Fort Dobbs top notch Western

If your still interested, the New York Times has reviewed this and a few others of Walkers just recently and given it a more than passing grade. Turns out it is thought of quite highly by those who know film.

A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep.

Hey Bear,

Like you, I also thought this was a good story, but I did think it should have been filmed in color to fully appreciate the Moab scenery. I don't know that Clint Walker should have been a bigger star than he was. He seemed to be typecast early on in his Cheyenne character and never was able to go far beyond it. I suppose his talent for for playing a wider range of characters may not have been as good as some other, bigger stars, but I cannot help but envy his huge well muscled body and handsome looks. He certainly did have the talent to make one great Western film star. There have been a lot of other Western film actors I also liked, but I would not say that any of them were better than Clint Walker.

Best wishes,
Dave Wile

Clint Walker was very good, and the plot was okay, but the battle at the fort was laughable. Not just that the defenders were firing the repeating rifles before loaded them, but so many of them seemed to have only pistols. I would think that most Westerners would have rifles, but pistols were nearly useless at a range of more than 10-20 feet. Yet they were firing at Indians hundreds of feet away!

I agree as to Clint, however he came to late to feature films to enjoy a major action-western career; given his stature and solemn demeanor, I mean. Ten, twenty years later I can see him as a top star of the Randolph Scott kind. Clint did well enough on television but big time screen stardom wasn't in the cards for him due to his type and style (IMHO).