War Paint

1953 "Outdoor adventure that thunders across the screen!"
5.7| 1h29m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 28 August 1953 Released
Producted By: United Artists
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Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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An Indian and his beautiful sister attempt to destroy a cavalry patrol trying to deliver a peace treaty to their chief.

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War Paint (1953) is now streaming with subscription on Starz

Director

Lesley Selander

Production Companies

United Artists

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War Paint Audience Reviews

SunnyHello Nice effects though.
Lightdeossk Captivating movie !
Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.
Siflutter It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.
Spikeopath War Paint is directed by Lesley Selander and adapted to screenplay by Richard Alan Simmons and Martin Berkeley. It stars Robert Stack, Charles McGraw, Joan Taylor, Peter Graves, Keith Larsen, Robert Wilke and Walter Reed. Music is by Arthur Lange and Emil Newman, and cinematography by Gordon Avil.A cavalry patrol trying to deliver a peace treaty to Gray Cloud are being destroyed from within by an Indian brother and sister.Paper of lies!Filmed out of the superb presence of Death Valley, War Paint is as solid as one of that location's rocks. The title hints at some cheapo "B" Oater, the kind that is all hooray and jingoistic as the cavalry mow down the Indians, but that is not the case. Though an air of familiarity exists, with the core of the story about an army unit literally dying out in the desert, with saboteurs operating within, there's a two sides of the coin pinch in the narrative, with dialogue nicely written with thought and sincerity. Opening with a scalping, drama and suspense is never far away, so as the group implode, with suspicions, thirst and gold fever taking a hold, the viewer is always intrigued as to who will survive and will the treaty ever reach its destination? Plus you may find yourself feeling very thirsty during the viewing...Very nicely performed and handled with underrated tidy hands by Selander, this is well worth a look by Western fans. 7/10
drmality-1 Here's a great example of a Western with all the fat and unnecessary baggage trimmed from it. The story is brutally simple and shows no mercy.Hard-bitten Lt. Billings (Robert Stack) and his motley crew of cavalrymen are charged with delivering a vitally important peace treaty to Chief Grey Cloud. If Grey Cloud doesn't get the treaty within a certain time limit, he and his braves will go on the attack, leading to a bloodbath.The mission is plagued with mishaps from the start. The Indian guide Tasslik is Grey Cloud's own son and he has his own agenda. Merciless heat and thirst stalk the soldiers, as well as a mysterious sniper and saboteur. The more misfortune strikes, the more tension grows between the men, until it explodes into violent conflict.Nothing is sugar-coated in this story and death can strike anyone at any time. Real Death Valley settings make heat and thirst almost palpable. The story starts with tension which only grows. But character is not ignored. Billings' strict discipline actually masks a man who is tired of war and hungry for peace...an optimist, at heart. The plight of the Indians is also given a sympathetic turn, even though their actions here lead to pain and death.The cast can't be described as "A-list" but everybody does their job just right. Stack is excellent and other reliable actors like Peter Graves, John Doucette, Charles McGraw and Douglas Kennedy provide great support.You want a tough, tense Western? "War Paint" is a perfect choice.
BigJohnPilgrim This could have been a well-made western. With Robert Stack, Peter Graves, and the line-up of supporting characters including a beautiful 'Indian' woman, the acting really wasn't half bad but someone skimped terribly on script-writing and the action scenes.The rattlesnake scene was horrible. The snake was clearly either dead or a rubber fake, you could see the string tied around its neck that was slowly jerking it along. That was the most fake rattlesnake I've ever seen in a western. I suppose they couldn't afford a real one.The scene where they drank at the water hole in the cave was even worse. Supposedly near-dead from thirst, all they did was shake their heads in the water and blow bubbles and make noises. Those that did draw water into their mouths spit it back out into the pool right in front of the others who were 'drinking'.The fight scenes and deaths were the worst. I won't even go into detail about how poorly scripted and acted they were. There was clearly a skinny male stunt person taking the Indian girl's place when she wrestled the soldier. And the way the combatants who were next in line to be killed would stand up in full view to shoot in order to be shot was laughable.I liked the overall plot and the cast, Robert Stack was good and the dialog not bad. But the director must have been so convinced that these elements would carry the film that he paid no attention to these details. I can't even rate it a 5 because of these blatant oversights.
morris vescovi A cavalry patrol has six days to deliver a peace treaty and avoid an Indian war. The chief's son Taslik ( a somewhat miscast but still good Keith Larsen) agrees to lead the patrol to his father's village. Unknow to dedicated, stalwart Lt. Billings ( Robert Stack) Taslik wants war with the hated white men. Taslik's sister Wanima (a very good Joan Taylor)who also has no love for the white man, secretly follows the patrol sabotages their water supply and runs off their horses. Taslik Then leads the patrol to one dry water hole after another. He though isn't suffering as his sister sneaks water to him at night. Wanima also deliberately leads the patrol to a gold mine the Spanish discovered years before but whom the Indians killed. This leads some members of the patrol to start thinking that gold might be more important than peace.While this film may be a little short of action, it has very good suspense, a much better than average plot, better than average character development, good acting, good color photography and some great Death Valley locations. It is definitely worth watching, and a very worthy addition to a video library.

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