Exceptional fact-inspired Civil War historical about an ad hoc unit of escaped Rebel POWs, hiding out in Canada while Major Van Heflin does advance work in Vermont, planning an attack to rob banks for the cash-starved South, steal horses, and cause enough death & destruction to force the Union Army into sending divisions up North. Phenomenally well shot by Lucien Ballard in TechniColor (the restored print, please), it’s another fine Hollywood effort for Argentine director Hugo Fregonese, perplexingly released (or was it being buried?) under 20th/Fox’s ultra-budget Panoramic banner. With Anne Bancroft & an exceptional Tommy Rettig as war widow & son, townies whose instant rapport with Heflin make his assignment unbearably tough to honor. (THE MUSIC MAN/’62, of all things, follows the same score sheet.) A rare good role from Bancroft’s unhappy first try at the movies, and very strong support from Lee Marvin (a particularly vicious Reb), Peter Graves, Claude Akins and a fascinating out-of-character Richard Boone as a one-armed Yankee coward. And if the personal relationships & story arc are unusually complex in design & execution, the big set pieces are even more remarkable in color & logistical clarity, especially considering the film’s modest budget. Depressing to think that Hollywood had nothing else to offer Fregonese after the mediocre BLACK TUESDAY later this year.
DOUBLE-BILL: Coming off a career high in SHANE/’53, somebody was finding great, undervalued directors with dark sensibilities & strong action chops for Van Heflin with Budd Boetticher’s WINGS OF THE HAWK/’53 and André De Toth’s TANGANYIKA/’54 immediately preceding. (Neither seen here.)
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