Customer Reviews

Escort West

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"Escort West" was released theatrically in 1958. It is a solid, entertaining western, although hardly a classic. The film is given an enormous boost by the presence of star, Victor Mature, always a formidable figure in any role he played. Of course, one of Mr. Mature's finest performances was in the western, "My Darling Clementine", as a memorable Doc Holliday. However, "Escort West" is far from being a John Ford western.

Mr. Mature plays Ben Lassiter, a soldier who fought for the South in the Civil War. Now he is a widower with a young daughter, Abbey (Reba Waters), travelling west to hopefully find peace and a new life. He encounters two women being "escorted west" by a group of soldiers, some of whom still do not like "Johnny Reb" ! The women are sisters with very different personalities--Beth Drury (Elaine Stewart) is a kind, gentle young woman, who soon develops feelings for Ben--Martha Drury (Faith Domergue) is a nasty, bitter snob, who has a special hate for "Southerners". Some murderous Indian renegades create a situation whereby the two women, and a wounded soldier, must rely on Ben to help them get through hostile territory in one piece. Ben also has to contend with a couple of villanous soldiers.

"Escort West" has enough action and suspense to hold your attention, and Ben's showdown with renegade leader, Tago (X. Brands), and his gang gives the film an exciting climax. Veteran heavy, Leo Gordon, also contributed to the script. Western fans will also spot actors like Noah Beery Jr., Harry Carey Jr., Slim Pickens, Ken Curtis and--the king of the "B" western bad guys--Roy Barcroft, in supporting roles.

One side of the DVD is widescreen--the other side full-screen--the sound is mono--there are no extras, except for a trailer. The picture is black and white--I found the clarity of the image to be excellent.

"Escort West" is a fairly routine western, but it has very few dull moments, and Victor Mature is a hero that fans can readily cheer for. If your taste in movies leans towards "dusters", this disc will be a solid addition to your collection.

Victor Mature was a natural to make Westerns. He had the requisite rough edges, but always managed to imbue his characters with style, grace, and as odd as it could be for frontier living, sophistication.

Escort West follows Mature as he plays a former Confederate captain headed to Nevada after the war. With his daughter in two, Mature lands in the middle of rampaging Modoc Indians who have killed a cavalry detatchment whose survivors include two women and a black supply officer. One of the women is engaged to a cavalry officer pinned down by the Modocs, and the other is her sister, who hates all Confederates because her beloved was killed in the war. The supply officer has suffered a broken leg in the attack.

Mature leads this motley group toward safety, knowing that it is likely that the Modocs have the engaged cavalry officer's troop surrounded. And as expected, he and the engaged woman begin to fall in love.

Escort West is exciting with very good acting, and a better script than most Westerns, thanks to veteran tough-guy heavy Leo Gordon, who co-wrote the script and appears as a burned out soldier. It is great newsthat Westerns such as Escort west have made it to DVD.

Escort West, written by a familiar face villain, Leo Gordon, who doubled as a screenwriter in his spare time, has Victor MATURE escorting two women across Modoc territory. Matters are complicated even further by renegade soldiers out to get a stollen army payroll. Good scenery and lots of action. The DVD is double faced, one side with Cinemascope, the other has the full screen version, plus the theatrical trailer. I recommend it for Western fans.

I did not like this DVD. I was very disappointed in the performance of Victor Mature.

Out of 67 films Victor Mature only made approximately 5 that could be termed films with a western background. Mr. Mature good naturedly stated that he was a golfer, not an actor, and in that kidding jesture summed up his realistic approach to his acting life. He was, however, a very effective, believable actor.

This film, though set on the trail to Oregon and California, is really not a western. It is moreover a a very interesting story of people undergoing hardship trying to live through another day in Indian country. Though there are horses, Indians, killings, cavalry, and more, but this is not just another shootem-up or oater. It is a change of pace film and though well worth watching is nothing like My Darling Clementine or even Fury At Furnace Creek.

For Victor Mature fans, count me one, this is a welcome addition to DVD. I grew up in the 1950s when westerns were very popular both on the wide screen and on the TV screen. For me this is a non-typical western that presents an interesting story well dramatized by good actors.

Try it for a change of pace movie. It just might be one you will enjoy.

Semper Fi.

Even the western movie fan in the house thought this was one of the worst movies ever made. It's hard to imagine how the actors, directors, writers, etc., could have made it. You would think they would all want the film they were working on to be at least watchable if not great, which of course should be the goal every time a movie is made. To call this hokey or corny would be giving it too much praise. The movie is simply awful. The plot appears to be the result of plucking script ideas from a dozen or two other western movie scripts and pasting them together in a barely coherent polyglot mess. If you like movies to have at some plausibility, believabilty, or credibility, you won't find that in this movie. Who can say what type of job the actors did executing their parts -- parts that certainly should have been executed (to borrow that great line from then-Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach John McCay, who, when asked after a game what he thought of his football team's execution, answered "I'm in favor of it" or words to that effect). With a plot this bad and lines this ludicrous, it would've taken great acting skill to raise to to the level of awful.

Bottom line, if you were looking for some light western entertainment, as we were when we found this film, keep looking.

Victor Mature, the star of this little Western, is not thought of as a Western actor, but in several oaters [e.g, THE LAST FRONTIER and ESCORT WEST] he proves he can shoot and ride with the best of'em. ESCORT WEST is very enjoyable if not exceptionable, certainly worth the investment and certainly repaying the occasional re-viewing. Look for standout co-stars Ken Curtis [of GUNSMOKE fame] and Leo Gordon. Recommended.

Victor Mature at his best. Good acting by the supporting cast with s decent believeable plot about the Old West.

Its a great film that reflects passions after the War Between the States.
Shows how former Confederates trekked west after the war and how they were received there. Many ended up in Oregon and Nevada.