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New Mexico

  • 1951
  • Approved
  • 1h 16m
IMDb RATING
5.7/10
232
YOUR RATING
Lew Ayres and Marilyn Maxwell in New Mexico (1951)
Classical WesternDramaWestern

A cavalry captain has great difficulty keeping the peace between his tyrannical colonel and an Indian chief bent on revenge.A cavalry captain has great difficulty keeping the peace between his tyrannical colonel and an Indian chief bent on revenge.A cavalry captain has great difficulty keeping the peace between his tyrannical colonel and an Indian chief bent on revenge.

  • Director
    • Irving Reis
  • Writer
    • Max Trell
  • Stars
    • Lew Ayres
    • Marilyn Maxwell
    • Andy Devine
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    5.7/10
    232
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Irving Reis
    • Writer
      • Max Trell
    • Stars
      • Lew Ayres
      • Marilyn Maxwell
      • Andy Devine
    • 15User reviews
    • 2Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos7

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    Top cast24

    Edit
    Lew Ayres
    Lew Ayres
    • Capt. Hunt
    Marilyn Maxwell
    Marilyn Maxwell
    • Cherry
    Andy Devine
    Andy Devine
    • Sgt. Garrity
    Robert Hutton
    Robert Hutton
    • Lt. Vermont
    Donald Buka
    Donald Buka
    • Pvt. Van Vechton
    Ted de Corsia
    Ted de Corsia
    • Acoma - Indian Chief
    Lloyd Corrigan
    Lloyd Corrigan
    • Judge Wilcox
    John Hoyt
    John Hoyt
    • Sgt. Harrison
    Jeff Corey
    Jeff Corey
    • Coyote
    Raymond Burr
    Raymond Burr
    • Pvt. Anderson
    Verna Felton
    Verna Felton
    • Mrs. Fenway
    Ian MacDonald
    Ian MacDonald
    • Pvt. Daniels
    Walter Greaza
    Walter Greaza
    • Col. McComb
    • (as Walter N. Greaza)
    Peter Price
    • Chia-Kong
    Bud Rae
    • Stagecoach Driver
    Jack Briggs
    Jack Briggs
    • Pvt. Lindley
    • (uncredited)
    Hans Conried
    Hans Conried
    • President Abraham Lincoln
    • (uncredited)
    Bob Duncan
    • Cpl. Mack
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Irving Reis
    • Writer
      • Max Trell
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews15

    5.7232
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    Featured reviews

    7steve112547

    Road to hell is paved with good intentions....and a low budget!

    Good concept and execution overall - my DVD (Alpha Home Video) ran 77 minutes in B & W. Color would've made a big difference. Still, the characterizations of the lead characters were good for most, and the general plot execution held together well.

    The filming locations around Gallup and Acoma NM echo Monument Valley. The focus on the legendary Acoma Pueblo (aka Sky City) in western New Mexico seemed to be accurate; the mesa-top village (in miniature long shots) was pretty well done as were the cliffside scenes of attack and desperate defense. Unclear how much fighting was actually filmed at Acoma proper, as it is a sacred site.

    Normally it was the Acomas defending the mesa and village, rather than trying to assault troops on the mesa from below. *The Spanish had laid siege to Acoma Pueblo as far back as the 16th Century.

    A note on the mysterious "Lincoln Canes." These were indeed provided to a number of tribes and pueblos, engraved "1863" and "A. Lincoln." They were a respectful recognition of tribal identity and sovereignty - just do a search for Lincoln Canes. Clearly the film is correctly alluding to an act of great significance to the Native tribes, while taking some license with the actual event. That's Hollywood...
    6NewEnglandPat

    An old-school cavalry-Indian western

    Cavalry-Indian skirmishes highlight this film that somehow has been forgotten and seems to have passed from western movie memory. President Abraham Lincoln's death sets in motion the corrupt practices of a territory commissioner whose abusive policies destroy peace initiatives and the Indians go on the warpath. Lew Ayres, an army captain, leads a cavalry troop to track down his erstwhile friend, a chief who becomes an implacable enemy. The soldiers are plagued by thirst and dissension but find water and a large cache of rifles and ammunition. The fighting between the soldiers and the Indians is intense and quite violent for its time. The cast is good and the color captures the dry, dusty mesas and deserts of New Mexico.
    5bkoganbing

    Lincoln's Trip To New Mexico?

