By Glenn Erickson
Fort Vengeance
Brief Synopsis
Outlaw brothers turned Mounties clash over their different attitudes toward law and order.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Lesley Selander
Director
James Craig
Dick Ross
Rita Moreno
Bridget Fitzgibbon
Keith Larsen
Carey Ross
Reginald Denny
Maj. Trevett
Charles Irwin
Saxon
Film Details
Also Known As
The Royal Mounted Police
Genre
Western
Release Date
Mar
29,
1953
Premiere Information
Los Angeles opening: week of 26 Mar 1953
Production Company
Allied Artists Productions, Inc.
Distribution Company
Monogram Pictures Corp.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 15m
Synopsis
Circa 1873, brothers Dick and Carey Ross evade capture by an American posse by crossing the border into Canada. Later, over a campfire, older brother Dick warns Carey that he will refuse to help if Carey gets them into trouble again. The next day, Carey shoots one of two Sioux Indians who were observing them from afar. The Rosses slip away and end up at Fort Vengeance, home of the newly formed North West Mounted Police. Dick insists that they join up with the NWMP despite Carey's protests against the military lifestyle. During their interview with chief inspector Maj. Trevett, Dick admits that they fled Dakota due to a gunfight provoked by charges that Carey was cheating at cards. Dick maintains, however, that they do not have criminal records. The brothers successfully complete training with other new recruits and they all become constables. When Chief Sitting Bull enters Canada with his tribe after the massacre at Little Big Horn, Trevett is instructed to prevent him from waging war. Sitting Bull consults with Blackfoot chief Crowfoot and urges him to join forces against the whites, but Crowfoot refuses, remaining loyal to the Queen. Trevett leads a NWMP troop to the Blackfoot encampment to welcome Sitting Bull and the meeting is peaceful. Later, however, Sitting Bull orders Broken Lance, a member of the Sioux tribe, to attack white settlers in order to incite a war, but insists that his son Blue Cloud wait to avenge the death of his brother, the Sioux killed by Carey. Sitting Bull's plan to place blame for the raids on the Blackfoot tribe backfires after Dick and Trevett identify the arrows as Sioux. After the NWMP are called to defend a wagon train that is under attack by the Sioux, Dick chases Broken Lance from there to Crowfoot's encampment. Based on the evidence of the arrows, Crowfoot allows Dick to arrest Broken Lance, and the Indian is found guilty and hanged. Sitting Bull then plans to declare war but is thwarted by Crowfoot, who refuses to allow his people to fight. Carey, meanwhile, slips back into his wild ways and one afternoon, makes a secret deal with trader Francois Luboc to sell pelts stolen from a hidden Indian cache. When Crowfoot's son Eagle Heart reports the theft of his pelts, the Rosses are assigned to find the culprit. After Eagle Heart confirms that the pelts sold to trading post owner Patrick Fitzgibbon bear his mark, Fitzgibbon identifies Luboc as the trader. Carey volunteers to arrest Luboc and finds him at his cabin, held at gunpoint by Eagle Heart. During a gunfight with Eagle Heart, Carey kills Luboc and escapes, leaving behind his riderless horse to give the appearance that he has died. Constable Macrae, who was sent to help Carey, arrests Eagle Heart for the murders of Luboc and Carey. Suspicious of the circumstances, Dick searches for his brother and finds his uniform hidden under the floorboards of Luboc's cabin. After obtaining a fresh horse from Fitzgibbon, Dick sets out again, unaware that he is being followed by a vengeful Blue Cloud. Crowfoot, meanwhile, agrees to ally with Sitting Bull if Eagle Heart does not receive a fair trial. Dick finally tracks down Carey, after which his brother admits his involvement with Luboc. When Dick insists that Carey turn himself in in order to avert a war, Carey refuses and attacks him. Blue Cloud observes the struggle and kills Carey. Although he mourns the loss of his brother, Dick realizes that Blue Cloud saved his life. They return together to the fort in time to prevent Eagle Heart's hanging and stop a joint attack by the tribes of Crowfoot and Sitting Bull. Eagle Heart is then released and peace is restored.
