New Mexico

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.

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.

"New Mexico" is a fair cavalry-versus-Indians movie that could have been better. It has a good cast and provides a couple good moments, but a routine script and a rather stereotyped set of characters keep it from realizing its potential.

Lew Ayres, a fine actor, has the lead role of the cavalry's Captain Hunt, and the rest of a good cast is highlighted by Andy Devine, Raymond Burr, Marilyn Maxwell, and Ted De Corsia. Unfortunately, most of their characters are not given much depth, and they do not have much dialogue to work with either.

The lack of depth of Captain Hunt is the most important, as the other characters are primarily defined in terms of their relationship with him. At the beginning, he seems to be developing as an interesting character. He is present at a meeting between President Lincoln and Chief Acoma (De Corsia), and seems to be sympathetic with the problems that Acoma's people face after Lincoln's untimely death, even defying for a while his insensitive and boorish military superiors. But when the inevitable conflict breaks out, Ayres is just given some stereotyped lines about how the Indians ought not to resort to violence. Likewise, Acoma, as the leader of the uprising, is a thoroughly conventional character, although at least portrayed with some degree of sympathy.

There are some decent action sequences, and a couple of creative touches in the battle scenes, but it is likely that "New Mexico" will be of interest mainly to those who enjoy any and all Westerns.

The great cast here, including Ayers, Maxwell, Divine, and Conried cannot save this predictable and routine Western effort. All the stereo-types are here, the fallen woman, the honor-bound Cavalry Captain and comic relief, but none of it seems to work well. The ending attempts to be different, but by that time the viewer could not care less.

The movie centers on a strong clear plot structure strongly defined in the beginning. The story progresses to a seige, where pure character takes over the plot as the main element that defines the fine quality of this movie. For some reason I did not know at the time, I loved this movie as a child. Later in theater I learned the quality aspects that New Mexico writers and actors used. I wish it was available in DVD or VHS.