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A mysterious outlaw known as the Sidewinder, phantom leader of renegade Ute Indians, terrorizes the people of the Arizona Territory in the 1870s. When rancher Tex McCloud has his place burned out, he vows to find and kill the Sidewinder.
John Chard
May 7, 2017 · via TMDB
Sidewinder in their sights. Flaming Feather is directed by Ray Enright and written by Gerald Drayson Adams. It stars Sterling Hayden, Forrest Tucker, Arleen Whelan, Barbara Rush, Victor Jory, Edgar Buchanan and Richard Arlen. A Technicolor production, music is by Paul Sawtell and cinematography by Ray Rennahan. The mysterious outlaw known only as The Sidewinder is in cahoots with the Native Americans and terrorises Arizona's settlers. But when The Sidewinder chose Tex McCloud (Hayden) as one of his targets, he hadn't banked on Tex linking up with the U.S. Cavalry to hunt him down. Enjoyably energetic Oater that makes up for what it lacks in originality with gorgeous location photography and a barn storming finale. Ray Enright was a good old pro at this sort of thing, and here he doesn't waste any time with pointless filler scenes or drawn out conversations that don't advance the plot. From the get go we are thrust into an action sequence, and from there on in the film rarely pauses for breath. Hayden and Tucker make for a beefy coupling, and although the mystery element is not exactly rocket science to work out, the presence of three lovely lady characters does spice up the intrigue surrounding The Sidewinder and those in pursuit of him. It all builds to a wonderful finale that starts out with a Little Big Horn type siege, which then develops into a pursuit and battle up at the Montezuma Castle Monument in Arizona, where fire pit punch ups and ladder skills enthral greatly. It isn't hard to pick holes in it, it is after all one of those quintessentially early 1950s Westerns that was ignorant to intelligent scripting and screenplays. Yet for sheer gusto and consistently airy beauty this is a must see for Western and Hayden lovers. 7/10
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
Sterling Hayden
Tex McCloud
Forrest Tucker
Lt. Tom Blaine
Arleen Whelan
Carolina
Barbara Rush
Nora Logan
Victor Jory
Lucky Lee
Richard Arlen
Showdown Calhoun
Edgar Buchanan
Sgt. O'Rourke
Carol Thurston
Turquoise
Ian MacDonald
Tombstone Jack
George Cleveland
Doc Fallon
Victor Adamson
—
Paul E. Burns
—
Heinie Conklin
—
Nacho Galindo
—
Chuck Hamilton
—
Donald Kerr
—
Bob Kortman
—
Frank Lackteen
—
Ethan Laidlaw
—
Hank Mann
—
Kermit Maynard
—
Boyd 'Red' Morgan
—
Forrest Taylor
—
Ray Teal
—
Sailor Vincent
—
Max Wagner
—
Ray Enright
Director
Elmo Billings
Editor
Gerald Drayson Adams
Screenplay
Drifting Along
Prairie Pals
Trail to Gunsight
Three in the Saddle
Cyclone Prairie Rangers
The Old Texas Trail
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Once Upon a Time in the West
The Able-Minded Lady
Sunset Pass
Frontier Agent
West of Texas
Along the Navajo Trail
El Dorado
The Mysterious Rider
3:10 to Yuma
Hud
Wyoming Hurricane
Cowboy from Lonesome River
Montana Desperado
The Hawk of Powder River
Trail to Vengeance
The Legend of the Golden Gun
Adventures of the Texas Kid: Border Ambush
The Duke of Chimney Butte
How the West Was Won
The Proposition
The Man from Snowy River
Green Grass of Wyoming
Big Jake
The Man From Snowy River II
Young Guns
Forty Guns
Return of the Lash
The Good Bad-Man
Old Shatterhand
Sunset Pass
The Red Pony
My Friend Flicka
Domino Kid
The Cowboy Way
My Outlaw Brother
The Tall Texan
Homestead
The Feud of the Trail
Rough Riders' Round-up
Sagebrush Trail
From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter
Silver Spurs
Blueberry
South of Heaven, West of Hell
Two-Gun Caballero
Cow Country
Desert Mesa
Django the Condemned
Headin' South
Shawano
The Gun and the Canary
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Scooby-Doo! Shaggy's Showdown
The Searchers
Stagecoach
El Dorado
Hud
3:10 to Yuma
Hombre
Silverado
3 Bad Men
The Last Sunset
The War Wagon
Nevada Smith
The Baron of Arizona
The Comancheros
McLintock!
The Last Wagon
Tall in the Saddle
Go West
Broken Lance
Ramrod
Gunless
Man Without a Star
Cat Ballou
¡Three Amigos!
The Stalking Moon
Feb 1, 1952
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