Incident At Phantom Hill [DVD]

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Cast wise Fuller turns in a lead performance of some macho substance, further begging the question on why he didn't have a more rewarding career? Duryea (was he ever bad in a film?) is restrained yet very effective as a grinning viper in the nest, while Akins, Beery and Pyle leave favourable impressions. Simcox, however, is underwritten and Chiles is just poor and suffers in comparison to those around him. Lane was always going to be up against it as the sole female character, it is a token lady role and she isn't much of an actress. But she positively sizzles with sexuality and delivers what the makers were calling for in the story. A sight for sore eyes to be sure, particularly when wearing an hour glass green dress. At the end of the American Civil War, a group of Southern rebels steal a Union shipment of gold and bury it in a cave near an area known as Fort Phantom Hill, Texas. After they are captured by Union forces, their leader secretly makes a deal with the army to reveal the gold's location in return for his release; a release based on a pardon promised him by the Confederate States of America at the beginning of the Civil War.

Tiffany Haddish Plans To "Get Help" After Her Most Recent DUI Arrest, Her Second In Less Than 2 Years: "This Will Never Happen Again" The story involves a Union gold shipment, which is stolen and buried in the desert. Both Union and rebel forces struggle to find it while threatened by the Comanche. A romance complicates the action. A Western that’s different enough and competent enough to be entertaining. Of course, any oater would benefit from the presence of Dan Duryea. And Robert Fuller, who appeared in many Western TV series, turns in a solid effort in a rare leading role in a Western. Taika Waititi Admits He Directed ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ Because He Was “Poor” And Thought “This Would Be A Great Opportunity To Feed These Children” Jenna Bush Hager Reveals To Hoda Kotb That Her Daughter Asked Her Husband Why He Was "Lying" When He Said She "Never Looked Better"Disgraced 'Southern Charm' Alum Thomas Ravenel Fuming Over Craig Conover And Shep Rose's Kathryn Dennis Compliments at BravoCon 2023: "Total Losers" Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Do Not Disturb’ on Netflix, a Nutty Turkish Sort-of-Comedy About a Man Who's Losing His Marbles Stream It or Skip It: ‘Faraway Downs’ on Hulu, A Laudable Expansion of Baz Luhrmann’s ‘Australia’ That Tries To Repair The Sins Of The Past

Although Nugent did not write Stagecoach (1939), Incident at Phantom Hill lifts several plot motifs from the earlier Ford western. As in Stagecoach the characters are western archetypes - including a prostitute with a heart of gold run out of town – placed on a journey through rough terrain that both tests their moral fortitude and exposes their true selves, for better and worse. Indeed a case can be made that Jocelyn Lane's sultry saloon gal Memphis (a cut-and-paste for Claire Trevor's Dallas) is the key character given the finale hinges on her making the right choice. Lane, a sensual presence, smoulders quite magnificently in clingy dresses barely period appropriate but also exudes palpable strength as a woman used to enduring injustice. Elsewhere Robert Fuller essays a blandly conventional square-jawed hero. When he isn't grimacing he’s growling at Lane despite an obvious attraction. On the plus side the filmmakers had the good sense to surround Fuller with a rich panoply of talented cowboy character actors including slippery Dan Duryea (good as always despite inhabiting the same oily goon he’s played a dozen times before), injun-hating Claude Akins and ‘oirish’ Noah Beery Jr. While the film struggles to involve the viewer in a subplot concerning Martin’s burning need to solve the mystery of his fallen brother the other story strands show promise yet are frustratingly undeveloped. Unlike Ford, Budd Boetticher, Anthony Mann or Howard Hawks, Earl Bellamy simply serves up action like a capable ringmaster and otherwise squanders the story's dramatic potential. Having said that there are worse things to be than simply entertaining and Jocelyn Lane is always worth watching. Incident at Phantom Hill was scripted by longtime John Ford collaborator Frank S. Nugent (The Seachers). Veteran director Earl Bellamy, best known for his adeptness with the western TV genre, directed over 1600 episodes of television including The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin ; The Lone Ranger; Tales of Wells Fargo; Lassie and Bachelor Father. Director of Photography William Margulies (Have Gun, Will Travel; The Lawless Years ) also shot 22 episodes of Robert Fuller’s series Emergency in 1972- 73.

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Real Housewives Of Potomac' Star Ashley Darby Isn't Mad That Sonja Morgan Stole Her Owen Wilson Thunder At BravoCon: She Knew "His Fetishes"Robert Fuller is Matt Martin, a Union officer offered a post-Civil War assignment he can’t turn down.

But this gold has been hidden deep in Indian territory so Martin and the four men who volunteer to accompany him will have to shed their uniforms and pretend to be civilians. At the end of the Civil War, Captain Matt Martin accepts a perilous covert mission to retrieve a million dollars in gold stolen from a Union regiment during a deadly ambush at Phantom Hill – the massacre where his officer- brother died. The catch - to find the gold, Martin must accept the dubious help of the murderous convict who led the Confederate rebels. Played with venomous abandon by the ever- charming Dan Duryea, Barlow starts off deceptively innocent. After trying unsuccessfully to jump off a train and elude Martin, he settles in for the long, conniving haul.Former Reb Joe Barlow (Dan Duryea) is supposed to lead him to the missing loot. After all, he’s hoping the North will honor the pardon on a murder charge he received in return for joining the Confederate army. Taika Waititi Says Donald Trump Submitted A "List Of Demands" While Filming A 2012 Super Bowl Commercial, Including A Particular Camera Angle To “Make Him Look A Little Thinner” Kelley Curran Blames Turner's Penchant for "Self-Sabotage" for Her Soup Scheme Fiasco in 'The Gilded Age' Season 2 Episode 5 Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Velveteen Rabbit’ on Apple TV+, a Charming and Typically Tearjerking Adaptation of the Classic Children's Book Taylor Ann Green Confesses That She "Initiated" Kiss With Austen Kroll On 'Southern Charm': "I Caught Him Off Guard"