They Rode West

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Major Vandergrif (Myron Healy is wounded in the leg by an Indian rebel. He is brought to the fort where drunken Dr. Gibson (Ralph Dumke) botches the removal of the arrow from the Major's leg and he bleeds to death. A new Doctor is sent for. They Rode West is a cavalry western and Francis is a young doctor assigned to an army post out west where both the Kiowas and Comanches are pretty hostile. The Kiowas are coming down with malaria living near a swamp as are the military, but the Kiowas have been put there by the government. Relatively new to Hollywood, handsome Robert Francis was a rising young actor and deemed California's "Golden Boy" on the verge of 1950's cinematic stardom, when on July 31 , 1955, he, along with two others, perished in a private plane crash just after takeoff in Burbank, California.

They Rode West *** (1954, Robert Francis, Donna Reed, May Wynn, Philip Carey) – Classic Movie Review 11,735

Except for the attention that Robert Francis, as the Army doctor, pays to the Kiowa Indians, there's little that's distinctive about this Western. Most of the others who have commented on the movie have been on point.

Better than expected, with a complex script, lots of action (not all well-staged), and even some character development. Francis is fine as the idealistic young doctor whose dedication to his Hippocratic oath is greater than his oath to the army. As a result, he treats hostile Indians as equals, causing trouble for the cavalry when the tribe jumps the reservation. It's hard to tell if Francis's apparent unease is good acting or still a bit of stage fright for a newcomer. But whichever, it fits in perfectly with a tenderfoot trying to get his bearings in unfriendly surroundings. They Rode West is a classic Western movie that explores the themes of loyalty, honor, and duty. The film is notable for its exceptional performances, particularly from Robert Francis and Donna Reed. Francis brings a quiet intensity to his role as Seward, while Reed delivers a nuanced performance as the conflicted Laurie Kirby. The supporting cast, which includes actors such as May Wynn and Onslow Stevens, is also strong. Carey is especially discomfited when Francis begins treat the Kiowa who are all down with malaria. The malaria is linked of course to some bad water near the Kiowa camp, allowing mosquitoes to breed and serve as vectors. Of course Francis doesn't know this because the story takes place before the germ theory of disease was developed, and long before Lister introduced sterile techniques into the practice of medicine. Love Blooms [L’amour debout] *** (2019, Paul Delbreil, Adèle Csech, Samuel Fasse) – Classic Movie Review 12,727 | Derek Winnert on La Maman et La Putain [The Mother and the Whore] **** (1973, Jean-Pierre Léaud, Bernadette Lafont, Françoise Lebrun) – Classic Movie Review 12,728 All the characters are one-dimensional and the story is flat, but Karlson does a nice job with the action scenes.May Wynn, the 1950s starlet who had a supporting role in the acclaimed Humphrey Bogart military legal thriller The Caine Mutiny, where she adopted her character’s name for her stage name, has died. She was 93. Along with Francis are Donna Reed as the niece of the commanding officer, May Wynn as a white Indian maid captive and Philip Carey as his rival who has a more traditional frontier view of the Indians.

It reunites two stars of The Caine Mutiny, Robert Francis and May Wynn. Before that film’s release, Francis and Wynn were sent together on press junkets by studio boss Harry Cohn to showcase the studio’s two youngest stars, and gossip magazines reported a romance between them. Directed by Phil Karlson who later helmed the excellent GUNMAN'S WALK, this one involves an army surgeon (Robert Francis) who is at odds against his commander (Philip Carey) over the treatment of a malaria outbreak amongst the Kiowa. This was one of only four movies that Robert Francis made before his untimely death. Columbia Pictures were building him up to be a star at the time. Donna Reed who was supposed to be Francis' love interest in the film, was actually about ten years older than him. May Wyn had played Francis' wife in "The Caine Mutiny" the same year and it was though that they were being developed as a team. Storm Fear *** (1955, Cornel Wilde, Dan Duryea, Jean Wallace, Lee Grant, Steven Hill) – Classic Movie Review 3,546 | Derek Winnert on Maracaibo ** (1958, Cornel Wilde, Jean Wallace, Abbe Lane, Francis Lederer, Michael Landon, Joe E Ross) – Classic Movie Review 12,726Robert Charles Francis was born on February 26, 1930, in Glendale, California, where his parents ran a family pharmacy. Growing up he showed early interests in art and in sports, particularly skiing. As a teen he attended Pasadena City College from 1946 to 1948 after completing the tenth grade at Wilson Junior High School. He graduated with a "junior college degree.