Springfield Rifle

Good Western with frantic action , thrills , fights , crossfire , wonderful outdoors , all of them keep things lively . Major Lex Kearny (Gary Cooper) is degraded and consequently considered a treacherous , as he becomes the North's first counterespionage agent , as he attempts to discover who's behind the theft of Union cavalry horses in Colorado during the Civil War . Falling in with the band of Jayhawkers (Lon Chaney Jr. , Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams , among others) and Confederate soldiers who have been leading the raids , he gradually gains their trust to uncover their plans and reveal the routes of the horse shipments . But then , it appears his wife , Erin Kearney , (Phyllis Thaxter) and things go awry . At the end the good boys take the Springfield Rifles , ¨The Gun That Made One Man The Equal Of Five¨.

Based on the real-life of Major Les Kearney who joined forces with outlaws to catch the thieves stealing Union horses . This exciting picture tells the story of an upright officer wrongly degraded , dishonorably discharged from the army for cowardice , being finely played by the great Gary Cooper who gives a perfect acting in his usual stoic style . And being released the same year as Gary Cooper's most famous Western , High Noon (1952), which also starred Lon Chaney Jr. in a secondary role . It contains noisy action , shootouts , a climatic confrontation on the final , twists and turns ; being breathtakingly photographed in WarnerColor . Interesting as well as stirring screenplay Charles Marquis Warren and Frank Davis , based on a story by Sloan Nibley .

This undemanding western is plenty of suspense as the dreaded final attack approaches and the protagonist realizes he must stand alone against impossible odds and nobody is willing to help him but he is accused as a traitor , while he attempts to clear his name as a wrongfully accused soldier . This enjoyable tale is almost rudimentary though full of clichés , a good guy comes to narration is almost adjusted in real time from the starring is degraded , subsequently detained , imprisoned , escaped , until the ending take on , when he is besieged by the bad boys . Nice supporting actors largely hang around waiting for something to do , and with plenty of familiar faces , such as : Paul Kelly , David Brian , Philip Carey , Fess Parker , Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams , Lon Chaney Jr., Alan Hale Jr. , Richard Hale , Martin Milner and James Brown . Colorful cinematography by Edwin DuPair , being shot on location at attitudes of up 9500 feet on the slopes of California's Mount Whitney . Furthermore , a moving and agreeable musical score by the classical composer Max Steiner .

This typical Western was professionally directed by Andre De Toth . At his beginnings De Toth entered the Hungarian film industry, obtaining work as a writer, editor , second unit director and actor before finally becoming a director. He directed a few films just before the outbreak of WW II, when he fled to England . Alexander Korda gave him a job there, and when De Toth emigrated to the US in 1942 , Korda got him a job as a second unit director on Jungle Book (1942) . Andre De Toth was a classical director , Western usual (Indian fighter, Man in the saddle , Ramrod , Last of Comanches , The stranger wore a gun), but also made Peplum (Gold for the Caesar) and adventure (The Mongols , Morgan the pirate , Tanganyika) . Probably his best known film is House of wax (1953), a Vincent Price horror film shot in 3D . Springfield Rifle rating : 6.5/10 , decent and acceptable Western , well worth watching .

As a matter of curiosity, in 1952 Gary Cooper appeared in two Westerns as diverse as SPRINGFIELD RIFLE, in Technicolor, and in the masterpiece HIGH NOON, in B&W. In the former he was directed by a professionally competent but hardly out of the box André de Toth, whereas in the latter he had the guiding hand of the brilliant Fred Zinnemann.

Neither de Toth nor Cooper were helped by the predictable script by Charles Marquis about a Union Army officer putting on a show of supposed betrayal and cowardice in order to ramify into espionage in the enemy camp, and track down the mole in the US War Department (sounds like a Cold War movie, doesn't it?!)

Cooper has done much better work, in fact I would rate his performance here as substandard, especially when compared with his show in HIGH NOON.

I doubt I will watch SPRINGFIELD RIFLE again. 6/10.

