I really hate to see Van Johnson's talents wasted in a film like this. I never thought westerns were his bag anyway. He was with the "Georgia Volunteers" a vague designation that wouldn't satisfy any Union officer. And where was his accent? Now Richard Boone has played this kind of evil role before and again, and does it very well. I had to laugh at the Indians firing the Gatling gun( could they ever? would they ever?) at the fort while droves of other indians are closely surrounding it. Nary a horse hit during any of the battles. Monumental cavalry and Indian charges appear with the usual results. One has to swallow a lot to enjoy this western.

Here's the situation: I'm about 9 years old and I'm standing in front of either the Regent or Gay, small, box-like, moderately ornate cinemas known to me for their triple-bills, smokey interiors and sticky floors. In the display case is a poster for "Siege at Red River" The large lettering is red. A guy is holding onto a beautiful woman. Behind them is a burning fort and a horde of injuns battling the cavalry in blue uniforms. Cool! I note that the movie is in Technicolor. That's a plus. I pay my quarter and go in. At the candy counter I buy a cherry ice cream bar and enter the darkened auditorium.I've probably sat down in the middle of a movie, but that's okay. It's fun trying to figure out what's going on. Then "Siege at Red River" starts. The grand 20th Century Fox logo with the moving floodlights. My favourite. I sink into my seat and a surge of anticipation rushes through me. Van Johnson is blonde, sturdy and stalwart - and maybe a scoundrel. There seems to be questions about his courage, but he sure gives that soldier bully what for! The beautiful lady doctor with the red lips likes him, then hates him, so I guess they'll get together at the end. He's up to his eyeballs in trouble regarding a Gatling gun and he's mixed up with a shady character with a whip played by Richard Boone, who's really, really nasty. Hiss. Boo. There's lots of good story, some funny parts, and tons of action with guys on horseback riding furiously around. The Technicolor is vivid and the outdoor scenery, with those huge pink/orange granite cliffs, is beautiful. There's a spectacular climax, with the cavalry, trumpet blasting, arriving in the nick of time. Too bad the injuns never win, though. Funny how the guys who are shot and fall off their horses never stay on the ground.I don't know for sure if I saw this movie as a kid - there were so many - but I probably did, and I probably sat through the entire triple bill twice. As an adult I still find this movie entertaining. It delivers what it promises. I don't know, as one reviewer has suggested, if it's a metaphor for the Cold War, but its equivalent in contemporary cinema might be a Matt Damon movie with a hero who can take care of himself, nasty arms dealers and Arab strife. One thing, though - I miss the cherry ice cream bars.

Siege At Red River is a Civil War western which casts Van Johnson and Milburn Stone as a couple of Confederate spies who steal a prototype new Gatling Gun from the Union Army and hope to get it south so that their army can get it in the field and turn the war's tide. Students of history will note that there is a scene shortly after they accomplish the heist showing that Lincoln has been safely re-elected and that was on the heels of Sherman taking Atlanta. We know if Van and Milburn don't that they're fighting a lost cause.But we can't have loose Gatling Guns around and Army Intelligence Officer Jeff Morrow is on the trail of the thieves. Johnson and Stone are a wily pair and con Union Army nurse Joanne Dru into innocently transporting the weapon with her medical supplies. But another guy who they use for aid, outlaw renegade Richard Boone has an agenda all his own and it involves the Indians.I don't think I have to go any farther, anyone who's seen enough films and knows off history knows how this will end generally. How it ends for the principal cast members you see the film for.What I liked about Siege At Red River is that Van Johnson and Milburn Stone in their guise as medicine show hucksters got to do a little snappy patter and song in the film. Johnson started out as a chorus boy on Broadway and he was brought to Hollywood after a bit part on Broadway in Too Many Girls. Occasionally he did do some singing and dancing, but not enough in my humble opinion. Peggy Maley also does a nice number in the saloon and she was great also.Maley is Richard Boone's girl and when Richard Boone is mean on the screen there ain't nobody meaner. His villains are usually quite irredeemable creatures with no decent characteristics.The final attack of the Indians and the soldiers counterattack is staged very well. Nice location cinematography for this, it was not the kind of sequence that could reasonably been done on a studio back lot any longer. Definitely a good western and I believe the only one Van Johnson ever did in his career.

I think this film is highly underrated. I cannot believe it has only been given a rating 4.9. There are many inferior films with much higher rating, which are not half as good as this film, and not as well acted. The film covers all sorts of new themes for a 1954 movie. There is espionage, love, civil war, patriotism, gallantry, Indian wars, state of the art weaponry and of course great acting. The film flows nicely and there is always a feeling of mystery and suspense. Van Johnson is a great actor in any movie, and Richard Boone is the archetypal bad guy. The film ends up with a theme of reconciliation and chivalry. It is a theme which does not appear in modern day movies, where bad and treachery always seems to triumph.