The Charge at Feather River

Warner Brothers produced this 3D extravaganza that was the biggest commercial success for westerns in 1953. Guy Madison leads a band of guardhouse soldiers and misfits to rescue two white women being held by Indians, which essentially all there is to this film. The 3D format was in its early stages as a Hollywood gimmick to compete with the growing popularity of home television, and the effects work very well here. The rescuers make off with the ladies and are pursued by the Indians until the white men make their stand at an island in a creek bed. The Indian weaponry comes at the audience non-stop throughout, and a spray of tobacco juice aimed at a rattler is thrown in for good measure. Madison was quite popular as television's Wild Bill Hickock and is good as a displaced cattle rancher who is given his thankless task by the army. For all the film's polish and presentation, the movie was made in just three days.

I saw this movie in its original 3-D run in 1953 and never forgot it. Roughly based the actual Battle of Beecher's Island in Colorado, it's pretty exciting stuff. Some say that this is the movie that killed 3-D with Frank Lovejoy spitting into the face of the audience. I don't know about that, but I do know that I enjoyed it then and enjoyed it again recently on cable. And then, of course, this is THE movie with the Wilhelm Scream, made famous by latter day maestros such as George Lucas. No DVD version released yet...maybe in the not-too-distant future. The love story is sort of stupid and the comedy bits are not very funny, but I know I enjoyed it more than The English Patient, or just about anything that Merchant-Ivory ever released. I suppose the movie was produced to take advantage of Guy Madison's high visibility as TV's Wild Bill, very popular with the kiddies at the time.

"The Charge at Feather River" is a routine Western about the U. S. Cavalry against the Cheyenne Indians... The film carried a constantly mounting tension with some pleasant diversion...

Guy Madison and Frank Lovejoy play the officers who rescue Helen Westcott and Vera Miles from the Indians...

The outdoor scenes are well photographed, specially the exciting Indian charge at Feather River at the climax of the movie with the rain of spears, the fight to-the-death between Madison and Thunderhawk, the sketches of the Guardhouse Brigade, even a mouthful of tobacco juice used against a rattlesnake, and the romantic interludes between our hero and Helen Westcott... All are here, pictorially entertaining in 3-D and Technicolor...

Absolutely superior 3D photography, possibly the best from that short-lived gimmick (saw it slack-jawed at a recent 3D Festival here in Los Angeles). Very clever and simple effects from yoeman director Gordon Douglas, who handily uses his B-movie angles to great effect in this little saga, with a flawless Guy Madison and Frank Lovejoy very, very good in their parts as rogue officers leading a ragtag band (a'la THE DIRTY DOZEN) to find (a'la THE SEARCHERS)a woman kidnapped (not exactly against her will) by Indians (the added twist: an incredibly evil performance by a likewise kidnapped sister, Vera Miles, looking like she just graduated from high school, who stops at nothing to halt the progress of Our Guys. Two stand-out scenes, even in 2D, is Lovejoy spitting INTO the camera to rid himself of a deadly snake (sounding a lot like Mel Blanc hawking up), and the first use of the infamous "Wilhelm Scream" - since used in literally hundreds of films (and actully re-mastered by Ben Buritt for LucasFilms' use - you can hear it much like that strange "oh-oh" titter in old situation comedy tracks - in all Warner Bros. films from this movie on, as well as RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. Listen for it (in CHARGE AT FEATHER RIVER it comes right after the inevitable "You OK, Wilhelm?" before he's ZAPPED by an arrow in the chest - one of many thrown at the audience in the film's compact running time).

Saw this film the first time in 1953 with my older brother. It was one of the great 3 Demension films released in that era. We saw it at least thirteen times and were proud of it. Scott does a typical western shoot em up job while surrounded by the Indian arrows rather than surround sound. Oh, for those polaroid lenses again.