Sarita Rafferty
There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.
ma-cortes
Mediocre and unexceptional western dealing with a tale of the early days of Canadian Mounted Police and their relationships with the Indians . Average Western has Tyrone power as the Mountie on an assignment to the US to stop rebel Indians led by Stuart Randall as Standing Bear and Cameron Mitchell as Konah and their Cree tribes from launching an all out attack . As Tyrone , accompanied by Natayo: Thomas Gómez, has to keep rescuing hostages throughout the movie , as well as battling Cameron Mitchell and help harassed settlers fight Indians .There are White captives to be rescued : Robert Horten , Penny Edwards , too , and building a thrilling final confrontation . Spectacular , though medium budget western , with thrills , fights , go riding , and being mostly shot at an Indian location .Cast is pretty good , it stars Tyrone Power , a fine actor who performed some classic swashbucklers, until his early death in Spain when he was shooting Salomon and Queen of Sheba by King Vidor ; However , he is miscast in a very minor stuff for his usual standards . Costars Penny Edwards as the heroíne in distress who is kidnapped by Indians , she spent several years languishing in Roy Rogers Westerns . Support cast is frankly well ,such as : Cameron Mitchell , and Stuart Randall as two Indian chiefs who are raiding Montana from their Canadian reservation , Robert Horton as a nasty hostage , Thomas Gomez as a fatty scout and uncredited Richard Boone , Earl Holliman and Michael Rennie as narrator . Colorfully and attractively cinematographed in pale but brilliant Technicolor by the professional cameraman Harry Jackson , Universal's ordinary .
The movie belongs to Canadian Mountie sub-genre including important titles as 1947 Unconquered by Cecil B DeMille , 1954 Saskatchewan by Raoul Walsh and 1961 Canadians by Burt Kennedy motion picture was regularly directed by Joseph M Newman. He was a prolific assistant director , writer and producer . As a filmmaker he realized a lot of films with no much success , and directing all kinds of genres with penchant for Western , Noir and Gangster movies such as The George Raft story , A Thunder of drums , The lawbreakers, The story of Arnold Rothstein , Tarzan the ape man , The big circus , Fort massacre , Flight to Hong Kong , Kiss of fire , Red skies of Montana , 711 Ocean drive, Vendetta , Outcasts of poker flat , Abandoned , Northwest Rangers , Don't Talk , Women in hiding, among others .
glen_esq
Hollywood's depictions of the Mounted Police and Canada are notorious for playing free and loose with the facts, you won't find much worse than Pony Soldier.The Arizona desert is apparently a suitable substitute for locations in Saskatchewan and Montana. History is rewritten as the Saskatchewan Cree fight a battle with the US Cavalry. The Cree are depicted as child-like simpletons, a desert mirage of a lake and paddle wheeler has them bowing and praying in awe. This piece of blarney is the plot device for Tyrone Power saving the day. I guess when you transplant a northern Indian tribe into the Arizona desert, anything is possible.The dialogue is wooden and clichéd, including the old wheeze "He speaks with forked tongue". The movie would have you believe the Cree burned captives alive. Wrong, but maybe the Arizona Cree did so.Keep an eye out for Power's magical red tunic. Amusing to see him rolling around on the ground and covered in dust, then jumping up with his uniform ready for a parade ground inspection.
NewEnglandPat
Tyrone Power is the title character in this good western whose mission is to effect the return of the Cree tribe from the United States back to Canada in the name of the Queen. Of course, the Indians just want to hunt and return to their old way of life and to lift a few scalps along the way. Power is aided by a trail-savvy, talkative half-breed scout who provides droll comic relief along the way. The film has more dialogue than action, although white hostages held by the Indians lead to some tense moments for the Mountie. The officer's peace efforts are threatened by a band of hostile Indians, with most of the skirmishes coming at the end of the picture. The movie has a great cast of western character actors and the camera work is also very good.
Nazi_Fighter_David
The absence of a strong story line in the screenplay alleviates the overall effect of "Pony Soldier," but as filmed against a breathtaking Technicolor panorama, Joseph M Newman's film guarantees attention for its qualities of vivid action and the interesting authenticity with which life in last century times is depicted among the Cree Indians and the Mounted Police...These sequences abound in effective atmosphere and are increased substantially by Newman's splendid choice of players (Cameron Mitchell, Thomas Gomez and Penny Edwards) to surround head man Tyrone Power (in a colorful uniform) assigned to stop a tribe of hostile Crees from going on wage war against the U. S. Cavalry...The film - free from weeds - stands out as a little gem of Technicolor beauty... It contains: a spectacular attack on a wagon train; hostages held as a pledge; enraged Indians riding into the hills to burn at the stake a beautiful innocent girl; and a battle during which a handsome hero is saved by the arrow of an Indian lad...
