Red Mountain

Quantrell and his raiders provided loads of stories for civil war themed westerns, and this time he has been promoted to general and provides the inspiration for disaffected "Capt. Sherwood" (Alan Ladd) who is determined to continue the war in the only place where it was still possible for the Confederacy to win. The west. The general - called "Quantrill" here (John Ireland) is working with the local Indians to build on their own resentment of the settling pioneers in the hope that they will help him to defeat the bluecoats. Meantime, "Sherwood" is no saint, and as he heads to his new command we realise that he had killed a dodgy assay official - which we see, obscurely, at the start - then has to rescue the wrongly blamed "Waldron" (Arthur Kennedy) from the ensuing lynch mob. With him and his wife "Chris" (Lizabeth Scott) now in tow they meet up with his hero - only to find that, well the man, the myth and the legend are not quite what he was expecting. Indeed, before long all three realise that the general is little better than a thug in an uniform, and a reckless one at that. Moreover, it turns out that there is more to the initial act of violence than met the eye and a perilous siege scenario ensues against what appear to be overwhelming odds. Ireland might just edge the acting plaudits here - at least he has something to get his teeth into, but neither Ladd nor Scott really set the film alight and as we head into the closing stages it all gets a little predictably repetitive. There's also a great deal of chatter and by the end I just wasn't convinced by bad lad Ladd at all. It's watchable enough, but nothing much to write home about.