• Source: Only the Valiant

Only the Valiant, also known as Fort Invincible, is a 1951 American Western film produced by William Cagney (younger brother of James Cagney), directed by Gordon Douglas and starring Gregory Peck, Barbara Payton, and Ward Bond. The screenplay was written by Edmund H. North and Harry Brown, based on the 1943 novel of the same name by Charles Marquis Warren.
Gregory Peck, in a role he considered a low point of his career, plays Captain Richard Lance, a by-the-book West Point graduate who is not very popular with the men under his command.
This film is in the public domain.




Plot


Following the American Civil War, peace is maintained in the New Mexico Territory by Fort Invincible, a fortification set up outside a mountain pass that blocks marauding bands of Apache. The Apache are able to eventually take the fort by cutting off its water supply, then assaulting the fort when its garrison is at its weakest and killing all the defenders.
Captain Richard Lance arrives with a patrol soon after the battle and captures Tucsos, the charismatic leader of the Apache. Lance's scout advises the captain to kill Tucsos, but Lance will not shoot a prisoner.
Back at the headquarters of the 5th Cavalry, the invalid commanding officer orders Lance to assign an officer to command an escort to take Tucsos to a larger post. Lance decides to lead the patrol himself, but at the last minute, the colonel says he needs Lance to stay at the fort in case of an Apache attack, and orders him to assign another (but more popular) officer, Lieutenant Holloway, to lead the small group of men escorting Tucsos. The Apache free Tucsos and Lieutenant Holloway ends up dead. The men at the fort blame Captain Lance, unaware of the colonel's order. They believe that his decision to assign Lieutenant Holloway to the dangerous mission was for a personal reason (both officers were vying for the affection of Cathy Eversham, an officer's daughter). Cathy Eversham believes it too, and bitterly breaks up with him.
Lance's standing with the soldiers at the fort only gets worse when he assembles a group of misfit cavalrymen to hold off the rampaging Indians at the ruins of Fort Invincible, which is considered a suicide mission.




Cast


Gregory Peck as Captain Richard Lance
Barbara Payton as Cathy Eversham
Ward Bond as Corporal Timothy Gilchrist
Gig Young as 1st Lieutenant William Holloway
Dan Riss as 1st Lieutenant Jerry Winters
Clark Howat as Lieutenant Underwood
Neville Brand as First Sergeant Ben Murdock
Herbert Heyes as Colonel Drumm
Art Baker as Captain Jennings
Hugh Sanders as Captain Eversham
Lon Chaney Jr. as Trooper Kebussyan ("the Ay-rab")
Warner Anderson as Trooper Rutledge
Steve Brodie as Trooper Onstot
Terry Kilburn as Trooper Saxton
Jeff Corey as Joe Harmony
Michael Ansara as Tucsos
Nana Bryant as Mrs. Drumm




Production


In 1950, David O. Selznick was struggling financially so he loaned Gregory Peck to Warner Bros for $150,000. His co-star Barbara Payton was paid $10,000 per week for her leading role. The film was shot on location in New Mexico and Peck and Payton had a brief affair on set.




Reception


According to Warner Bros accounts, the film earned $1,796,000 domestically and $1,630,000 foreign.
Time Out said "The often brutal physical confrontations show the kind of edge [the director] could deliver when he put his mind to it, and a sinewy, unsympathetic Peck impresses." Leonard Maltin says it is "unusually brutal." In a review of the 2013 Blu-ray release, Creative Loafing assessed that "This middling Western isn't awful so much as it's awfully indifferent." The reviewer cited a routine and largely nonsensical plot, but praised the fun supporting performances from Ward Bond and Lon Chaney Jr., and gave the film two stars.




See also


List of Western films 1950–54




References






Further reading


Warren, Charles Marquis (1943). Only the Valiant. New York City: The Macmillan Company.
Fishgall, Gary (2002). Gregory Peck: a biography. New York City: Simon & Schuster. pp. 156–158. ISBN 978-0-684-85290-4.
Gevinson, Alan (1997). The AFI Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. pp. 741–742. ISBN 978-0-520-20964-0.
Haney, Lynn (2005). Gregory Peck: A Charmed Life. New York City: Carroll & Graf Publishers. pp. 197–201. ISBN 978-0-7867-1656-2.
Payton, Barbara (2004). I Am Not Ashamed. Los Angeles, California: Holloway House Publishing. ISBN 978-0-87067-108-1.




External links



Only the Valiant at IMDb
Only the Valiant at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
Only the Valiant at the TCM Movie Database
Only the Valiant at Rotten Tomatoes
Only the Valiant at AllMovie
Only the Valiant is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive
DVD Review Review of the film & DVD at Vista Records
DVD Review Review of the film & DVD at DVD Verdict

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