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Only the Valiant 
Actors : Gregory Peck, Lon Chaney Jr., Art Baker, Ward Bond, Neville Brand
Studio : Lions Gate
by Lions Gate
Brand : LION'S GATE ENTERTAINMENT
Release Date : 2008-07-01
Publisher : Lions Gate
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 0031398236023
UPC : 031398236023
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 5 reviews)
List Price : $14.98
Our Price : $7.81
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Product Description |
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A Cavalry officer volunteers for a suicidal mission to fight the hostile Apaches in an effort to prove his loyalty to his men and the woman he loves.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: WESTERN/COWBOYS Rating: NR UPC: 031398236023 Manufacturer No: 23602 |
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Above average western |
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Very good western with strong cast. Gregory Peck does an excellent job as a captain in the cavalry wrongly blamed for the death of a popular officer at the hands of the Apaches. Film has much in the way of drama and suspense. |
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The Art of Leadership |
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A great story on the type of man who can lead, and the many types of men who cannot. A previous reviewer mentioned Robert Ryan as one of the actors in this film. Actually, he's not in it. |
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Only The Valiant |
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This is a superb classic starring Gregory Peck. Although made in black and white, this still rates as one of the best westerns I have seen. I am truely surprised it has taken so long to appear on DVD but then again, good things come to those who wait. Ward Bond, Lon Chaney Jr. and Robert Ryan are great co-stars. I read the book first which was also brilliant! |
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Outstanding Western |
Only the Valiant is an early example of what might be called the
"impossible mission" movie subgenre. Flicks of this type have plots in which a certain number of men, ususally hard cases, are picked for a do or die mission in which there is a high degree of failure. Other notable films of this sort are The Guns of Navarone, The Dirty Dozen and Where Eagles Dare.
Gregory Peck stars as Captain Richard Lance who is a commander of United States Cavalry stationed in the Wild West. Captain Lance needs to send an Apache Chief Tuscos (Michael Ansara), who harbors violent hatred of Americans, to a prison at another fort. Captain Lance sends Lieutenant William Holloway (Gig Young) to escort the chief.
However, Indians attack the escort freeing the chief and killing
Lieutenant Holloway. The chief then goes on to lead an Indian uprising against the Americans. Captain Lance is held responsible for the debacle by both his men and his girlfriend, Cathy Eversham (Barbara Payton). This is especially serious since Holloway was widely beloved.
With the uprising, the fort that Captain Lance's troops are stationed at is vulnerable to attack. If the fort falls before reinforcements can arrive, then the territory and its settlers will be wide open to Indian attack. Captain Lance decides that the best course of action is to take a personally selected task force to a nearby fort that occupies a mountain pass that is a superior strategic position that was abandoned some time earlier. If that fort can hold out long enough for reinforcements to arrive, then the territory will be spared from
Indian incursions.
For this mission, Captain Lance decides that the only soldiers whose lives should be risked are the hard cases. These are the dregs of the army whose devotion to the cause is rather suspect. They include cowards, criminals, deserters and just plain malcontents. Among others, they are Corporal Timothy Gilchrist (Ward Bond), Trooper Kebussyan (Lon Chaney, Jr.) and Sergeant Ben Murdock (Neville Brand). The selected troopers, in turn, suspect that this is precisely why they have been chosen and they resent Captain Lance all the more for it.
Needless to say, Captain Lance's work is cut out for him. He must meld men who have severe character flaws together into a cohesive unit. He must work in a confine of responsibility and honor that is every bit as narrow and have the potential for being dangerously conflicting as the pass that the bloodthirsty Apaches have to move through to attack the fort.
Only the Valiant is a flick that could easily have been just another Western but in the hands of veteran director Gordon Douglas, it is a masterpiece of suspense. Douglas was one director who really understood just how to build suspense. This movie is atmospheric and intense and tells a story worth telling. It is filmed in stark black and white that only adds to the suspense. Douglas aimed to make a character driven Western and in that he succeeded admirably. |
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Gran actuacion de Gregory Peck en excelente western |
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Only the valiant es un western que cumple con todas las reglas del genero. Sobresalen las actuaciones protagonicas de Peck y de Ward Bond en el papel de soldado borrachin. Es de destacar los valores morales del protagonista que se arriesga a una accion suicida para salvar su honor y el de la caballeria. Es memorable la escena en que el Cap.Lance (Peck) forma a la patrulla para explicarles por que eligio a cada uno para esa mision. |
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