Directed by Ray Nazarro
Screenplay by Ray Buffum and DeVallon Scott
Director Of Photography: Ellis W. Carter
Film Editor: Aaron Stell
Cast: Gary Merrill (Brock Marsh), Wanda Hendrix (Ruth Lawrence), John Bromfield (Mike Daugherty), Noah Beery, Jr. (Gimpy Joe), Fay Roope (John Lawrence), Howard Wendell (Judge Baker), Robert Simon (Marshal Whit Collins), James H. Griffith (Warren), Richard Webb (Frank Gibbs), Peter Whitney (Grimes), John War Eagle (Chief War Cloud), Jay Silverheels (Black Buffalo), Clayton Moore (Stone)
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At only 65 minutes long, The Black Dakotas (1954) was clearly meant to fill out a double bill. But for a film that’s not all that noteworthy, there are a number of things about it worth noting.
First, there’s the cast. Gary Merrill, in his first Western, is the bad guy — a Confederate hoping to stir up things with the Sioux to keep Union soldiers tied up. He gets a lot of screen time for a villain, maybe because he’s far more interesting than the good guy (John Bromfield). Wanda Hendrix, Audie Murphy’s ex-wife, was about to retire from the movies (at least for a few years), and she’s fine here. Noah Beery, Jr. does what he can with a rather odd part. The great James H. Griffith doesn’t have a whole lot to do as one of the bad guys.
John Bromfield and Wanda Hendrix
More on the cast. The Black Dakotas was shot during the period when Clayton Moore left The Lone Ranger TV series (over a salary dispute, reportedly) and returned to B Movie character parts. Moore’s not listed in the credits, but he’s there. You’ll also see Jay Silverheels (Tonto to Moore’s Lone Ranger) as one of the Sioux chiefs. From Moore and Silverheels to Beery and Griffith, the characters actors run rings around the leads.
Here, Ray Nazarro does what we’ve seen him do so many times — put together a brisk little movie that delivers in the action department. It seems like no matter how small the budget or tight the schedule, Nazarro delivers the goods, the same way Lesley Selander always does. Of course, having Ellis Carter as director of photography doesn’t hurt. Why isn’t Carter brought up more often? He shot The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957), for God’s sake! He gives The Black Dakotas a much bigger look than you’d expect. An early sequence was shot on a cloudy day — at Iverson, I think — and Carter really makes a positive out of a negative.
Carter’s fine work is well presented (in widescreen) in Mill Creek’s 7 Western Showdown Collection, a two-DVD set that contains seven Westerns. All the pictures look terrific, and the price is hard to beat. Recommended. I hope Mill Creek keeps up the good work, and I’d love to see movies like this make their way to Blu-Ray.
7 WESTERN SHOWDOWN COLLECTION arrived today .As I said in a previous post ,I asked Mill Creek if they would do a Vol 2 and they said they would consider it .I guess it probably depends on how well this one sells.
The price is right, but all of these movies have already been released on DVD and I’ve purchased all of them. They’d get more sales if they released movies that haven’t already been made available.
Mike ,I totally agree that more unreleased movies would create more sales and this is what I suggested to Mill Creek ,but the more people who email and request this the more they’ll take notice.
I totally endorse comments from Mike and gcwe1-I DO
wish Mill Creek would stop doing these miss-matched bargain basement
sets and release UNRELEASED Columbia Westerns like those being
issued from Sidonis,France.
Committed Western fans like Mike and gcwe will no doubt, have most of
these films already.
If Mill Creek MUST keep doing these barrell scraping sets I wish there
would be some sort of continuity like for instance a Sam Katzmam
Western Collection or George Montgomery or Buck Jones-heaven
knows there is enough of it in Sony/Columbia’s vaults.
A Jungle Jim set would be fun as well.
THE BLACK DAKOTAS is sunk by ill chosen leads-but you have to
admire Nazarro with the speed with which he executes the thing.
Ray’s best Westerns (CRIPPLE CREEK,SOUTHWEST PASSAGE)
make one wish that he had elevated to higher budgets.
The fact that these titles have already been released (by Columbia) is probably the reason Mill Creek is able to license them and offer them so cheaply.
Themed sets — like the Randolph Scott and William Castle and Hammer horror sets — are really great and I really hope they continue. With Castle and Hammer, they’ve also done Blu-Ray, and to have some Westerns make that leap would be terrific.
Mill Creek’s doing a fine job with what they have to work with, and I don’t mind a little repetition here and there. If nothing else, they help save shelf space!
The Castle and Hammer Blu Ray sets were stunning and
I wish Mill Creek would continue down this route.
I would also love them to try a couple of Randolph Scott Blu Ray
double bills-I understand high-def masters exist for most of Scott’s
Columbia Westerns.
To have some of those Sam Katzman type programmers on Blu
Ray would be a dream come true!
I’m glad you mentioned Ellis Carter who as you quiet rightly say deserves
far more respect-his work on those Fifties Universal Sci-Fi Horror
flicks is wonderful-I also love later things like TWICE TOLD TALES
and DIARY OF A MADMAN-Carter’s work really shines on those two.
Even a bad film like CALIFORNIA CONQUEST looks a million bucks with
Carter’s gorgeous lensing of the California locations.
CALIFORNIA CONQUEST is exactly the sort of film I’d love Mill Creek
to release but I guess Sidonis will get there first.
BTW I might add that Sidonis’ INDIAN UPRISING has got a positive review
on the French Western fansite http://www.westernmovies.fr
Ellis Carter,Ray Nazarro,George Montgomery and Supercinecolor
INDIAN UPRISING ticks plenty of boxes for me.
For all you Blu Ray fans ,I see that Kino Lorber are releasing THE INDIAN FIGHTER with Kirk Douglas and RAWHIDE with Susan Hayward.
Thanks gcwe1…THE INDIAN FIGHTER is one of my
“most wanted” titles on Blu Ray.
Great that Kino Lorber are still releasing MGM/UA titles.
Perhaps a certain Mr Roan can persuade KL to release
THE YELLOW TOMAHAWK in color and widescreen.
It would seem that a master color neg still exists.
Allen ,I just read a request from John Knight on Kino Lorber Facebook for YELLOW TOMAHAWK and they say they have no plans for releasing it anytime soon .Maybe someone else might be interested in releasing it .