Flaming Feather (1952) Reviews

• good picture

  vintagevalor-803-3307652011-01-28

  This a good picture for what it is. It seems to start out as a formula western with an age old plot, white man running with Indians doing bad things, lone hero sets out to stop him, etc. However the script is pretty good, there is some suspense, though we sort of know from the get-go who the bad guy is,the moment he shows on the screen. I love Sterling Hayden...for a guy who really didn't like being an actor, he does all right. Barbara Rush is beautiful and appealing. Forrest Tucker just shows up, and Victory Jory steals the picture with his oily charm.Edgar Buchannian is wasted in a role he really isn't suited for. However, all in all, a pretty good picture. I enjoyed it.

• Sidewinder in their sights.

  Spikeopath2013-10-15

  Flaming Feather is directed by Ray Enright and written by Gerald Drayson Adams. It stars Sterling Hayden, Forrest Tucker, Arleen Whelan, Barbara Rush, Victor Jory, Edgar Buchanan and Richard Arlen. A Technicolor production, music is by Paul Sawtell and cinematography by Ray Rennahan. The mysterious outlaw known only as The Sidewinder is in cahoots with the Native Americans and terrorises Arizona's settlers. But when The Sidewinder chose Tex McCloud (Hayden) as one of his targets, he hadn't banked on Tex linking up with the U.S. Cavalry to hunt him down. Enjoyably energetic Oater that makes up for what it lacks in originality with gorgeous location photography and a barn storming finale. Ray Enright was a good old pro at this sort of thing, and here he doesn't waste any time with pointless filler scenes or drawn out conversations that don't advance the plot. From the get go we are thrust into an action sequence, and from there on in the film rarely pauses for breath. Hayden and Tucker make for a beefy coupling, and although the mystery element is not exactly rocket science to work out, the presence of three lovely lady characters does spice up the intrigue surrounding The Sidewinder and those in pursuit of him. It all builds to a wonderful finale that starts out with a Little Big Horn type siege, which then develops into a pursuit and battle up at the Montezuma Castle Monument in Arizona, where fire pit punch ups and ladder skills enthral greatly. It isn't hard to pick holes in it, it is after all one of those quintessentially early 1950s Westerns that was ignorant to intelligent scripting and screenplays. Yet for sheer gusto and consistently airy beauty this is a must see for Western and Hayden lovers. 7/10

• Disguised

  tedg2006-01-12

  This is strange and enjoyable, an odd mix of straight genre and novel plot. Superficially, it is a genre western in all its component parts: Army, including a rough and tumble, betting, chewing sarge. A redheaded owner of a bar, essentially that abstraction of a whore that only exists in movieland. A more beautiful "innocent" woman, goodhearted. A lone rancher on a mission of revenge. A gang of thieving, murdering Indians, led by an evil mastermind. A solidly honest gambler. Color. Traditional score. And most of the action is of the ordinary kind: barroom fights, barroom singing (in the Red Feather, where our redhead works -- guess that's where the title comes from). And there's the cowboy rescuing the pert damsel again and again. He ends up with her after thwarting her wedding to the unrecognized bad guy. (who she doesn't know killed her parents). But this has some twists that actually make it interesting, enough unpredictable that you may find it interesting. The shootout at the end involves ladders and dimension, rare for a picture of this era. But the big deal for me: the setup for the first three quarters of the movie is that the redhead and the guy who turns out to be the mysterious "sidewinder" have a big quarrel. We expect to learn that she is his wife or sister. Or that she is the sidewinder. We expect that the bad guy will die, but that the tart with a heart will survive. That's the west, right? No. The whole thing leads up to a massive shootout which just happens to involve her and a group of men who mysteriously would follow her into such a thing. No problem, we think, her hidden power and role will be uncovered in some way. Nope. An errant bullet in the shootout -- not even from anyone important -- fells her. She dies. We never learn the puzzle that has captured us throughout. We've been tricked by the shape of the thing, which so clearly is a genre movie, but at the end, no genre ending? What a thrill. Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching

• A fine, nostalgic western adventure

  NewEnglandPat2004-01-28

  Sterling Hayden stars as a cowboy who hits the trail in search of a renegade white man leading a band of Indians who burned his ranch and ran off his horses and cattle. The mysterious raider is responsible for the killing and looting of towns and wagon trains manages to elude the pursuing cavalry until events conspire to unmask the villain. Barbara Rush is the romantic interest of Hayden and also the renegade and her role is that of a damsel in distress throughout the picture. Forrest Tucker is good as an army lieutenant and there are comical exchanges between old timers Edgar Buchanan and George Cleveland. Victor Jury is also good as the dark, saturnine trading post owner. Arleen Whelan's role as a saloon singer doesn't have much to do with the film's plot but is quite a looker nonetheless. The technicolor is excellent, as is Paul Sawtell's spare music score.

• Pesky redskins attack white settlers

  helpless_dancer2000-03-21

  A band of renegade Utes, led by a sneaky, low down, forked tongue white man, burn, loot, and pillage across the southwest. A rugged settler and the Army go after the elusive skunk and his gang of dirty rats and meet in a blazing gun battle in the mountains. Above average western.