Blood on the Arrow (1964) User Reviews

An Outlaw Too Good To Be True

[bkoganbing · 4/10 · 22 March 2008]

Blood on the Arrow is a rather confused western that stars Dale Robertson, Martha Hyer and Wendell Corey. It's got everything in it, cavalry, outlaws, Indians and a damsel in distress. Lest no one be confused the damsel is Martha Hyer.

Martha finds a wounded Dale Robertson, an outlaw separated from his men, and brings him back to the trading post where she endures a loveless marriage with Wendell Corey. But before the film is over they will have to put up with Apaches jumping the reservation and Robertson's men, none of whom are as scrupulous as he.

For an outlaw Dale's a little too good to be true. When the Indians kidnap young Dandy Curran, Hyer's son, Robertson gets his men involved in a scheme to rescue the lad that involves stealing army rifles and arming the Apaches. A big old no-no in any Hollywood western.

Personally while I think Martha's beautiful, one of the most beautiful women ever in films, I just can't swallow Dale risking all for her. If I was him, I'd have kept on riding.

The cast performs well, certainly Robertson is no stranger to the Hollywood west. But the film's just a tad bit too unreal for my taste.

Western B-movie

[SnoopyStyle · 4/10 · 13 September 2013]

Outlaw Wade Cooper (Dale Robertson) is a prisoner of the US Cavalry. When the Apache attacks, he is the sole survivor. Nancy Mailer (Martha Hyer) rescues Wade and brings him back to the her miserly husband Clint's (Wendell Corey) trading post. When the Apaches raid the post, Clint propose to trade their lives for all the guns that the Apaches would need. The Apaches take their son for leverage.

There are outlaws, Indians, gunfights, Cavalry, and melodrama. This is quintessential Western B-movie. The characters are all iconic. There isn't much subtlety. Not all of it makes sense. It's questionable why the outlaws didn't just fight for the gold, but instead help to rescue the boy. I get Wade's motivation for the Mrs Mailer. The other outlaws make little sense.

Watchable despite flaws...........

[Panamint · 5/10 · 24 March 2008]

Despite flaws this is a watchable western due mainly to the perfect casting of lead actors and due to fast action scenes.

Dale Robertson was a strong leading man and a pretty much authentic western guy in the old Western movie mold (Gary Cooper, Autry, Roy Rogers) of stars really from the West, in Robertson's case Oklahoma. He was also a good enough actor in the right role. Martha Hyer is truly beautiful in this movie and her acting is good here, too. Wendell Cory a classy and serious actor is perfectly cast as the vacuous husband. However, there is some ineffective/ borderline-laughable supporting acting by Caucasians portraying Native Americans.

Good scenery, a good tale of the old west. Somewhat over-plotted but thats OK since its for the purpose of inserting lots of action.

Some problems in the script, such as: at one point after the mine and guns are blown up, the bad guys wait for Robertson at house and say "He must come back here". True statement, but why did they wait? They could have just taken the $20,000 from the trap door and ran. There was no mine left, nor anything else for opportunist bad-guys to wait around for.

Other issues: (1) obvious trap door with no rug or anything else to hide it. So why have a trap door? (2) During a chase they pass a large neat dirt pile beside road, obviously symmetrical and made by a modern road-grader. (3) Also during a chase you can see several phone or power lines- at least three lines at once. Look quick or you will miss it.

Western fans should enjoy this movie, if they can overlook the flaws and just concentrate on entertainment value.

Grade B wannabe "Shane" in the Arizona desert

[Wuchakk · 4/10 · 10 August 2018]

"Blood on the Arrow" (1964) is a "B" Western, which mixes together several staples of the genre: Calvary, outlaws, saguaro cacti, Indians, gunfights, a trading post, a hottie, a mine and gold. It rips-off blatant elements of "Shane" and transplants them to the Arizona desert, but gets away with it because there are enough differences. It's just severely mediocre by comparison, although Dale Robertson is stalwart as the hopefully redeemable outlaw protagonist and Martha Hyer is a blonde beauty worth risking everything.

Regrettably, there are some "Why sure!" plot problems and what's up with the trap door that's anything but hidden? Also, you'll clearly see power/telephone lines on 3-4 occasions. I'm assuming that the producers felt they'd pass for telegraph lines, which WERE present in 1871 when the story takes place. I'll accept that argument, I guess.

GRADE: C/C-

not up to snuff

[sandcrab277 · 5/10 · 7 April 2020]

I never cared for dale robertson in any western role ... he always seemed like the out of place easterner ... he was especially terrible in the series "tales of wells fargo" ... in this film he played an outlaw on the run because he held up an army payroll ... the only series he did any good at was "ironhorse" marth hyer was especially hot in this film, her only naked scene i know of and even one indian brave thought she looked good enough for him

Another saga of the wrong man.

