Two Flags West – 1950 – Joseph Cotten

The Story …

In the autumn of 1864 remnants of the Confederate 5th Georgia Cavalry are prisoners of war in the Union prison camp at Rock Island, Illinois.

Sick and dying in deplorable conditions, they find a chance for survival when Union Captain Mark Bradford offers them release from “this stinking pesthole” if they will join the Union Army to garrison a fort on the Western frontier, undermanned because its able-bodied regulars have been sent east, leaving only “greenhorns or casualties” like Bradford to fight Indians.

Although promised that they will not be compelled to fight against their own, many of the Georgians resist the offer. The decision is put to a vote, but there is a deadlock when the last soldier dies before he can choose.

Compassion for his men, and Bradford’s sincerity, compel their reluctant commander, Col. Clay Tucker (Joseph Cotten), to break the tie by agreeing to the conditions offered.

The troop arrives at Fort Thorn, New Mexico, a small outpost of the 3rd Cavalry. Their welcome from the commander, Major Henry Kenniston (Jeff Chandler), is stern and provocative. The bitter Kenniston has a limp from a wound that relegated him to Fort Thorn early in the war.

Tucker, now a lieutenant in the Union Army, dines with Kenniston, his widowed sister-in-law Elena (Linda Darnell) and civilian guests, and is irritated by their patronising comments.

The tension increases when Tucker reveals that he led the cavalry charge that killed Elena’s husband.

She has been stranded for months at the fort on her way home, and is uneasy about her brother-in-law’s protectiveness, suspecting that he believes himself to be his late brother’s surrogate …

Credits :

Directed by : Robert Wise
Screenplay by : Casey Robinson
Story by : Frank S. Nugent and Curtis Kenyon
Produced by : Casey Robinson
Cinematography : Leon Shamroy
Edited by : Louis Loeffler
Music by : Hugo Friedhofer
Color Process : Black and White
Production Company : 20th Century Fox
Distributed by : 20th Century Fox
Release Date : October 12, 1950

Genre : #Westerns – #War – #Drama

Cast :

Joseph Cotten as Lt. Clay Tucker USA, formerly Col. Clay Tucker CSA
Linda Darnell as Elena Kenniston
Jeff Chandler as Maj. Henry Kenniston
Cornel Wilde as Capt. Mark Bradford
Dale Robertson as Lem
Jay C. Flippen as Sgt, Major Duffy
Noah Beery Jr. as Corp. Cy Davis (as Noah Beery)
Harry von Zell as Ephraim Strong
Johnny Sands as Lt. Adams (as John Sands)
Arthur Hunnicutt as 1st Sgt. Pickens

Film Information Source :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Flags_West

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