During the American Civil War, a band of raiders led by rancher Austin McCool(David BRIAN)and his brutal right hand man Pete Elm(LON CHANEY JR),lead relentless attacks on shipments of horses being driven to railheads by the Union army for the benefit of their men fighting in the east. The raiders then sell the captured horses to the Confederacy. Major Lex Kearny(GARY COOPER)is dishonourably discharged after surrendering his herd to the raiders without firing a single shot.However,this is merely a ruse to enable Kearny to infiltrate the raiders and smash the ring. Kearny's real mission is to adopt counterespionage tactics in order to smoke out the insider providing McCool with information on the routes of the horse drives.
Fresh out of Will Kane's boots in the immortal HIGH NOON(released just 3 months prior to this film),Gary Cooper acquits himself superbly in the lead as the Major who sacrifices his reputation and integrity for the Union, despite being a southerner. David Brian is terrific as the snarling leader of the raiders.Gruff,tough,robust Lon Chaney Jr was even better as his cruel associate. Western veterans Phillip Carey and Guinn "Big Boy" Williams also turned in impressive performances.
As with other B westerns of the 1950s,the action sequences were shot with restraint, but extremely rip roaring and enjoyable nonetheless. The extended fistfight between Kearny and Elm was awesome and chilled me with intensity. The ear shattering, all-guns-blazing skirmish between the Soldiers and the raiders was fantastic with excellent stuntwork.The shots of men firing their pistols and rifles on horseback were amazing. This sequence was made even more effective by the Wilhelm Scream being crammed into the heat of the action, we hear it as one of the raiders is stabbed by a Soldier. The final battle between Kearny's men and the raiders was just as thrilling with spectacular shots of the prairie being set ablaze and frenzied horses charging up a hill as the raiders are blasted with shots from the brand new Springfield rifles. This sequence is followed by a brief but exhilarating horseback chase which results in Kearny catching the inside man.I would give the action scenes 4 stars. The camera-work was incredible with awe striking shots of rugged snow capped mountains, arid deserts, craggy rocks and herds of horses trudging through the sand and snow. The sequence in which Kearny is commandeering an army wagon containing the new Springfield Carbines and rocks cripple one of it's wheels causing the team of horses to break away from the wagon which causes it to crash down a hill was brilliantly shot. The script is excellent and is something different from the usual western formula. The Civil war setting gave the writers the chance to do much more with the story. I wouldn't go as far to say the film is a "James Bond out west" but the script is rich in intrigue and contains strong elements of espionage thriller. The storyline keeps you guessing and the identity of the inside man is quite a shock.
I'd just like to note that the title is rather misleading. It makes one expect a film similar to that of WINCHESTER 73(1950),thus giving the viewer the impression that the film is the story of the deployment and use of the single shot Springfield Carbine during the early days of the American west, this is not strictly true. The rifle is not used until the climatic battle and is only mentioned briefly throughout the course of the film. It serves merely as a plot device. My theory is that the writers set out to make a film about the Springfield rifle but became more concerned with an espionage spy story and forgot about the rifle premise, therefore having no choice but to jam it in at the end of the film. This doesn't bother me though, SPRINGFIELD RIFLE is a taut, edge-of-your-seat Civil war thriller with rollicking action scenes, stupendous camera-work and finger biting intensity. Expertly helmed by Andre de Toth who made many a great western, this is a fun way to spend a couple of hours. It deserves to be seen on a flatscreen TV with loudspeakers and the volume cranked all the way up to the maximum.9/10.
Fresh out of Will Kane's boots in the immortal HIGH NOON(released just 3 months prior to this film),Gary Cooper acquits himself superbly in the lead as the Major who sacrifices his reputation and integrity for the Union, despite being a southerner. David Brian is terrific as the snarling leader of the raiders.Gruff,tough,robust Lon Chaney Jr was even better as his cruel associate. Western veterans Phillip Carey and Guinn "Big Boy" Williams also turned in impressive performances.
As with other B westerns of the 1950s,the action sequences were shot with restraint, but extremely rip roaring and enjoyable nonetheless. The extended fistfight between Kearny and Elm was awesome and chilled me with intensity. The ear shattering, all-guns-blazing skirmish between the Soldiers and the raiders was fantastic with excellent stuntwork.The shots of men firing their pistols and rifles on horseback were amazing. This sequence was made even more effective by the Wilhelm Scream being crammed into the heat of the action, we hear it as one of the raiders is stabbed by a Soldier. The final battle between Kearny's men and the raiders was just as thrilling with spectacular shots of the prairie being set ablaze and frenzied horses charging up a hill as the raiders are blasted with shots from the brand new Springfield rifles. This sequence is followed by a brief but exhilarating horseback chase which results in Kearny catching the inside man.I would give the action scenes 4 stars. The camera-work was incredible with awe striking shots of rugged snow capped mountains, arid deserts, craggy rocks and herds of horses trudging through the sand and snow. The sequence in which Kearny is commandeering an army wagon containing the new Springfield Carbines and rocks cripple one of it's wheels causing the team of horses to break away from the wagon which causes it to crash down a hill was brilliantly shot. The script is excellent and is something different from the usual western formula. The Civil war setting gave the writers the chance to do much more with the story. I wouldn't go as far to say the film is a "James Bond out west" but the script is rich in intrigue and contains strong elements of espionage thriller. The storyline keeps you guessing and the identity of the inside man is quite a shock.
I'd just like to note that the title is rather misleading. It makes one expect a film similar to that of WINCHESTER 73(1950),thus giving the viewer the impression that the film is the story of the deployment and use of the single shot Springfield Carbine during the early days of the American west, this is not strictly true. The rifle is not used until the climatic battle and is only mentioned briefly throughout the course of the film. It serves merely as a plot device. My theory is that the writers set out to make a film about the Springfield rifle but became more concerned with an espionage spy story and forgot about the rifle premise, therefore having no choice but to jam it in at the end of the film. This doesn't bother me though, SPRINGFIELD RIFLE is a taut, edge-of-your-seat Civil war thriller with rollicking action scenes, stupendous camera-work and finger biting intensity. Expertly helmed by Andre de Toth who made many a great western, this is a fun way to spend a couple of hours. It deserves to be seen on a flatscreen TV with loudspeakers and the volume cranked all the way up to the maximum.9/10.