    Although this film is entitled New Mexico, it certainly might have taken place in any part of our Southwest. It begins with the totally ridiculous premise that Abraham Lincoln took time out in the middle of the Civil War to visit New Mexico territory and make promises to Indian chief Ted DeCorsia that the US government would be feeding the Indians. That was really too much to swallow, anyone who has even a rudimentary knowledge of American history knows that Lincoln never got beyond 50 miles of the White House during his term of office. So when the film began with Hans Conreid as Lincoln getting out of that stagecoach I figured this one would be one ridiculous film.

    It turned out to be a film that was not half bad, but could have used a lot of improvement including cutting those first six or seven minutes and some other premise used to show the disappointment of the Indians in the white man's failed promises.

    In that meeting with Conreid and DeCorsia is Captain Lew Ayres who wants peaceful relations and is a man of some honor. But an ambitious colonel played by Walter Greaza and a corrupt judge played by Lloyd Corrigan turn the promises of Lincoln into dust. When Greaza is murdered by the Indians, Ayres has to go in pursuit of DeCorsia.

    Circumstance places Ayres and his men along with saloon entertainer Marilyn Maxwell and Corrigan at an old mission built on a hillside where they hold off the attacking Indians. One of the troops, Raymond Burr, shoots down a young child who is DeCorsia's son giving him and additional reason to hate the army.

    Jeff Corey who was having blacklist troubles got to appear in this film as a cavalry Indian scout. That this was an independent film is significant because Corey could not get work at a major studio.

    New Mexico which was an independent film released by United Artists is too low budget and its characters not sufficiently developed which would have made a much better film. It was a sincere effort and no one in the cast need be ashamed of their work here.
    6boblipton

    Serious And Dark

    Too many broken promises to the Indians, and prisoners gunned down at the orders of cavalry colonel Walter Greaza. Indian chief Ted de Corsia tells Captain Lew Ayres their friendship ended. After his men kill Greaves, it's up to Ayres to make peace or die trying.

    United Artists had done its share of B westerns, of course, but the times were changing, and they were upgrading into the Shaky A western, with a fine cast including Marilyn Maxwell, Andy Devine and Jeff Corey. More, they were handling a real theme here, the theme of revenge and its futility, and doing so rather brutally and cinematically. Unhappily, the print was rather muddy, but director Irving Reis was clearly a man who was scheduled to go places. He had started out directing RKO B movies, but had had a hit with THE BACHELOR AND THE BOBBY-SOXER; the movie after this would be the well regarded THE FOUR-POSTER. Alas, he would die in 1953 at the age of 47.
    7coltras35

    New Mexico

    Cavalry Captain Hunt (Lee Ayres) is trying to promote good relations with the Indian chief Acoma. But Hunt's superiors in the military insist on pursuing policies that will provoke a conflict, and Chief Acoma is not willing to let himself be insulted, not when two of his braves get shot ...

    Which means the Cavalry and injuns clash, hence there's some good action sequences, which comes after much build-up. The action scenes are well-staged and frantic. There's plenty of mountain climbing, grit and the plot is loaded with enough drama and action to keep things interesting. Lee Ayres delivers a good performance as the captain who is struggling to keep his superiors from showing injustice to the Indians. Nice opening with Abe Lincoln and the chief signing a treaty. The locations are breathtaking. The ending is quite surprising- doesn't end as one would expect. Similar elements were later repeated 1953's excellent the Last of the Comanches such the hidden guns, the Indian leading Marilyn Maxwell to water.

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    Related interests

    Gary Cooper in High Noon (1952)
    Classical Western
    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama
    John Wayne and Harry Carey Jr. in The Searchers (1956)
    Western

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The plot revolves heavily upon promises made in person by President Abraham Lincoln to Chief Acoma just days before Lincoln's assassination. Lincoln never went to New Mexico (not even when it was a territory, as called in the film.)
    • Goofs
      Abraham Lincoln never went to New Mexico and certainly not days before his assassination.

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • May 18, 1951 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Der Todesfelsen von Colorado
    • Filming locations
      • Gallup, New Mexico, USA
    • Production company
      • Irving Allen Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    • Budget
      • $720,000 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

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    • Runtime
      • 1h 16m(76 min)
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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