The Command (1954)

Sorry, this movie sucks

Simply A Masterpiece

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

I was brought up as a child watching Westerns. As a middle aged adult it is interesting to revisit the genre.The Command is routine and conservative in its content. A waggon train needs to reach its destination and the pesky injuns are getting restless again. Cue the US cavalry to see them there safe and sound. What sets this above the average though is a strong performance from lead Guy Madison as Captain McClaw, a surgeon elevated to command when the cavalry officer in charge is killed in a skirmish. The screenplay has the chance to examine the nature of command as his cavalry men shudder at the thought of becoming "nurses". Of course McClaw rises to the challenge and ends up using his lack of formal training to triumph using unorthodox tactics to prevail.A sub plot of smallpox amongst the waggon train, and illness amongst the Indians, adds extra drama and variety to proceedings. Director David Butler died with 89 productions , mainly for Fox, to his credit including numerous Western TV episodes. His grasp of the genre and a story are well evidenced here.The action scenes are well handled, the appearance of smoke signals and Indian scouts on the ridge of a hill are always bad news and Joan Weldon is suitably sultry as Martha Cutting, the Captain's love interest. Although short of classic status, it passes its one and a half hour running time with pace and very agreeably.

A cavalry troop is assigned to escort a wagon train through hostile Indian territory by an inexperienced captain who is also a doctor. Guy Madison, the film's star, is directed to lead the column by the late commander, which causes resentment within the soldier ranks. In addition to having his authority and fitness for leadership questioned, Madison must also fight the spread of smallpox among members of the wagon train and protect his column as it moves westward. The movie's action sequences are essentially a series of running fights with the Indians which are enhanced by wide-sweeping CinenaScope cameras. James Whitmore is the sergeant who comes to respect Madison's unorthodox but effective battle tactics and Joan Weldon is in for the romantic angle with Madison. Ray Teal and Carl Benton Reid, two familiar old-school character actors, are among the cast members.

After Captain Gregg Barton has been killed before dying he placed his troop of cavalry in the hands of the only officer left, army doctor Guy Madison. Madison is bringing them back to their fort when they meet up with a company of infantry and the wagon train they're escorting through Indian country. The short tempered Colonel Don Shelton, commandeers that same cavalry to help with the escort without knowing that Madison has no military training. The rest of the cavalrymen keep Madison's real army specialty a secret lest they spread some panic among the settlers.Of course The Command that Madison is stuck with is no milk run. He's got to learn some real military tactics and has to learn them fast. Among the settlers there is an outbreak of what could be smallpox and Madison is hamstrung in giving aid in the profession he is trained in. Out of necessity he has to tell Joan Weldon who is traveling with the wagon train in the wagon where the sickness is starting.The Command was one of the first film's done in the wide screen process with some 3D thrown in for good measure. With films on the big screen competing with the free small screen, gimmicks were thought to be needed to get the public out of their living rooms. A good solid cavalry western which The Command is was not enough at times.James Whitmore as the sergeant who by rights should have been in charge and wisecracking Harvey Lembeck stand out in this cast. With a doctor hero and a cavalry setting, I'm surprised John Ford wasn't brought in for The Command. It seems like just his kind of material.

It was the first Cinemascope western ,shortly after the first one ("the robe" 1953) and oddly it did not feature big stars .It could have been the umpteenth Cavalry vs Indians plot with the usual wagon train which must brought through perilous country;of course there is a lovely girl ready to fall in love with the commanding officer -who is also fortunately a doctor.On the plus side ,there might be a smallpox epidemic ,which gives the movie more substance .All in all this is a pleasant western,the ending of which is not unlike that of " war of the worlds" (1953): the victor of the Indians is not really man but something much smaller than him.