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 20 September 2023]

While certain touches have been added to the plot to loosen up blockage of the code in presenting daring plot twists, this not much different than most A westerns of the late 40's even though by mid 60's standards, this would be considered a B. It stars Dale Robertson as a prisoner of the U. S. cavalry who has been saved from imprisonment by the Apache attack that left him the only survivor. He meets the unhappily married Wendell Corey and Martha Hyer, dealing with the issue of the Apaches holding their son in exchange for arms. Corey frames Robertson for the deal, but twists along the way exposes more than just the truths the audience has already become aware of.

It's been stated over and over in film history that Corey was the most unromantic leading man the movies had ever known (just observe him in films with Crawford and Stanwyck), so his unhappy relationship here isn't really too hard to believe. Obviously he's much older than Hyer so his last minute confession isn't much of a surprise. By mid 60's standards, this is just sort of ordinary, but the subject matter of illegitimacy is rather daring. Hyer pretty much walks away from the film, rather sultry and independent. Once again, the natives are presented only as savages without mercy, although the cavalry seems like that simply by what they do as opposed to how they act.

Good movie with a lot of action.

[Billsbarandgrill · 7/10 · 18 October 2017]

Dale R. is at his best in the softer, kinder scenes with Martha Hyer and the boy. The movie is more enjoyable then. He was a likable man and his films are at their best when he is being wise or kind. You get a sense that he could really love Nancy and Tim as his own family. He is a bit too heroic for a murderer/thief, but Dale usually played a villain who is reformed by the end of the movie. Check out City of Bad Men, which is a better film.

Ordinary and routine Western in which an outlaw survives an Indian attack and helps a trading-post family.

[ma-cortes · 5/10 · 26 March 2024]

Nice-looking but run-of-the-mill Western, including a few novelties, but also with regular elements, such as frantic action, thrills , shootouts , cavalry charges, drama , romance and some breathtaking action scenes. Dealing with prisoner of a U. S. Cavalry patrol, outlaw Wade Cooper (Dale Robertson) is detained and moved to a fort by US Cavalry. After surviving an Indian attack, he is the only survivor and is seriously injured. Nancy Mailer (Martha Hyer) rescues Wade and brings him to her husband Clint's (Wendell Corey) trading post, where she nurses the outlaw back to health over the objections of her husband, a cowardly miser, but then they're ambushed by the violent Indians. The Apaches raid the 'Mailers Trading Post', abducting the Mailers' son (Dandy Curran) and demanding rifles in exchange for his release. The fugitive outlaw helps the family recover their kidnapped son from the Apaches. Clint Mailer obtains the aid of a desperado band (Elisha Cook Jr, John Matthews, Tom Reese) led by Jud (Ted de Corsia) to steal the rifles from an Army post, but they are pursued by soldiers. Along the way, Cooper and Nancy have fallen in love. Meantime, Wade attempts to rescue the boy by leading the Indians into a booby trap in Clint's gold mine. Their Justice Was The Arrow!

Typical and routine Western with the usual incidents, emotions, Indian attacks, assaults and cavalry charges. It is a regular Western whose plot we have seen hundreds of times, dealing with a family that is besieged by the Indians and at the same time by a group of evil bandits and of course an ambiguous hero who saves them in order to stay with the lady in distress.

This movie has a passable combination of decent performances, stirring drama and attractive outdoors. The agreeable script drives mercilessly forward with emotion, a love triangle among husband, wife and outlaw, cavalry charges, overwhelming attacks and turns. Director Sidney Salkow aims for noisy action and thrills with a contemporary treatment about an outlaw who gets redemption by becoming a savior of a kidnapped son. Along with a love triangle in which implicates the three main roles: Dale Robertson, Martha Hyer, Wendell Corey. The plot is plain and simple, a blending of tarnished main actors with support character players of whom Dale Robertson holds the best role as a reckless outlaw. A warm and sometimes slow-moving storyline, makes an acceptable movie, a real time-passer in B-style . The hothouse story drives mercilessly forward with rapid action, breathtaking shooting, thrills, overwhelming attacks, and plot twists. The yarn is wonderfully located against a spectacular background from Magma Arizona Railroad, Superior, Sonoran Desert, Superstition Mountains, Arizona, Apache Leap Mountain, Superior, Picketpost Mountain, Superior, Arizona, Ray, Cochran, Arizona and Apache Trail, Arizona. However, the photography of the spectacular exteriors cannot be well appreciated due to the poor, dilapidated and faded copy of the film that is circulating. Only when a perfect remastering is done will the marvellous landscapes to be really enjoyed.

It isn't hard to pick holes in it, it is after all one of those quintessentially early 1960s Westerns in which was ignorant to intelligent scripting and screenplays. Stars Dale Robertson and Marta Hyer who give decent interpretations, but their golden days had already passed a few years before. Here the secondary cast stands out, which for a B series film is quite good with full of familiar faces, such as: Wendell Corey, Paul Mantee, Ted de Corsia, Tom Reese and the eternal supporting actor Elisha Cook Jr. Also the exciting and moving musical score by Richard LaSalle is quite good. The motion picture was unevenly and professionally directed by Sidney Salkow. He was a craftsman who had already filmed other Westerns . He realized all kind of genres such as routine westerns (Sitting Bull , The great Sioux massacre , Pathfinder) , Adventures (Prince of Pirates, Sword of the avenger), war films , Sci-Fi (The last man on Earth) , Terror (Twice-told tales) and melodramas (City without men). Salkow first worked for Republic, after joining Universal. At Columbia , he handled , among other assignments, four installments of the popular Lone Wolf series . After 1953, Salkow was primarily active as director of episodic television . Rating : 5.5/10 middling, a frankly average Western.

