Escort West

"Escort West" takes place in Nevada, a few years after the Civil War has ended. Victor Mature plays Ben Lassiter, a widowed ex-Confederate soldier travelling West with his 10 year old daughter Abbey (Reba Waters). Deadly Indian warriors named the Modocs are on the prowl, and Ben realizes that they have caused death and destruction in a way station that he had very recently visited. He gathers together the survivors: the bitchy, grudge carrying Martha Drury (Faith Domergue) and her much nicer sister, Beth (Elaine Stewart), and amiable old sutler Nelson Walker (Rex Ingram). He promises to stay with them as they make their dangerous trek through hostile territory.

There's nothing particularly distinguished about "Escort West", but it's still a solid and engaging movie of this type. An uncredited John Wayne was one of the producers. Director Francis D. Lyon creates some scenes of genuine suspense, and the action is likewise decently executed. This is all photographed in atmospheric, black & white widescreen by William H. Clothier. The antagonists are not exactly a faceless bunch, but they're a fairly scary group of men: relentless, unspeaking, unemotional, one-dimensional killers. The lovely music score is courtesy of composer Henry Vars.

The cast is full of familiar faces and excellent right down the line. Mature is just the kind of hero you want in this sort of thing: kind, compassionate, but tough and dependable. Beautiful women Stewart and Domergue are effective, although some might find Domergues' character a bit tough to take. Noah Beery Jr., John Hubbard, Harry Carey Jr., Slim Pickens, William Ching, Ken Curtis, Claire Du Brey, and Syd Saylor co-star. Also in the supporting cast is the great screen heavy Leo Gordon, who co-wrote the screenplay with Fred Hartsook. Child actress Waters is appealing without becoming overly saccharine.

This is a good, diverting story told in fairly trim fashion and running a very reasonable 77 minutes long.

Seven out of 10.

Escort West finds Victor Mature as a former Confederate escorting his young daughter out to Oregon territory. They meet up with a troop of cavalry at a stagecoach station, some of whom are hostile. Not nearly as hostile as Faith Domergue who lost a fiancé during the Civil War who is accompanying her sister Elaine Stewart out west to marry cavalry captain William Ching.

After Mature and daughter Reba Waters meet some hostile Modocs and find what they did to part of the cavalry troop they go back to the station where all they find alive are the two women and the sutler, Rex Ingram. Ingram's been wounded and left for dead with a broken leg.

At this point the group sets out to find help and safety, whichever comes first.

Escort West bares a similarity to the Richard Widmark western of the previous year, The Last Wagon. If you've seen that you might figure out how it all turns out. Or just if you've watched a whole lot of westerns.

Escort West barely runs 75 minutes, it played at the bottom of double features in the Fifties. It was produced by John Wayne and folks like Ken Curtis, Leo Gordon, and Noah Beery, Jr., all of whom worked with the Duke before are in the cast. Best in the cast is Leo Gordon who also wrote the script and is one nasty deserting cavalry trooper.

It's a nice action western with some adult themes mixed in with enough action for the kids.

An ex-Confederate officer and his young daughter, traveling West, rescue two women survivors of an Indian attack in a familiar yet taut and exciting little western. The typical hero escorts survivor through Indian territory story is given a shot in the arm by Victor Mature as the confederate officer, some good characters especially Faith Domergue's character who is a pretty horribly bitter person, some nifty action scenes and superb location of boulders, all set in stark black and white photography. These things lift it from its ordinariness. The end shootout is exciting and the hero's use of the rattler to overcome his enemy is well realised.

Not much going on here. Made on the cheap by John Wayne's Batjac Productions. Veteran director Francis D Lyon moves the story along without much in the way of character development or a great deal of real western action. Black and white cinematography gives it the look of a television western episode. To it's credit,the film boast a very capable cast led by Victor Mature.Mature seems a bit out of place as a widowed former Confederate soldier taking his young daughter to the Oregon Territory to begin a new life. Leo Gordon,who gets credit as one the screen writers, is his usual intimidating self as one of the cavalry troopers who is up to no good. Ken Curtis, Harry Carey Jr,, Slim Pickens, and Noah Berry Jr are in the cast but are kind of wasted in nothing roles. Faith Domergue and Elaine Stewart portray sisters who are also heading to Oregon to start new lives and you just know one of them will wind up in Vics arms. Domergue is over the top as she hates Mature because her fiancé was killed in the Civil War by the Confederates Rex Ingram turns in a nice performance as the black cavalry quartermaster who is critically wounded in an attack by renegade Modoc Indians.

Most of the action is off screen, so we get a lot of Mature and his daughter bonding and Domergue whining and griping.The outcome is fairly predictable. This isn't the worst Western ever made but considering the talent that was available and wasted it's pretty disappointing.Mature once said of his career" I'm no actor and I got 52 movies to prove it!"

An ex-Confederate captain heads west with his young daughter and is caught up in the skirmishes between soldiers and Indians. Victor Mature is the hero of the proceedings as he rescues two women, fights off Indian attacks and saves an army payroll from the hands of renegade soldiers. The two sisters are at odds over the resolution of the Civil War and snipe at each other through the picture. The film has very little pace and spotty action and an awkward romantic plot is thrown in for good measure. Faith Domergue, a B actress who never quite made it to the first rank, is Mature's love interest. Leo Gordon appears as a bad soldier and contributes his talents as a screenwriter for this film.