Fury at Furnace Creek

A superior B Feature. Mature and Langan are the sons determined to prove their father, the commander of a lonely cavalry outpost, acted correctly and was not responsible for the fort's destruction in an Indian attack. In doing so they expose a plot by Dekker to buy up cavalry land rich in mineral deposits for a pittance. Script and direction give the production a stylish edge. It's not the question if Victor Mature is a good actor or not. I wouldn't like to decide this. It's like real life: Some real people also leave the impression of being bad actors. It's Mature's face that is interesting. It looks not only attractive, but uncommon, too. Behind it seems to be much more than you can immediately see, waiting to be revealed at any moment, wherefore it's interesting to watch him.

While escorting a wagon train carrying supplies to Fort Furnace Creek a cavalry officer by the name of "Captain Grover A. Walsh" (Reginald Gardiner) receives a message from "General Fletcher Blackwell" (Robert Warwick) to remove the troops guarding the wagon train in order to relocate to another destination immediately. Although the wagon master doesn't like the idea of being left unprotected in Apache territory, the captain insists that he must follow orders and subsequently departs with his men. Not long afterward the wagon train is attacked and Fort Furnace Creek is destroyed. Naturally, the army immediately conducts an investigation and it is then determined to courts-martial General Blackwell. Unfortunately, it's during this time that General Blackwell dies of a stroke and unable to clear his name his reputation is seriously tainted. However, rather than accept things as they are his two sons "Captain Rufe Blackwell" (Glenn Langan) and "Cash Blackwell" (Victor Mature) decide to conduct their own separate investigations into the matter-and they discover a number of things that weren't brought up at their father's trial. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a decent Western due in large part to the acting of Victor Mature. Admittedly, there were a couple of scenes which weren't quite as realistic as they could have been but other than that I enjoyed this film and have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

Because it is a western built around an investigation, as a crime drama, a court drama. The main interest is for me Albert Dekker as a villainous character. For the rest, I repeat that this western is not like any other of this kind. This is for me one of the best movies from director Bruce Humberstone; he will repeat in western with TEN WANTED MEN for Columbia Pictures and starring Randolph Scott. But keep in mind that he was mostly specialized in comedies, light hearted dramas or musicals. A film noir though, I WAKE UP SCREAMING, also starring Vic Mature, was a little gem to pick up from Humberstone's filmography.

When a general gives an order to divert a military escort from a wagon train to the remote Fort Furnace Creek, the Apache leader "Little Dog" sees his chance to reduce everything to rubble... The horrified authorities proceed to court-martial the general, but he dies on the witness stand and it falls to his two, estranged, sons, to get to the bottom of this mystery. One, "Rufe" (Glenn Lankan) a soldier; the other "Cash" (Victor Mature) an astute gambler handy with his six-gun. The latter gets to the town where one of the chief witnesses against his father "Capt. Walsh" (Reginald Gardiner) has take refuge in the bottle. Clearly seeing he has something on his mind, "Cash" attempts to find out what. The arrival of the other brother, the murder of "Walsh" and a note that might clear things up all feature as the story comes to an head - appropriately, in the burnt out ruins of the fort. It's a solid, action-packed adventure that gives Mature a chance to be more than the usual swarthy, sandalled hero. Coleen Grey ("Molly") introduces the tiniest element of romance, but nothing to clutter the quickly-paced plot that amalgamates just about every theme from the genre. Some effort has been put into the production, and I quite enjoyed it.

At the beginning of the film, Captain Walsh (Reginald Gardiner) announces to a group of folks on a wagon train that he and his cavalry were ordered back to their fort by General Blackwell. These people beg the cavalry to stay, as there are hostile Indians in the region...but he leaves. Not surprisingly, the settlers are soon massacred. The problem is that the General insists he never ordered the Captain back to the fort...and the Captain insists that he did. At a court martial to decide the case, General Blackwell drops dead on the witness stand and no one is able to prove anything...and the General dies with a stain on his record.

After his father's death, Captain Blackwell (Glenn Langan) goes off looking for proof that his father was not responsible for the settlers' deaths. At the same time, unbeknownst to him, his ne'er do well brother, Cash (Victor Mature) is also investigating under cover. Considering Cash is a professional gambler and an embarrassment to the family, he can poke around much better than his brother and soon infiltrates a gang who appear responsible for the massacre...and their toady, Captain Walsh. What's next? See the film.

This is a very good western in many ways. The biggest plus is the plot. About 95% of all westerns have three basic plots....but this one is different. The other big plus is Victor Mature, an A-list actor, starring in the film. Often in the 1950s, Fox and the other studios would usually use B-listers (or C-listers) for westerns and the A-list ones for the prestige pictures. Here, however, you get Mature as well as a pretty good villain (Albert Dekker). All in all, very good...nearly earning a 9.