The Gun That Won the West

Dennis Morgan stars as Jim Bridger who is hired to scout land for the cavalry. They want to build a land encroaching on Red Cloud's territory. Predictably Red Cloud is not happy with that, and consequently there's an injun vs cavalry feud, despite the New Springfield rifles on their way. It is a watchable western, but it doesn't standout. It's slow moving at time and though the action is energetic, the battle at the end features none of cavalry firing the new rifles, and it ends as if they ran out of film time.

Despite the summary above, this events that this movie depicts happened during Red Cloud's War happened in 1866- 1868 not the late 1880s. Also, the Secretary of War depicted in the movie, Edwin Stanton left office in 1868. The introduction of the Springfield rifle helped the Army win some battles. Peace came after a change of policy that lead to the Army's abandonment of the Powder River Country and its forts along the Bozemann trail. Settlers were channeled to the Transcontinental Railroad then nearing completion. It's route ran farther south.

Red Cloud was the only major Indian leader who really won a war against the US Army. The peace treaty did not last long thanks to white treachery, greed for gold, Custer's thirst for glory, etc.

Any resemblance in this film between historical accuracy and what you see in the picture isn't coincidental, it's downright unintentional. The fact that Sam Katzman produced it should have been a warning that this film would be made as cheaply as possible, with lots of stock footage borrowed from "Buffalo Bill" ("Pony Soldier" borrowed the same battle scenes) and Indian "war" dances. The fact is that Red Cloud (who lived into the 20th century) made numerous visits to the White House to plead the cause of his people. The Bozeman Trail, supposedly the reason for the U.S. Army to escort railroad builders, simply isn't true; no railroad was built into the area at that time. Red Cloud succeeded in getting the Bozeman trail forts abandoned, a detail not mentioned in the film. Lots of anachronisms, including a Wild West show taking place in the 1860s, Jim Bridger actually in his dotage by then, and demeaning references to Native people ("Redskins") unacceptable today. The fight between Bridger and the Indian in the river comes straight out of "Buffalo Bill" in which Joel McRae as Buffalo Bill fights Yellow Hand played by Anthony Quinn to the death. I wasted 1:15 watching this film; should have taken the time to read a book.

After building the entire plot and several key scenes around the introduction of the breech-loading Springfield "trapdoor" rifle, this movie fails to show a single round fired from the new rifles in the climactic battle with the Indians. Instead, the cavalrymen charge with sabers and wrestle in hand-to-hand combat, much too close to get off any shots. This is inexplicable in light of the general accuracy of the firearm details in the film: the cap-and-ball revolvers and 1860ish muzzle loading percussion rifles are period correct, as are the unadorned gun belts and of course the Springfields. I was even impressed with the Indians' reasonably dignified dialog, which was notably free of the "me see um" and "ugh" variety. Maybe the misleading title should be changed to "The Gun That Won the West Right After This Movie Ends."

Unfortunately, the film consists of a compilation of scenes from other films, mainly from the film Buffalo Bill 1944. All the battle scenes, as well as the Indian gatherings, are from this particular film. As is the buffalo hunt. One can easily notice the change in scenery between these scenes, which are completely different landscapes that have nothing to do with the landscapes of the film BUFFALO BILL.. In fact, the film, if the borrowed scenes are removed, does not exceed 20 minutes in length. Also, the Indian attack scene from the 1944 film is half added to the beginning of the film and part of it to the final attack at the end of the film. Where the cavalry is advancing, they even added the body-to-body mass in the water where Joel Mcrea is clearly visible.