Michael Morrison Not often do we get this kind of "all-star" cast and far too rarely do we get this much talent in one movie.There is no need to name the stars here -- but it is a pleasure just to look at the list here at IMDb -- however it is worth repeating they are huge talents.The premise, of Confederate soldiers, prisoners of war, enlisted to fight "Indians" on the Western frontier, has been used several times, and at least once ("The Last Outpost") Confederate regulars joined with Yankee troops to battle the tribes.Paraphrasing -- badly -- Franklin D. Roosevelt, "I hate war films," and I hate the premise that progress comes because of war. I hate the phony premise that war brings glory. Actually, this is a more accurate observation: "War--after all, what is it that the people get? Why--widows, taxes, wooden legs and debt." ~Samuel B. PettengillSo, the death and destruction do not appeal to me as entertainment, but I still admire the high production values and, again, the astonishingly talented cast.I thank the Encore network for presenting this and urge everyone who can to see it.

rogerblake-281-718819 In the early 1950's Hollywood made a spate of Civil War based westerns where the main plot line concerned Union and Confederate forces joining together to fend off native Americans.eg Films such as "Rocky Mountain" "The Last Outpost" and "Escape from Fort Bravo". Probably the best example is "Two Flags West".One wonders where they found the time to slaughter 620,000 of each other and is there any historical basis for such an occurrence? Certainly Lincoln did issue a proclamation offering pardons to any Confederate prisoners who were prepared to go west and fight the Indians.They became known as Galvanized Yankees. Here we have Colonel Clay Tucker (Joseph Cotton) excepting Captain Mark Bradford's (Cornel Wilde) offer of freedom from their prison camp if they will go and fight the Indians.The film here doesn't pull it's punches in depicting that conditions in Northern prisons were just as appalling as their Southern counterparts. When they reach Fort Thorn in New Mexico they receive a less than enthusiastic welcome.Their new commanding officer Major Henry Kenniston (Jeff Chandler) is a bitter man who hates rebels and traitors as he puts it.He also has an interest, not returned, in his dead brothers widow (Linda Darnel) There are the usual North/South tensions within the fort but Tucker is an honourable man who tries to do his duty.Kenniston's behaviour is so outrageous that eventually Tucker and his men decide to desert to Texas.Meanwhile Kenniston who by now is almost completely deranged commits murder when he shoots an Indian chief's son.The consequence of this is that the Indians lay siege to the fort. Captain Bradford escapes and rides after Tucker's men and explains the situation to them.Its no great surprise when Tucker and his Confederates decide to ride back to the fort to support the people there which includes women and children. A pitched battle follows which is magnificently staged though some reviews state that it was explicitly violent,perhaps but compared to "Soldier Blue" for example it is fairly restrained. Major Kenniston in a complete change of character agrees to give himself up to the Indians who will then leave peacefully and spare the fort.The scene where he walks through the gates into a mist is brilliantly done and one can only imagine the terrible death he must have suffered. It is a superbly done cavalry western and in all deference to John Ford a complete absence of knock about Irish humour is most welcome. The cast is superb, here we have Cornel Wilde in his last film for 20th Century Fox playing almost a supporting role being expendable.He was at his best as a team player in films like "The Greatest Show on Earth" and "Womens World".Jeff Chandler is a revelation, normally a fairly monolithic presence here he is quite chilling as a completely troubled man who at the end atones for his actions giving his life so that others may live.As for Joseph Cotton though usually associated with lounge suit roles here he is excellent as the decent and honourable Confederate Colonel,and lucky chap ,at he end he gets the girl the lovely Linda Darnel. As an added bonus the supporting cast contains such western icons as Dale Robertson,Jay C.Flippen,Noah Beery and best of all Arthur Hunnicutt. A wonderful western of the type they don't make any more where the premise is that you don't let the facts get in the way of a good story.

krocheav You only have to look at the production credits to see that this western has the promise of being an above average yarn. And it is. When my Brother in Law asked me if I wanted to see this film, I hesitated, expecting another run-of-the-mill Cavalry show. After noting the impressive cast and behind the scenes crew, just had to take a look.For it's year, it's a surprise in both story elements and production handling. Not having before seen Jeff Chandler take a lead role in an 'A' grade feature (and this being quite early in his tragically short career) I had not realised he was such a professional performer. It seems his Universal International years may have sold him short. His performance as an embittered commanding officer in this film is a powerful one.For me, Multi Award winning Director Robert Wise has always been a favorite, and this western is further proof of his skillful hand. Helping Mr Wise is another multi Award winner, Director of Photography: Leon Shamroy. I was surprised that Fox did not use Techicolor for this outdoor epic, but pleased they did not. The powerful on-location settings, featuring low horizon shots and huge dramatic sky scape's, dwarf the humans as they strive to survive this hostile environment. The wonderful use of quality black and white stock, evokes the visual poetry of a John Ford classic. Cornel Wilde, does what Wilde does best, and Cotton is reliable as always. The cast is good right down to the support players. Linda Darnell is convincing as the sole female lead and the reason for her character to be in this situation is fully believable. This beautiful woman also had a tragically short career, both Chandler and Darnell died within months of the same age (Chandler only 42 through Medical 'misadventure' ~ Darnell 41 following a house fire) The original story is above average (founded on some historical facts) it was co-written by Curtis Kenyon and Frank S. Nugent ~ two writers also known for their screenplays. Their story was then honed into a tight adaptation for the screen by the great Casey Robinson ('Kings Row' etc) Robinson also Produced this film, so had a strong interest in it's success. If you enjoy character driven action entertainment, then this could be a western for you. The Music credits are also interesting, with Fox's resident composer, the marvelous Alfred Newman taking a back seat as: Musical Director to composer: Hugo Friedhofer (although Newman contributed some incidental music) The score adds handsomely to the powerful images. Much of the dramatic action is surprisingly graphic and superbly staged, showing considerable time and care had been taken in all areas. I have heard 20th Century Fox sadly junked many of their B/W Negatives when the studio foolishly made the decision to make 95% of their later films in CinemaScope and Color (a poor move in terms of artistic creativity) For the DVD release, they have at least produced a good digital master from available fine-grains and release prints. Recommended, and worth buying.

bkoganbing Two Flags West begins with Confederate colonel Joseph Cotten given an offer to have his men get paroled from prison if they'll serve in the union army out west where the troops are stretched pretty thin. Over some objections he takes the offer from Captain Cornel Wilde.Wilde takes Cotten and his men to Fort Thorn in the Southwest which is commanded by rebel hating and Indian hating Jeff Chandler. There's a good reason why this guy is in a backwater command as you'll see as the film unfolds. In addition there's Linda Darnell, wife of Chandler's late brother who was killed in the Civil War and who all three guys have their eyes on. But Chandler scares Darnell as well he should.It was interesting to see Chandler whose career role was Cochise playing an Indian hater. But he does successfully put over the character. His Indian hating causes a lot of tragedy before the film is over.Two Flags West is a brooding kind of western that's not for the squeamish. It's an exceptionally violent film that I'm not sure how it got through the Code. It's one of Jeff Chandler's best early roles, too bad Universal didn't cast him in more films like Two Flags West.