Fury at Furnace Creek(1948)
Overview
The Arizona wilderness, 1880. Gen. Fletcher Blackwell sends a message telling Capt. Walsh, who is escorting a wagon-train through Apache territory, heading for the fort at Furnace Creek, that he should cancel the escort and rush to another town. Apache leader "Little Dog" is leading the attack on the wagon-train and massacring everyone at the poorly manned fort. As a result the treaty is broken with the Indians and the white settlers take over the territory with the help of the cavalry, as the Apaches are wiped out and only "Little Dog" remains at large. Gen. Fletcher Blackwell is court-martial-led for treason.
H. Bruce Humberstone
Director
Charles G. Booth
Writer
Winston Miller
Writer
David Garth
Story
Top Billed Cast
Where to Watch
Stream
Rent
Buy
Powered by JustWatch
Popularity Trend
Media
Social
Written on November 9, 2013
Fury at Furnace Creek is directed by H. Bruce Humberstone and collectively written by Charles G. Booth, Winston Miller and David Garth. It stars Victor Mature, Glenn Langan, Coleen Gray, Albert Dekker and Reginald Gardiner. Music is by David Raksin and cinematography by Harry Jackson.
When General Blackwell (Robert Warwick) is accused of instigating an Apache massacre, he refutes the allegation so strongly in court he keels over and dies. With the family name tarnished, the estranged Blackwell brothers (Mature and Langan) must put aside their differences to hopefully unearth the truth and clear their father's name.
Nice. Without bringing new dimensions to this formula of plotting, Fury at Furnace Creek is stylish and doesn't take the easy narrative options so prevalent in other Westerns of the 40s. Sure, the standard action quotient is adhered to, with Apache attack, pursuits, saloon shoot-out and the good versus bad finale, but screenplay and scripting has an intelligence about it; and the cast performances coupled with Jackson's shadowy infused black and white photography, make this well worthy of a look by the Western faithful. 7/10
