Massacre River is directed by John Rawlins and written by Louis Stevens. It stars Guy Madison, Rory Calhoun, Carole Matthews, Cathy Downs, Johnny Sands and Steve Brodie. Music is by John Leipold and Lucien Moraweck and cinematography by Jack Mackenzie.Three army buddies, two ladies, and Indians unhappy about land encroachments. Spells trouble for sure.Massacre River is a tricky Western to recommend in that it is not one for those expecting a Cavalry and Indians actioner, this is no high energy "B" Western. It relies heavily on character dynamics and a story ripe with surprising forays into darker territories. In fact it is far from routine stuff, a tag that even the New York Times reviewer of the time was quickly wrong to call it.We have five people caught in a devil's pentagon, friendships and passions are tested and emotions reach boiling point. Thankfully the makers involved here have the courage of their convictions to make bold decisions with some of the characters. Decisions that bring the pic into a film noir realm, which when aided by some pleasing monochrome photography, and shadow play when the story goes bleaker, marks this out as very being aware of that style of film making that was bubbling away with menace at the time.It begins all jaunty with pals larking around, even bordering on the homo erotic as two of the guys wrestle in a bath of water (seriously), and with a meeting of the fort colonel and the Indian chief (Art Baker and Iron Eyes Cody) outlaying a problem brewing between the two factions, it appears to be heading into "formula". But once the action switches to Jackson (the last outpost bordering Massacre River), the whole tone shifts, very much so, and it becomes a spicy hotbed of human agonies and vagaries of fate.Problems exist of course. It's nice to have Calhoun and Brodie in the same movie, but the former's fans are made to wait for him to be seen at his best, while the latter is very under used. Story wise there is a hint of under staffing at one of the forts, but it's not explored for benefit, while the Indian angle ultimately feels tacked onto the human drama. But it's nicely performed by the cast, there's some nice photography and camera work, while the comforting sight to Western fans of the Iverson Ranch locale is boosted by shots filmed at Canyon de Chelly National Monument.Well worth a look for Western fans familiar with noirish angles of the period. 7/10Footnote: Some sources have it listed as being in Sepiatone. Not sure if it was filmed originally in that format? But the print I saw via TCM's HD channel wasn't so, it was a straight and very nice looking monochrome print.

A dashing cavalry officer is torn between two women causing ructions for those closest to him. This is more of dialogue driven rather than action driven western. Unfortunately it's not a particularly interesting story which makes much of the film a bit stale. However the good looking cast, decent acting and some occasional stunning cinematography make it worth at least one viewing. The ending was a bit strange, almost like it didn't know which way to go, sombre or happy, so it tried a bit of both. Which I kind of liked as it goes. Overall it's not a bad film just one that's not particularly memorable.

Guy Madison and Rory Calhoun vye for the affections of the virtuous Cathy Downs in "Arabian Knights" director John Rawlins' cavalry versus the Indians saga "Massacre River" until a besmirched Carole Mathews enters the picture. Ostensibly, the title of this 78 minute, Allied Artists release refers to the river that divides the land of the red man and the land of the white man. Naturally, the Native Americans constitute a major presence in this dusty oater, and the iconic Native American actor Iron Eyes Cody plays Chief Yellowstone. Nevertheless, despite the presence of Iron Eyes Cody and two battles with the Indians, the romantic rivalry between the two leading men over the leading lady overshadows the Indians. Initially, our two heroes, both officers in the U.S. Cavalry, are stationed at a remote frontier fort where the commanding officer's beautiful daughter, Kitty Reid (Cathy Downs of "My Darling Clementine"), is the object of our two heroes. Just to give you an idea when Hollywood produced this western, Guy Madison was the bigger celebrity star of the two. Initially, when Lieutenant Phil Acton (Calhoun) proposes to Kitty, she turns him down without a qualm for Madison. Between these two is the daughter's younger brother, Randy Reid (Johnny Sands of "Sabre Jet") who is itching to get into the action. Of course, the fort commandant, Colonel James Reid (Art Baker) struggles to keep his headstrong son out of the flight of Indian arrows. No sooner has our hero, Larry Knight (Guy Madison) committed himself to a marriage with Kitty than he encounters another dame, Laura Jordan (Carole Mathews of "Cry Murder"), who shows up in a nearby town. Laura owns half of a saloon run by Burke Kimber (Steve Brodie of "Roustabout"), and he isn't happy with the revelation that Laura is going to be his partner. Eventually, the intolerance that they have for each other prompts Burke to try to shoot Laura in the back. Surprisingly, Larry intercedes on Laura's behalf and kills Burke. Larry and Laura discover each other, and Larry backs out of his wedding with Kitty. Naturally, this upsets Randy and he confront Larry and they quarrel and Randy shoots Larry. Laura witnesses this confrontation and shoots Randy in the back before he can finish Larry off. Larry and Laura become fugitives and Phil pursues them, even after they cross Massacre River. Eventually, Larry and Phil relinquish their rage and together they fight an Indian onslaught. The ending contains a surprise that gives this above-average but far from ambitious western a tragic conclusion

In this routine oater, Larry (Guy Madison) and Phil (Rory Calhoun) are officers in the Army stationed at a remote fort at the edge of Indian territory. The Indian chief (Iron Eyes Cody) represents the native inhabitants near the end of their fight with the white man; therefore, the fort and nearby town of Jackson are populated by mostly settlers and other civilians. Larry is engaged to Kitty (Cathy Downs), the daughter of the fort commander, and Kitty's brother Randy is the mild comedy relief. Although the film's poster promises some violent Army-Indian clashes, there is only one mildly good battle scene and a skirmish near the finale. The bulk of the movie is a leaden soap opera concerned with how Larry jilts Kitty after he falls in love with the hardened co-owner of Jackson's saloon (Carole Matthews). This sets both Phil and Randy against Larry. The divisions this causes leads the death and tragedy in a "character-driven" western which, despite good performances from Madison and Matthews, strains to make us believe that their characters have any sort of believable future together.