Customer Reviews

7th Cavalry

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I ordered this product from Amazon UK -- the video quality is terrible, much worse than a VHS. The picture looks as if it has been dubbed from a poor master. Poor clarity, badly faded colors, and a constant hissing sound in the audio. There's even a warning on the case saying the 'some image quality may have been lost' when the video was mastered.

Columbia Pictures presents "7TH CAVALRY" (1956) (75 mins/Color) (Dolby digitally remastered) --- Starring Randolph Scott, Barbara Hale, Jay C. Flippen, Frank Faylen & Leo Gordon. --- Directed by Joseph H. Lewis and released in April 1, 1951, our story line and film, Returning to Fort Lincoln, Captain Benson learns of Custer's defeat at the Little Big Horn. At the inquiry as Custer's Officers blame Custer for the defeat, Benson tries to defend him. But Benson was suspiciously absent at the time of the battle and is now despised by the troops. So when an order to retrieve the bodies from the battlefield arrives, Benson volunteers for the dangerous mission of returning back into Indian territory --- Although it's nowhere near as good as the oaters Scott did with Budd Boetticher, this one nonetheless still rises above most of the other westerns from Harry Cohn, Columbia Pictures and company was putting out ... It also helps filming it out in the California pine country away from the usual Columbia ranch locations that we've seen many times before --- And Mr. Scott was secure enough in his stardom that he gave good lines and depth to the younger actors in the film.

Under Joseph H. Lewis (Director), Harry Joe Brown (Producer), Peter Packer (Screenwriter), Glendon Swarthout (Short Story Author), Ray Rennahan (Cinematographer), Mischa Bakaleinikoff (Composer (Music Score), Gene Havlick (Editor),George Brooks (Art Director) - - - - the cast includes Randolph Scott (Capt. Tom Benson), Barbara Hale (Martha Kellogg), Jay C. Flippen (Sgt. Bates), Jeanette Nolan (Mrs. Reynolds), Frank Faylen (Krugger), Leo Gordon (Vogel), Denver Pyle (Dixon), Harry Carey, Jr. (Cpl. Morrison), Michael Pate (Capt. Benteen), Donald Curtis (Lt. Bob Fitch), Frank Wilcox (Maj. Reno), Pat Hogan (Young Hawk), Russell Hicks (Col. Kellogg), Peter Ortiz (Pollock)- - - - Randy Scott had a quiet gentleman nature about him which is not seen in the films of today ... Randy took his job and his responsibility to his audience very seriously ,,, would not settle for anything less than his best ... same was true in his personal life.

SPECIAL FEATURES BIOS:

1. Randolph Scott (aka: George Randolph Scott)

Date of birth: 23 January 1898 - Orange County, Virginia

Date of death: 2 March 1987 - Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California

Special footnote, George Randolph Scott better known as Randolph Scott, was an American film actor whose career spanned the sound era from the late 1920s to the early 1960s ... his popularity grew in the 1940s and 1950s, appearing in such films as "Gung Ho"! (1943) and "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" (1938); but he was especially famous for his numerous Westerns including "Virginia City" (1940) with Errol Flynn and Humphrey Bogart, "Western Union" (1941) with Robert Young and "Ride the High Country" (1962) with Joel McCrea (a coin was flipped to see whether Scott or McCrea would receive top billing, and Scott won despite having a slightly smaller role) ... his long fistfight with John Wayne in "The Spoilers" (1942) was frequently cited by critics and the press as the most thrilling ever filmed; they were fighting over Marlene Dietrich ... another smash hit film together that same year called "Pittsburgh" (1942) once again with Dietrich, Scott and Wayne --- Daniel Webster defines "Legend", as being a notable person, or the stories told about that person exploits --- well by the time Randolph Scott made his best films he had long established himself as a legend in the film industry --- they say practice makes perfect, if that is true by 1958 at 60 years of age he was the master with these oaters from the 50s ... "The Cariboo Trail" (1950), "The Nevadan" (1950), "Colt .45" (1950), "Santa Fe" (1951), "Sugarfoot" (1951), "Fort Worth" (1951), "Man in the Saddle" (1951), "Carson City" (1952), "The Man Behind the Gun" (1952), "Hangman's Knot" (1952), "Thunder over the Plains" (1953), "The Stranger Wore a Gun" (1953), "Ten Wanted Men" (1954), "Riding Shotgun" (1954), "The Bounty Hunter" (1954), "Rage at Dawn" (1955), "Tall Man Riding" (1955), "A Lawless Street" (1955), "Seven Men from Now" (1956), "Seventh Cavalry" (1956), "Decision at Sundown: (1957), "Shoot-Out at Medicine Bend" (1957), "The Tall T" (1957), "Buchanan Rides Alone" (1958), "Ride Lonesome" (1959), "Westbound" (1959), "Comanche Station" (1960) --- Scott's age seemed to matter little, they only came to see another Randolph Scott film and always got their money's worth --- Scott's films were good and getting better becoming classics --- so if you wonder "What Ever Happened To Randolph Scott", just rent or purchase one of his films and you'll see he's never left us.

2. Barbara Hale

Date of Birth: 18 April 1922 - DeKalb, Illinois

Date of death: Still Living

3. Jay C. Flippen

Date of Birth: 6 March 1899 - Little Rock, Arkansas

Date of Death: 3 February 1971 - Los Angeles, California

4. Frank Faylen

Date of Birth: 8 December 1905 - St. Louis, Missouri

Date of Death: 2 August 1985 - Burbank, California

5. Leo Gordon

Date of Birth: 2 December 1922 - New York, New York

Date of Death: 26 December 2000 - Los Angeles, California

6. Joseph H. Lewis (Director)

Date of Birth: 6 April 1907 - New York, New York

Date of Death: 30 August 2000 - Santa Monica, California

Hats off and thanks to Les Adams (collector/guideslines for character identification), Chuck Anderson (Webmaster: The Old Corral/B-Westerns.Com), Boyd Magers (Western Clippings), Bobby J. Copeland (author of "Trail Talk"), Rhonda Lemons (Empire Publishing Inc), Bob Nareau (author of "The Real Bob Steele") and Trevor Scott (Down Under Com) as they have rekindled my interest once again for Film Noir, B-Westerns and Serials --- looking forward to more high quality releases from the vintage serial era of the '20s, '30s & '40s and B-Westerns ... order your copy now from Amazon where there are plenty of copies available on VHS, stay tuned once again for top notch action mixed with deadly adventure --- if you enjoyed this title, why not check out VCI Entertainment where they are experts in releasing B-Westerns and Serials --- all my heroes have been cowboys!

Total Time: 75 min on VHS ~ Goodtimes Home Video Corp. ~ (9/06/05)

Curious little western that tells what happened at Fort Lincoln a few days after Little Big Horn massacre (note the Lewisesque circular travelling of the inside of Fort Lincoln as Randolph Scott makes his appearance). Equally amazing is the role given to horses in 7th Cavalry. Recommended to Joseph H. Lewis completists or horsemeat amateurs.