See it- This is a diamond in the rough. It is relatively unknown but a must-see for Gary Cooper fans. Cooper plays his usual character of a man on a mission to redeem himself, but this is not a typical western. Exciting from start to finish, it's the story of the inception of counterintelligence used by the Union in the Civil War. It is not necessarily James Bond with a cowboy hat. It is still very much a western, and a refreshingly good Civil War movie for a change. Movie buffs will also get a kick out of a young Fess Parker. Full of twists and lots of battle scenes, it's a good old-fashioned, fun movie. 4 action rating

I saw this film as I like films like this and I admire the cast. In most aspects this film delivered. The title is misleading I agree and I personally would've liked Springfield Rifle to have been 5 or so minutes longer. However, while it is not an exceptional movie it is a very good and enjoyable one, and I also think underrated.

Springfield Rifle is a very well made film, I loved the scenery and the cinematography is beautiful. It also has strong direction, a rousing music score from Max Steiner that compliments the film perfectly, a good story with an interesting structure and themes and sharp dialogue.

Good pacing is also at hand, and the cast are great. Gary Cooper has done better work perhaps, but still gives an engaging performance. Lon Chaney Jnr likewise, and Phyllis Thaxter and Paul Kelly are excellent. Overall, a very enjoyable movie. 8/10 Bethany Cox

I've heard it said that the Springfield Rifle was Warner Brothers answer to Winchester 73. That sounds plausible to me as the only reason to title the movie Springfield Rifle. Use of the rifle came in at the end of the movie but had very little to do with the rest of the film. At least in Wincester 73, Jimmy Stewart and others kept crossing the path of the titled rifle. Winchester was a better movie all around. Still, Springfield Rifle is well worth seeing if you are a fan, like me, of the old Westerns of the 1950s. In this one, Gary Cooper gets himself dishonorably discharged from the US Army for running from the enemy. I'm not going to tell you the why, who or how of it as I don't want to spoil any of the plot for you. Some things I can mention is that Coop is hired by the horse thieves who are outsmarting the military at every turn. His idea is to get the goods on who is doing the stealing and tipping off the "bad guys." He learns that they are in cahoots with the Confederate Cavalry to deny horses to the Union troops. Enough said on that count so that you can enjoy the movie without knowing what is coming up. Cast wise it was an interesting mix with some old hands to add their know-how. Coop was his usual self but he was showing his age and health at about 51 years old. This came out later, the same year as High Noon and he was starting to look a little rough in that too. But High Noon was his comeback picture after declining from his peak years. In Springfield Rifle, Phyllis Thaxter played the role she was usually saddled with, the wife of the male star. She did a good job with a role that didn't have much meat on it. You may remember her playing the wife of Glen Ford and adopted mother of the first Christopher Reeve Superman. I remember her outstanding job as Van Johnson's wife in 30 Seconds Over Tokyo. In Springfield Rifle she spills the beans and gets several people killed, but everyone is kind enough not to mention it. David Brian was smooth as a leader of the rustlers and Philip Carey was his usual self as a Union captain openly hostile to Cooper's part as Lex Kearney. Carey played his part well as you would never guess that.... oops, you will have to watch it to find out. Paul Kelly was the CO of the fort and added his long time experience as a supporting actor to the story. Did you know he spent 2 years in San Quentin for beating someone to death? Wow! Anyway, that brings us to a couple of interesting parts. One of the "jayhawkers" was played by Lon Chaney, Jr. He did an admirable job as always and the poor guy never seemed to get the roles he deserved. He was always in his father's shadow. One of the Confederate soldiers I knew instantly. Who wouldn't know him if you were a fan of Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier. Yep, Fess Parker himself was a member of the CSA band who were buying the horses and assisting the jay-hawker horse rustlers. He had a few speaking parts in it and was likable even as a horse thief. This is another sad case of someone being denied better parts. Poor Fess had a hard time breaking the type casting as Davy Crockett and later as Daniel Boone on TV. Guess sometimes you can do too good of a job. It was also nice to see the familiar faces of Guinn "Big Boy Williams, Alan Hale, Jr. (Skipper from Gilligan), Martin Milner (Route 66, Kent Family Chronicles) and James Brown (Lt. Rip Masters of Rin Tin Tin). Kearney's son was played by Michael Chapin and although he didn't make it big in show biz, you may remember his sister Lauren as Kitten on Father Knows Best. For a movie that didn't really become a classic, it was fun to watch and loaded many actors whose talent was never fully utilized by the studios. I don't think the movie won any major awards, and frankly shouldn't have. Still, it is great 1950's shoot-em-up cavalry action and worth the time to watch. If you get the chance, and you like Westerns, be sure to enjoy it.