War Paint

You can almost hear the grunting and straining as director Lesley Selander labors mightily to arise from the quicksand of the Saturday afternoon cowboy matinee that has been his happy place to the more rarified air of the 1950s psychological western. Ultimately, of course, Selander loses the battle and slips back into standard hero/villain, shoot em up land but it was a noble attempt and should be recognized as such. Of course, Selander isn't helped in his struggle by having around his neck the millstone of a supremely dull leading man, Robert Stack, who seemed to do decent work only when Sirk was around to direct him. And the screenplay, with its yawner of a mutiny sub plot and a most unconvincing, 180 degree switch of character on the part of Joan Taylor, is not exactly Frank Nugent or Marguerite Roberts. So let's give it a generous C plus for the scenes of survival in the desert and good support from such 50s western stalwarts as Charles McGraw, Robert Wilkie and Douglas Kennedy, among others.

Lesley Selander was a prolific B movie director. That is all I know about him. I do not know that I have watched any of his other flicks, but on the strength of WAR PAINT I would say that I am not losing much.

With a decent cast for a B picture - including Robert Stack, Charles McGraw, Peter Graves, Keith Larsen, Walter Reed and beautiful Joan Taylor as a sqwaw - the acting rates sufficiently high to hold your attention.

The script provides the downside: unrelenting in its penchant for tragedy, we see Larsen as the subversive son of the Indian chief kill soldiers, then his sister Taylor does it, and finally the Cavalary troops kill each other. In between, a soldier who has just become a father drinks poisoned H20 and croaks without seeing his son - the single most tragic and heart-wrenching event in the film.

Stack has a fiancée but by the end of the movie he appears to be more inclined toward going off into the sunset with the Indian chief's daughter, peace looking set to stay.

The length is 89 minutes, pretty standard for B pictures... but it feels a lot longer and heavier, what with all the deaths. 6/10.

War Paint is directed by Lesley Selander and adapted to screenplay by Richard Alan Simmons and Martin Berkeley. It stars Robert Stack, Charles McGraw, Joan Taylor, Peter Graves, Keith Larsen, Robert Wilke and Walter Reed. Music is by Arthur Lange and Emil Newman, and cinematography by Gordon Avil.

A cavalry patrol trying to deliver a peace treaty to Gray Cloud are being destroyed from within by an Indian brother and sister.

Paper of lies!

Filmed out of the superb presence of Death Valley, War Paint is as solid as one of that location's rocks. The title hints at some cheapo "B" Oater, the kind that is all hooray and jingoistic as the cavalry mow down the Indians, but that is not the case. Though an air of familiarity exists, with the core of the story about an army unit literally dying out in the desert, with saboteurs operating within, there's a two sides of the coin pinch in the narrative, with dialogue nicely written with thought and sincerity. Opening with a scalping, drama and suspense is never far away, so as the group implode, with suspicions, thirst and gold fever taking a hold, the viewer is always intrigued as to who will survive and will the treaty ever reach its destination? Plus you may find yourself feeling very thirsty during the viewing...

Very nicely performed and handled with underrated tidy hands by Selander, this is well worth a look by Western fans. 7/10

A courageous US cavalryman is given a vitally important mission - to deliver a peace treaty to a powerful Indian chief, preventing further conflict. However, a band of bloodthirsty rebels are determined to see him dead before he completes his task, while the officer's guide may not be as trustworthy as he appears.

Filmed in Death Valley, War Paint opens up with a pre-title sequence with an action sequence that sets the scene for the rest of the grim excursion with Keith Larsen's Indian guide leading a cavalry on a mission to destruction. What you get is a tense and involving plot with a bunch of characters not exactly clean as the driven snow. It's sort of like a lost patrol story but with an unusual slant. It's not the most action-packed film, but there's enough going on to keep one captivated and it is quite thoughtful. It also boast solid performances by Robert Stack, Joan Taylor, Keith Larsen and the rest of the cast.

War Paint casts Robert Stack as a cavalry lieutenant with a mission to deliver a peace treaty, presumably a draft to the Indians. With Sergeant Charles McGraw, Stack leads a patrol to deliver said peace treaty. The chief's son Keith Larsen is to guide them through the rough desert country, but Larsen and his sister Joan Taylor have their own mission. They actually don't believe the white man's peace treaty, there's such an incredible track record on the subject and they're going to sabotage the mission.

Such stalwart characters actors as John Doucette, Robert J. Wilke, Peter Graves, Douglas Kennedy, and Paul Richards make up some of the patrol. When the water is sabotaged and the discipline breaks down the cast starts dying off for one reason or another.

I do have to say though why no one thought better of the fact that Keith Larsen was in War Paint as he started the mission I'm a bit perplexed at the writers for that.

War Paint gets pretty ugly at times as the men go off their nuts for lack of water and an abundance of heat. It's a gritty no frill western with great cinematography from Death Valley. It could have been a whole lot better though.