Review of They Rode West (1954) by Kevin R — 03 Aug 2011

Doctor Woodhawk.

A small town in the mid west is occupied by a military unit that struggles to find a worthwhile doctor to treat their soldiers. The military unit's responsibilities include observing and tracking several Indian camps. A new doctor arrives that cares equally about the soldiers and the local Indians that are infected with malaria. Despite the first worthwhile doctor arriving at the camp in some time, how will the soldiers deal with the doctor that also serves as a humanitarian?

"He got an arrow in the leg.".

"And Dr. Gibson did the rest.".

Phil Karlson, director of Framed, Walking Tall, Hornets' Nest, A Time for Killing (1967), Rampage, The Big Cat, Black Gold, and the Shanghai Cobra, delivers They Rode West. The storyline for this picture is fairly generic and is a classic western with a "message." The action scenes were well done and entertaining. The cast delivered average performances and includes Robert Francis, Donna Reed, May Wynn, Peggy Converse, and Jack Kelly.

"Would you mind not shooting me until I'm done treating them?".

I came across this picture while flicking through the channels and decided to give this western a shot. Unfortunately, this was a fairly generic western that added little style and pizzazz to the genre. This seemed like it had the potential to add a nice twist to the cowboys and Indians storyline; regrettably, this fails to be an above average picture.

"One mile of land for every five Indians.".

"Does that mean they're tame?".

Grade: C+.