Copyright 1957 by Emirau Productions. Presented by Regal Films and released through 20th Century-Fox Film Corporation. No recorded New York opening. U.S. release: September 1957. U.K. release: January 1958. Australian release: around June 1958 at a guess (the actual date was not recorded). 6,940 feet. 77 minutes. Cut to 6,080 feet or 68 minutes in Australia.SYNOPSIS: The story revolves around a prim Boston schoolteacher, who goes West to teach in a small town, and a tough U.S. Cavalryman. Miss Gray is the teacher and Mr Morrow is the whisky-drinking soldier and they are thrown together when Miss Gray finds the little town completely wiped out by Apaches. Morrow had escaped the rampaging Indians because he was in jail drunk the night of the attack. How the two face hardships together and the efforts of Miss Gray to change Morrow's character provide the drama and romance in Eric Norden's screenplay.VIEWERS' GUIDE: The Australian censor says both versions are not suitable for children, the British Board says the full-length picture is okay for all.COMMENT: This somewhat unusual story (reminiscent of "The African Queen") is rather slow in the telling. (We are now stuck with the full version. As usual, all copies of the Australian print seem to have disappeared). It's none too well acted either. But what makes one hanker for the Oz cut is that the opening and closing sequences are quite suspenseful. A great deal of the picture was obviously lensed on location, and these sequences are reasonably exciting too. It's the rest of the movie (to which presumably the shears were taken down under) that's pretty hard slogging.

A Boston school marm out West meets the sole survivor of an Indian massacre, a drunk in jail. Alcoholic former cavalryman Hack Williams is arrested for killing an Indian, something he did not do. The townspeople, fearful of Apache reprisals, plan to hang Williams in hopes of heading off an attack. But the attack comes and Hack, locked in his jail cell, is the only survivor as a massacre occurs. Into the scene of carnage arrives schoolteacher Nora Haynes. Together she and Williams must find a way to reach safety before another Indian attack. But the pair are by no means well-matched, and their trip alone across the desert is not destined to be an easy one. This is a fine Western with a very fine cast.Try it. You'll like it!

Tenpercent's review pretty much nails my view of this stinker. Yep, a very, VERY badly-written "African Queen" rip-off. Too bad, because there are actually a few tinkling of something really good beneath all the stink. Well, basically the tinklings are all due to Coleen Gray. Good Lord, is she beautiful, and a fine actress to boot. I had never heard of her before seeing this film, and am amazed that she wasn't more famous.Jeff Morrow is so bad in this, I'm shocked to see he still had a career afterward.But the real culprit is whatever drug-addict wrote the screenplay. Painful.If you have never seen Coleen Gray, it is worth watching the first 20 minutes or so (until she lets her hair down and bathes in the river.) After that, it's simply torture.

"Copper Sky" pulls you in and then let's you down. Even right to the end you are hoping for more insight into the characters' pasts. You want to like the two leads "Coleen Gray and Jeff Morrow," but the plot gets in the way. It has a very structured script to the point of predictability. He's lost his manhood without explanation and she can't figure out why he's the only man who doesn't want her, reminding her of her father. The fix is in. The music composition was nice, but more dialog would have had a better effect. It would have, also, looked much better filmed in color displaying the beauteous landscape of Utah where it was filmed. I still enjoyed watching it, despite it's sophomoric tone. Some characters were miss cast in the lessor rolls, I guess the budget didn't allow for studied actors in every part. Looked like some family members might have been given bit roles.