Fort Courageous (1965)
1h 12m | PG-13
In this western, a cavalry sergeant is wrongly court-martialed. To reclaim his good name, he takes over a patrol that just lost its leader in an Indian attack. He leads the regiment to Fort Courageous, but is appalled to discover that the Indians attacked and massacred all but one of its inhabitants. The hardy little group must now fight the renegades on their own. The ex-sergeant plans a brilliant strategy that culminates in winning the Indian's respect. They leave the fort alone and peace is restored.
Director: Lesley Selander
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Genre: Action, Western
Video: 720p
Cast
Fred Beir
as Sgt. Lucas
Don 'Red' Barry
as Captain Harvey
Walter Reed
as Doc
Joe Patridge
as Soldado (como Joseph Patridge)
Fred Krone
as Soldado
George Sawaya
as Indian
Reviews
Perhaps because this does not have a star, as such, it actually works a little better as a tense siege western. "Lucas" (Fred Beir) is being escorted to Alcatraz prison when they arrive at a fort where the defenders have been decimated by repeated Indian attacks. With the commanding officer "Howard" ('Red Barry) the lone, mean, survivor, it falls to "Lucas" to try and co-opt the remaining soldiers and residents into some sort of cohesive defensive outfit. Luckily, they do have one ace in the hole - they have managed to capture the son of the chief! Even though you just know what is going to happen at the end, this is a remarkably downbeat affair. Indeed, had it not been for the patent unacceptability to the audience, it seemed perfectly possible that they were all going to end up toast, or scalped - or both! Sadly, though, nobody had the courage of any such convictions and what we do end up with is hastily, and rather preposterously concluded, with a soupçon or romance for good measure. Still, it's not a bad watch just not a memorable one.