Ulzana's Raid (1972)

Director:

Robert Aldrich

Writer:

Alan Sharp (writer)

Release Date:

18 October 1972 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Western

Tagline:

One man alone understood the savagery of the early American west from both sides.

Plot:

Report reaches the US cavalry that the Apache leader Ulzana has left his reservation with a band of followers...

Plot Keywords:

Apache | Scout | Cavalry | Torture | Native American Raid

Cast

Burt Lancaster	...	McIntosh
Bruce Davison	...	Lt. Garnett DeBuin
Jorge Luke	...	Ke-Ni-Tay (army scout)
Richard Jaeckel	...	Sergeant
Joaquín Martínez	...	Ulzana (as Joaquin Martinez)
Lloyd Bochner	...	Capt. Charles Gates
Karl Swenson	...	Willy Rukeyser (settler)
Douglass Watson	...	Maj. Cartwright (CO, Ft. Lowell)
Dran Hamilton	...	Mrs. Riordan
John Pearce	...	Corporal
Gladys Holland	...	Mrs. Rukeyser
Margaret Fairchild	...	Mrs. Abbie Ginsford
Aimée Eccles	...	McIntosh's Indian woman (as Aimee Ecclés)
Richard Bull	...	Ginsford (settler)
Otto Reichow	...	'Dutch' Steegmeyer (Indian Agent, San Carlos Reservation)

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

UK:15 (re-rating) (cut) | Iceland:16 | West Germany:12 (f) (re-rating) | West Germany:16 (f) (original rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Denmark:11 (2003) | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Coronado National Forest, Arizona, USA

Company:

Associates & Aldrich Company, The

Trivia:

Filmed for $1.2 million in only 7 weeks, a good 3 or 4 weeks less than most of Robert Aldrich's movies.

Quotes:

Lt. Harry Garnett DeBuin: Why didn't they kill the boy?
Ke-Ni-Tay: Man cannot take power from boy... only man.

Taking a Man's Power

The only reason I have not given this movie a "10" is that I might find something wrong with it on subsequent viewings. If anybody knows of this film being available widescreen, unedited, and not bootlegged, let me know where. My high definition TV does not forgive picture flaws. Otherwise I will be patient for a remaster. As someone who is an amateur historian of the Indian wars, I can tell you this is the most accurate dramatization of the campaign against the Apaches ever filmed. Accurate history is presented in the fact that the Apaches were the dominant tribe of the southwest {the Comanches in Texas might have been their rival}. Ask the Puebloes, who actually welcomed the white man, as a buffer against the Apache. The Apache dominated the southwest long before the Spanish ever showed up. Their spiritual philosophy of "taking a man's power" was shared by other warlike Indian tribes all the way to the east coast {see "Last of the Mohicans", Mann's version}. The film manages to also be great western drama as well as a history lesson.There is no moral judgment, only the way it was. The cast is superb.Lancaster, Davidson, The Hispanic Indian actors. Richard Jaeckel, and Karl Swenson {two workhorse character actors, who turned in performances of a lifetime}. All these guys plus director Aldrich and the writers knew they were working on something special. Even the PC edited version is worth seeing. A great Cavalry/Indian western, maybe the best!