Not bad, if implausible

[Marlburian · 6/10 · 17 June 2021]

The film started off badly for Wade Cooper: a handcuffed prisoner of the US Cavalry, ambushed by Native Americans, wounded in the shoulder by an arrow, staggering through the wilderness . Then he sees Martha Hyer bathing nude in the river ... She takes him back to her husband's trading post and nurses him so well that within a day or two he's able to defeat in hand-to-hand combat a brave who assaults her.

Suspiciously well-graded roads also serve to diminish the film's worth.

Often I feel that monetary values in these old Westerns reflect the era when the film was made, rather than the one that it features. At one point a bad guys reflects that his share of the loot - $4,000 - isn't that much, but in 18971 it would have been very useful indeed - worth some $88,000 in 2021 values.

A predictable ending.

Pretty Good Western

[januszlvii · 7/10 · 19 April 2021]

Blood On The Arrow is a pretty good, but not great western. It reminds you of other and better westerns. Take bad guy Ted.de Corsia ( Jud) he plays a character named Jud Spangler in The Quick Gun ( also made in 1964). Speaking of The Quick Gun, Audie Murphy played a quick draw character named Clint Cooper and here. Dale Robertson played: Quick draw escaped prisoner Wade Cooper. Even the ending music was the same. You also see elements of Shane and Hondo in this movie ( the relationship between the gunslinger and the boy). Of course, Martha. Hyer ( Nancy Mailer) is better looking then Jean Arthur ( Shane) and Geraldine Page ( Hondo), and spoilers ahead: The not so nice husband. Clint Mailer ( yep with Clint another reference to The Quick Gun), conveniently gets killed by Jud so Wade can end up with Nancy ( like. Scotty Grant ( James Best) gets killed by: Jud so Clint can end up with Helen. Reed ( Merry Anders)). Of course, Scotty was nicer then Mailer. I enjoyed the action and looking at Martha Hyer. I give it a 7/10 stars. Pretty good but not The Quick Gun ( let alone Shane or Hondo).

Not a bad western, actually

[coltras35 · 6/10 · 26 March 2023]

In 1871 Arizona, after Geronimo's escape to Mexico and Apache return to the reservation, a tribe of Coyotero Apaches are defying orders to lay down their arms. They attack army patrols and settlements. Captured outlaw Wade Cooper is transported by an army patrol to the nearest fort when they are attacked by Apaches. All are killed, except Wade who is wounded. Making his way to a creek he's saved by Nancy Mailer who washed in the waters. She takes him to the nearby trading post which is run by her family. Clint Mailer is her husband and Tim is her son. The husband has a secret gold mine nearby and has extracted 20,000 dollars in gold nuggets already. The family hides Wade but an army patrol, en route towards the troublesome Apache, tells the Mailers to leave the unsafe area immediately. While they all pack to leave, Apaches attack the trading post and take all rifles they can find. When they want to kill the whites, Clint Mailer promises them many more rifles in exchange for their safety. The Apaches agree but they take the young Tim as hostage. The Apaches promise to return Tim in exchange for the promised rifles in ten days. After their departure, Wade Cooper offers to help the Mailers retrieve their son by stealing army rifles for the Apaches. In return, he wants the gold nuggets Clint has been stashing inside a wagon and under the floorboards inside the trading post. The Mailers reluctantly agree but Wade first needs to contact some of his old buddies to help him steal the army rifles. Wade's buddies eventually arrive at the trading post but the ensuing events prove that no one can be trusted. ...

Quite an enjoyable western with an interesting story, a plot that pulls you in and interesting characters, especially centering around Wendell Corey and his wife. Corey seems more interested in his gold than his wife and son, and predictably Hyer and Dale Robertson are going to fall in love with each other. It's a familiar story, well told, has some fine action sequences, great landscape, but what plays against it is its plodding pace.

Good forgotten gem

[searchanddestroy-1 · 24 December 2023]

I don't understand why such a good western is so rare, hard to find. There is not many surprises, but a quite exciting pace and action scenes. The Indians are here not the only villains and Dale Robertson the good hero; I know, that may sound cheesy, predictable, and it partly is too...This is not ULZANA'S RAID, but really worth purchasing. Sidney Salkow was really a good adventure, western director, but not noir though, except CHICAGO CONFIDENTIAL...Such a shame. Here, the performances are quite convincing, even Dale Robertson, who seems better than usual. Wendell Corey too, in a supporting role and not a good guy one. Good directing.