Texas Rangers author, James Griffin has supported the Archive since day one - we interviewed him back in January 2009
Well now Jim has given us permission to use the wonderful reviews he posts to the various western forums as part of the Archive.
And so let's mosey on down to Jim's place for a review of action packed western, The Command
Review: The Command
Guy Madison and James Whitmore
Warner Brothers
This is a film I have to admit I'd never heard of, but when I read the description in the catalogue saying it had "shoot-'em-ups galore, a clean-cut hero, dust-beaten horse soldiers and fearless warriors", I knew I had to get a copy.
Guy Madison plays a cavalry doctor who is unexpectedly given command of his unit after all the officers are killed. James Whitmore plays the typical tough sergeant. The plan is for Madison to command only long enough to get back to the fort. Unfortunately, fate has other plans in store. The company ends up having to escort a wagon train through hostile Indian territory just after the Little Big Horn.
As advertised, the film does have plenty of action, and decent suspense. I did have one big problem with it. To decoy the Indians away from the wagon train, Madison's character separates a few, and has them form into a "defensive circle". Once the Indians attack, the wagons, filled with hidden cavalry sharpshooters, are to break into a triangle formation and bust out of the encircling Indians.
Despite Whitmore's character stating several times "Don't ever say Injuns are dumb", sure enough they obligingly attack the decoy wagons, and let them get away. Therein lies the problem. In reality, the first thing the Indians would have done would be to kill the horses pulling the wagons, rendering them immobile, so they could pick off the soliders and overrun them easily. To me, this was a flaw that made swallowing the entire plotline difficult.
However, I did still enjoy The Command, as it is a rip-roaring cavalry tale, and the soldiers and Indians are evenly matched. I'd recommend it, subject to the caveat above.
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