The Command (1954)
Directed by David Butler
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Synopsis by Hal Erickson
The Command was Warner Bros.' first Technicolor release. Guy Madison, then extremely popular with western fans by virtue of the TVer Wild Bill Hickok, heads the cast as Army medical captain McClaw. When a cavalry commander is killed, McClaw, the next-highest-ranking officer, is forced to assume command, even though his combat experience is practically nil. Overcoming the resentment of the men under his command, McClaw is able to stem an Indian attack and rescue a wagon train--not through any sort of brilliant strategy, but by improvising as he goes along. Harvey Lembeck's comic-relief role as a grousing trooper was later parodied by Billy Crystal in Mr. Saturday Night (alas, this sequence was left on the cutting room floor when Crystal's film hit the screens). Also in the cast are aish Magnificent Obsession.
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Keywords
army, attack, cavalry, conflict, epidemic, escort, medical, medical-officer, Native-American, officer, rampage, smallpox, stagecoach, territory, training, troops, wagon-train
