Fort Yuma ** (1955, Peter Graves, Joan Vohs, John Hudson, Joan Taylor) – Classic Movie Review 12,555

Director Lesley Selander’s lusty 1955 Technicolor Western film Fort Yuma stars Peter Graves, Joan Vohs, John Hudson and Joan Taylor. It found itself in a censorship row, and many violent scenes had to be cut.

At Fort Yuma, a settler has killed an Apache Indian chief, leading his son Mangas (Abel Fernandez) to plot vengeance that involves a bloodbath massacre on the fort.

Fort Yuma is a lively, well-plotted variation on the cavalry-versus-the-Indians theme, in which prejudiced, Native American-hater lieutenant Ben Keegan (Peter Graves) battles with pro-Indian scout Sergeant Jonas (John Hudson), while missionary Melanie Crown (Joan Vohs) tries to bring them together.

Acting-wise, it is third-team stuff, but the actors are playing above their game. Also there are some pretty locations, nicely lensed in Technicolor by cinematographer Gordon Avil, with Utah standing in for Arizona. Scenes were shot in Kanab movie fort, Kanab Creek, and Kanab Canyon, Kane County, Utah.

The screenplay by Danny Arnold is based on a story by Danny Arnold.

Also in the cast are John Hudson, Joan Taylor, Addison Richards, Abel Fernandez, James Lilburn, Bill Phillips, Stanley Clements, John Pickard, Edmund Penney, and Lee Roberts.

The film got into considerable censorship troubles and many violent scenes had to be cut. The Production Code Administration told producer Howard W Koch that it contained ‘sadism and excessive gruesomeness’ and denied it a seal of approval, forcing Koch to cut the number of killings by half. Scenes cut had a man spread-eagled and torn apart by horses, an arrow impaling a hand to wood, and bodies of hanged Indians swaying from tree limbs.

The cast are Peter Graves as Lieutenant Ben Keegan, Joan Vohs as Melanie Crown, John Hudson as Sergeant Jonas, Joan Taylor as Francesca, Addison Richards as Brig Gen George Crook, Abel Fernandez as Mangas, Lee Roberts as Captain Philip Santley, William ‘Bill’ Phillips as Sgt Major Milo Hallock, James O’Hara as Cpl Taylor, Stanley Clements as Cpl Cassidy, and Edmund Penny as Pvt Cassidy.

© Derek Winnert 2023 – Classic Movie Review 12,555

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