The Command (1954)

Director:

David Butler

Writers:

James Warner Bellah (novel)
Samuel Fuller (writer)

Release Date:

13 February 1954 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Plot:

An army doctor, with no combat experience, is forced to take command of a cavalry troop escorting a wagon train through hostile Indian country when the unit's commanding officer dies. |

Plot Keywords:

Wilhelm Scream | Based On Novel

Cast

  (Credited cast)

Guy Madison	...	Capt. Robert MacClaw
Joan Weldon	...	Martha Cutting
James Whitmore	...	Sgt. Elliott
Carl Benton Reid	...	Col. Janeway
Harvey Lembeck	...	Pvt. Gottschalk
Ray Teal	...	Dr. Trent
Robert Nichols	...	2nd Lt. O'Hirons
Don Shelton	...	Maj. Gibbs
Gregg Barton	...	Capt. Forsythe
Boyd 'Red' Morgan	...	Cpl. Fleming
Zacharias Yaconelli	...	Mr. Pellegrini
Renata Vanni	...	Mrs. Pellegrini
Tom Monroe	...	Pvt. Nikirk

Also Known As:

Rear Guard (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Warnercolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (WarnerPhonic/RCA) (magnetic prints) | Mono (optical prints)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #16709, General Audience) | Sweden:15 | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Warner Ranch, Calabasas, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Filmed in two separate versions - 3-D and CinemaScope - with different aspect ratios (1.37:1 for the 3-D, and 2.55:1 for the CinemaScope print). Only the wide screen version was ever released, though the 3-D elements still exist in Warner Bros. vault. Also the first wide screen Western of the 1950's. The flat (i.e. non 3-D) 1.37:1 version was also made available to theatres who were not yet equipped to project CinemaScope.

Quotes:

Martha Cutting: You sympathize with them. Why?
Capt. Robert MacClaw: Perhaps because we destroyed the Indian's ability to make a distinction between the good and the bad. He has a child's logic: the white man hurt him, therefore all white men are bad.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Lucky Me (1954)

ONE OF THE TRULY GREAT WESTERNS

A great example of Guy Madison's talent. This movie has always been one of my favorite westerns. I only wish I could obtain it on either VHS or DVD. I always loved the fact that the success or failure of his mission depended on his mens faith in his rank, not knowing he was a surgeon and had no combat experience. I thought it hilarious that both his commanding and fellow officers had no knowledge of the lack of experience in the man they willingly submitted their destinies too.