Notable B-Movie Director Phil Karlson Helmed this Above Average Early Fifties, Low-Budget Western with Little Style but its Social Concerns Rode the "New" Esthetic that Shined a much needed Light on Bigotry. There are some Corny Side-Elements to be sure, but the Aforementioned Elevate this one to Respectability. The Plot is all about a Military Doctor (Robert Francis) and His Treatment of Indians and viewed Them as, God Forbid, Equal People as seen from the Eyes of a "Medicine Man".Donna Reed is Awkward as a Centerpiece of the Soldiers Attention (one proposes to Her on sight), but the rest of the Cast do Yeoman's Work and it is left to Francis to Carry the Movie. He is Adequate, but the Strength is the Story and its Ramifications about the Mistreatment of a Defeated People thrown in the Trash Bin of History, until Recently.There are some Wild and Wooly Battles that Punctuate now and then for the Action Oriented Crowd that could give a Hoot about Empathy and Inclusion of a whole Race of People that Desired Respect that was Initially Withheld.

The beginning of this film makes you feel you are seeing one of the great westerns. What a good story, there is a fort, a butcher of a doctor, who after being responsible for the death of an officer is replaced by a young man (Robert Francis). There are the Kiowas which are dying of malaria in a reservation, a flirting woman (Donna Reed), a beautiful white woman (May Wynn) who lives among the natives. And then it all goes downhill. It is like all of the sudden they had to rush to finish the film and the last scene is very hard to believe. Phil Karlson, who directed was quite efficient in action movies like "Mask of the Avenger"(1951) and "The Texas Rangers" (1951), two films I greatly enjoyed. Donna Reed is not easy at all in her role, playing completely against type. Phil Carey is very good as the captain who hates the doctor (Francis).

Robert Francis plays Army doctor Allan Seward who is posted to the remote outpost Fort McCullogh where his callowness and inexperience r incurs the enmity of the hard bitten Captain Blake (Phil Carey) .Blake is virulently anti-Indian and when Seward insists on treating Indians who have fallen victim to malaria Blake makes no bones about his antagonism ,feelings shared by the other troopers .He is arrested and faces a court martial while outside war is brewing over the determination of the Indians to leave their reservation and head for higher and healthier ground in the hill country.Francis died tragically young and his strong performance shows what a loss he was to the movies .Carey is forceful and there are good turns from Donna Reed as the base Commnader's spoiled and coquettish daughter .Phil Karlson directs strongly and the movie is always entertaining if not quite top drawer One for western devotees in our midst

This picture is a decent western that details the problems of an army doctor among military brass and rank and file soldiers at an outpost in Indian territory. Robert Francis has the misfortune of following incompetent doctors whose questionable medical practices did more harm than good. Problems arise when Francis tries to cure an Indian tribe of malaria against the army's wishes. Another plot angle involves a white woman married to an Indian and Francis tries to persuade her to return to her own people. Donna Reed and Phil Carey are the other main players in this film that has its moments but is otherwise a routine western. Francis and May Wynn were together in "The Caine Mutiny" before Francis' untimely death in a plane crash.