Incident at Phantom Hill **½ (1966, Robert Fuller, Dan Duryea, Jocelyn Lane, Claude Akins, Noah Beery Jr) – Classic Movie Review 13,269

A MILLION DOLARS IN GOLD WAITS FOR TWO DESPERATE MEN (Robert Fuller, Dan Duryea) and a BLONDE WILDCAT! (Jocelyn Lane) in the 1966 colour and widescreen Western film Incident at Phantom Hill.

‘A MILLION DOLARS IN GOLD WAITS FOR TWO DESPERATE MEN and a BLONDE WILDCAT!’

Director Earl Bellamy’s 1966 Universal Pictures colour and widescreen Western film Incident at Phantom Hill stars Robert Fuller, Dan Duryea, Jocelyn Lane, Claude Akins, and Noah Beery Jr. It is written by Frank S Nugent and Ken Pettus, based on a story by the film’s producer Harry Tatelman,

Way out West, sometime just after the US Civil War, a huge million-bucks haul of gold is hijacked – and taciturn hero Matt Martin (Robert Fuller) will stop at nothing to get it back. Ex-Confederate officer Joe Barlow (Dan Duryea) has stashed the shipment of gold in the desert plains after stealing it from the Union. Of course, Matt Martin may be on a mission to retrieve the gold but outlaws and Indians have different ideas.

Incident at Phantom Hill is a commendably robust, if cheaply made filler oater, with Robert Fuller from TV’s Laramie and Wagon Train a decent hero and Dan Duryea an excellent baddie as ex-Confederate officer Joe Barlow, leading a useful cast of Western stalwarts. Jocelyn Lane co-stars as the lovely Memphis, ideal as a ‘BLONDE WILDCAT!’ The other attraction is that it is shot in Technicolor and Techniscope widescreen by William Margulies.

Also in the cast are: Tom Simcox, Linden Chiles, Paul Fix, Denver Pyle, William Phipps, Don Collier, and Mickey Finn.

It is shot at Joshua Tree and Lake Piru, in California, and at Universal Studios, California.

Release date: July 1, 1966 (US) and August 6, 1966 (UK).

Incident at Phantom Hill is directed by Earl Bellamy, runs 88 minutes, is made and released by Universal Pictures, is written by Frank S Nugent and Ken Pettus, based on a story by Harry Tatelman, is shot in Technicolor and  Techniscope widescreen by William Margulies, is produced by Harry Tatelman, is scored by Joseph Gershenson and Hans J Salter, and is designed by Alexander Golitzen and Howard E Johnston.

The cast are Robert Fuller as Matt Martin, Jocelyn Lane as Memphis, Dan Duryea as Joe Barlow, Tom Simcox as Adam Long, Linden Chiles as Dr Hanneford, Claude Akins as Krausman, Noah Beery Jr as O’Rourke, Paul Fix as General Hood, Denver Pyle as 1st Hunter, William Phipps as Trader, Don Collier as Drum, and Mickey Finn as 2nd Hunter

Robert Fuller (born Leonard Leroy Lee; July 29, 1933)

Jocelyn Lane (born 16 May 1937)

Austrian-born actress and model Jocelyn Lane (born 16 May 1937) retired from acting after marrying Prince Alfonso of Hohenlohe-Langenburg in 1973. She was born Jocelyn Olga Bolton in Vienna, the youngest daughter of Russian-born pianist mother Olga Mironova and English father John Bolton.

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 13,269

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com