Rod Taylor was at the height of his career when he made this action vehicle, which he also co-produced. It's got a good story - a sort of Beau Geste in the desert as we go through the events that led to an entire fort of US cavalry being wiped out. Taylor plays the title role, a lone cowboy who gets stuck at the fort.Throughout the film the conscious effort behind the scenes to make something memorable is almost palpable, but is never quite clicks. The unconvincing studio setting is a major debit, and although the central idea is terrific with an inherently tense situation, there is a bewildering lack of suspense.
Rod Taylor is not well cast as a laconic, grizzled gun fighter; he is at his best when being gregarious and friendly, not as a hard-bitten loner. However, in other areas he is fine: Rod was a highly skilled on-screen fighter by this stage, and he moves in the action sequences with lightning speed. He also romances Luciana Paluzzi with tenderness and has some enjoyable banter with Ernest Bognine and James Whitmore.
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