Director
Lesley Selander
Director
Cast
James Craig
Dick Ross
Rita Moreno
Bridget Fitzgibbon
Keith Larsen
Carey Ross
Reginald Denny
Maj. Trevett
Charles Irwin
Saxon
Morris Ankrum
Crowfoot
Guy Kingsford
Macrae
Michael Granger
Sitting Bull
Patrick Whyte
Sgt. Harrington
Paul Marion
Eagle Heart
Emory Parnell
Patrick Fitzgibbon
Charles Keane
Cook
Peter Coe
Blue Cloud
Peter Mamakos
Broken Lance
Peter Camlin
Francois Luboc
Jack Ingram
Marshall
William Forrest
Gen. Terry
Arthur Gould-porter
Constable
Lee Roberts
Riley Hill
Denver Pyle
Vernon Downing
Crew
William Calihan Jr.
Associate Producer
Charles Cooper
Recording
Paul Dunlap
Music Composition and Conducting
Walter Hannemann
Film Editor
Andrew Mclaglen
Assistant Director
David Milton
Art Director
Harry Neumann
Photography
Dan Ullman
Writer
Ilona Vas
Set Construction
Walter Wanger
Producer
Walter Wanger
Company
Allen K. Wood
Production Manager
Film Details
Also Known As
The Royal Mounted Police
Genre
Western
Release Date
Mar
29,
1953
Premiere Information
Los Angeles opening: week of 26 Mar 1953
Production Company
Allied Artists Productions, Inc.
Distribution Company
Monogram Pictures Corp.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 15m
Articles
Fort Vengeance -
In the early 1950s Allied Artists was still struggling to be free of the Poverty Row stigma attached to its old name, Monogram. This ambitious color western takes place in Canada yet is filmed on the Corriganville Ranch just outside Los Angeles. When gambler Carey (Keith Larsen) gets into a gunfight over crooked cards, he and his law-abiding brother Dick (James Craig) cross the border into Canada. They join the North-West Mounted Police and are soon dispatched on a peace mission. Still rebellious after the Little Big Horn, Sioux Chief Sitting Bull (Michael Granger) is provoking incidents with white settlers to convince the Blackfoot Chief (Morris Ankrum) to war with him against the U.S. Army. Dick offsets the damage by making friends and judging crimes fairly, but Carey helps a crooked trader steal some Blackfoot pelts, touching off a series of ambush murders. Peace is restored only after the two brothers fight it out. Perhaps the only actor pleased with the film was young Rita Moreno, who for once is not given the role of a 'native princess'. Critics disliked the hues of the budget Cinecolor process. A few noted the presence of mountains in the plains of South Saskatchewan, and Mounties that wear heavy wool uniforms and wool hats in the summer heat. Although credited as such, the noted Walter Wanger did not produce the film. AA's executive Walter Mirisch confirmed that the studio 'bought' the famous producer's name for three films, to help him restart his prestigious career after serving a brief prison sentence for shooting and wounding agent Jennings Lang. Wanger was soon collaborating with Allied Artists in earnest, an arrangement that yielded the classics Riot in Cell Block 11 (1954) and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956).
By Glenn Erickson
By Glenn Erickson
Fort Vengeance -
In the early 1950s Allied Artists was still struggling to be free of the Poverty Row stigma attached to its old name, Monogram. This ambitious color western takes place in Canada yet is filmed on the Corriganville Ranch just outside Los Angeles. When gambler Carey (Keith Larsen) gets into a gunfight over crooked cards, he and his law-abiding brother Dick (James Craig) cross the border into Canada. They join the North-West Mounted Police and are soon dispatched on a peace mission. Still rebellious after the Little Big Horn, Sioux Chief Sitting Bull (Michael Granger) is provoking incidents with white settlers to convince the Blackfoot Chief (Morris Ankrum) to war with him against the U.S. Army. Dick offsets the damage by making friends and judging crimes fairly, but Carey helps a crooked trader steal some Blackfoot pelts, touching off a series of ambush murders. Peace is restored only after the two brothers fight it out. Perhaps the only actor pleased with the film was young Rita Moreno, who for once is not given the role of a 'native princess'. Critics disliked the hues of the budget Cinecolor process. A few noted the presence of mountains in the plains of South Saskatchewan, and Mounties that wear heavy wool uniforms and wool hats in the summer heat. Although credited as such, the noted Walter Wanger did not produce the film. AA's executive Walter Mirisch confirmed that the studio 'bought' the famous producer's name for three films, to help him restart his prestigious career after serving a brief prison sentence for shooting and wounding agent Jennings Lang. Wanger was soon collaborating with Allied Artists in earnest, an arrangement that yielded the classics Riot in Cell Block 11 (1954) and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956).
By Glenn Erickson
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of this film was The Royal Mounted Police.
