After seven films from 1957 to ‘68 (including TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD and FEAR STRIKES OUT), producer Alan J. Pakula and director Robert Mulligan* went out with a bang. But only because their final project was a violent Chamber Western with lots of shooting. Elsewise, it’s something of a whimper. Gregory Peck (only 52, but looking at the downside of his career) is a retiring Cavalry man who gets stuck escorting Eva Marie Saint’s abducted White woman, and her unwilling half-Indian eight-yr-old son, East after a decade of life on the range with her Tribe. Two problems: ONE - she hasn’t got a home to go to (or any place for that matter); TWO - the boy’s father, a full-blooded Native American warrior, our Stalking Moon, is already on the Trail, killing anyone who comes between him and the boy. It’s not bad, though the film takes its time getting a move on thru all the desert dust, but it sure could use a bit of surprise. Something easier to get from an unpretentious B-list Western without so many big names in front & behind the camera on what is a pretty straightforward Avenging Father/Isolated Cabin Under Siege story. Note that A-list scribes Alvin Sargent & Wendell Mayes let third-wheel ‘good’ Indian Robert Forster break thru the troubled Indian boy’s defenses rather than giving Peck a warm fatherly moment. Kudos to Peck, not that many big-time movie stars would let that scene go to someone else.
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: *After this, Mulligan continued directing with various producers to reasonable effect, but Pakula’s switch to producer/director went into award-winning overdrive.
DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: Pakula post Mulligan doesn’t need a push, but Mulligan post Pakula less celebrated. Try clever/creepy THE OTHER/’72. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2012/02/other-1972.html
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