesting story and a good sprinkling of action. Cast are mostly fine, Geer files in for the Arthur Hunnicut/Walter Brennan type role, O'Hara is spunky and a Technicolor picture (check out that gorgeous black and green frock sequence) and Carey, whilst hardly a convincing or robust Jim Bowie, plays it with restraint and works off of Geer and O'Hara rather well. The action is competently staged by old pro Sherman, who also doesn't let the pace sag, and Gertsman's photography of the landscapes (particularly Red Rock) is the high point of the production.
Problems? Well Charles Drake as Katie Howard's crooked brother turns him into a pretty tepid villain, while the big saloon punch-up is beset by amateurish punch throwing. There's also the issue of non Native American actors playing Indians, which once in a while in the 50s did throw up the odd good turn, however here isn't one of them. Though in fairness they aren't helped by the script, which doesn't exactly give the Comanche characters some telling dialogue to impact on proceedings. Good to report that Pegasus' DVD release contains a very good print, there's the odd moment of colour fluctuation, but by and large it's a neat transfer. Though you may want to slightly tone down your colour setting since Sherman and Gertsman have gone for the high contrast option for the Technicolor filters! 6.5/10
