Yellowstone Kelly (1959)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Gordon Douglas

Writers:

Burt Kennedy (writer)
Heck Allen (novel)

Release Date:

11 December 1959 (Finland)

Genre:

Western

Plot:

A fur-trapper named Kelly, who once saved the life of a Sioux chief, is allowed to set his traps in Sioux territory during the late 1870s...

Plot Keywords:

Montana | Mountain Man | 1870s | U.S. Army | U.S. Cavalry

Cast

Clint Walker	...	Luther 'Yellowstone' Kelly
Edd Byrnes	...	Anse Harper (as Edward Byrnes)
John Russell	...	Gall, Sioux Chief
Ray Danton	...	Sayapi, Gall's Nephew
Claude Akins	...	Sergeant
Rhodes Reason	...	Major Towns
Andra Martin	...	Wahleeah, Sayapi's Arapaho Captive
Gary Vinson	...	Lieutenant
Warren Oates	...	Corporal

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

West Germany:12 (nf) | Finland:K-16

Filming Locations:

Coconino National Forest, Arizona, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Quotes:

Yellowstone Kelly: Planning on crossing the river, are you?
Major Towns: I told you I was going to drive the Sioux back to the Dakotas. That's what I intend to do.
Yellowstone Kelly: I knew a man once... he intended to kill a bear with a stick. I buried him.

Tough-Minded "B" western Transcends Its Budget' Well-Liked.

This unpretentious and well-paced film min my judgment almost redefines the 'B' movie. It uses the talents of solid-plot novelist Clay Fisher, action director Gordon Douglas's skills, script additions by Burt Kennedy, lucid cinematography by Carl Guthrie, costumes by Marjorie Best, set decorations by William Wallace and a good cast of supporting actors. The storyline is a very simple one. Luther Kelloey has saved the life of a Sioux chief, Gall. Because of this during the troubles in their country, he is still allowed to set his traplines. After some trouble with toughs at a fort, he enlists young tenderfoot Anse Harper as his helper--before discovering he is hopeless at everything; then Kelley heads upcountry. Once there, they save an Arapaho woman fleeing her enemies. Answe worships her; she falls in love with Kelley, but he fights the urge as he nurses her back to health. Then all discover that it is the Sioux chief who wants her back. Anse dies; and finally he has to lead soldiers against the Sioux to save the ill-led patrol; and he kills Gall's nephew, the real troublemaker in the situation, in battle. He then advises the Sioux chief to leave the Yellowstone country, telling him it no longer smiles on them; and they follow his advice. The film stars popular and very large Clint Walker, in the best of several western he was allowed to make in the 1950s, as who did not; Anse is well-done by Edd Byrnes, John Russell is the Sioux chief, Ray Danton the deadly nephew and Andra Martin the lovely Arapaho woman. Claude Akins as a skeptical sergeant, Rex Reason, Gary Vinson and Warren Oates are also featured. This is a very authentic western, physically-beautiful. The viewer learns a lot about what it takes to survive in the West through the very Eastern eyes of Anse; also, Kelley's very sound advice is doubted, not heeded or contradicted by soldiers, with the result that they need him to save their hides. This is not a great picture; but I suggest as a writer its authors gave it clear motivations, a solid story line for its under-budgeted producers to realize. The dialogue is above average, terse, never show; and Douglas's camera has quite a bit to work with in the way of interior dialogue exchanges, action scenes and angry confrontations. The highlight comes when Martin tells Walker, "You have LOOKED AT ME." From that moment, we know he likes her, she wants him--and all they have to do is fight a major battle against angry Sioux warriors to win their future...Many viewers have found this to be a very unpretentious and entertaining 'B' effort.