Armand it is its basic virtue. for theme and for its inspired manner to present as biopic. for acting and for the mixture of innocence, courage, force and beautiful images. for realism and for Audie Murphy performance. a film about the image and the essence of relationship and about a form of heroism who has not ordinaries rules. a classic western. and more because it is not an idyllic picture about Far West but body for a noble message who preserves the measure at high level. touching and convincing, it has a special note of melancholy and poetic message. a film. real good. a homage. like remember source about the respect for the other, out of ordinary tolerance.

ashew I just caught this movie recently on AMC and was shocked at how much I enjoyed it. I am a big Audie Murphy fan, but even I am willing to admit that most of his movies rarely rise above mediocre. This movie, however, has Audie in the hands of a good director, with a competent script, and some very good supporting cast members.There were a couple of moments when Ann Bancroft was on screen when my mouth dropped open at how utterly gorgeous she was. Simply breathtaking! Charles Drake and Morris Ankrum do nice work, and Jay Silverheels can do no wrong in my book (I could watch that noble face and listen to that great voice all day long).I confess to not knowing the real story of Clum, so I was not distracted by how factually accurate this account was (or wasn't, as the case may be). I watched it purely for its entertainment value and walked away completely entertained. Yes, the script has some rather heavy-handed messages we are beaten over the head with throughout, but I feel most of society could stand to be beaten over the head with some positive messages regarding friendship, loyalty, family, and race relations, so that didn't bother me.I feel Audie Murphy did some of his best acting work in this film, so if you get a chance to see it, I would highly recommend giving it a shot...it's good old fashioned entertainment.

Milbourne Whitt Saw this movie years ago and recently taped it for my collection as a worthwhile Western movie. It took me a long time to catch on that this was the same John P. Clum that you hear mentioned in the many, many TV shows and movies in all western movies relating to Wyatt Earp, as Editor of the Tombstone Epitaph. I think I can name about 10, starting with Richard Dix "The Town Too Tough to Die" about 1939. John Clum must have been a very intelligent man to be chosen as an Indian agent, and then later have the ability to run a newspaper in Tombstone. The end of the movie gave the impression, after the old Indian Chief had a talk with him, that he might stay but he did not. We were not told the year this Agent was active at San Carlos, but we know Clum was established in Tombstone by 1880, so there is nothing on his life in between. Clum made history when he wrote of the Gunfight at the OK Corral on October 27, 1881. Copies of the original newspaper can still be purchased in Tombstone. I got mine Oct 2001 on a trip, and some extras for my old fogy buddies who still play "cowboys".

rsoonsa The narrative of John P. Clum's broadly varied activities is one of the most dramatic in U.S. history, his tenure as Indian Agent at Arizona's San Carlos Reservation, 1874/77, being particularly noteworthy and forming the subject of this film starring war hero Audie Murphy as Clum. During his assignment to San Carlos, Clum established the first Indian tribal police and court system, using the former to capture the wily Geronimo, convincing the renegade that he was surrounded by a large group of warriors, far from the case. By accomplishing all of this and more, Clum eliminated any possible requirement for continued deployment of a United States Army cavalry regiment at San Carlos, which erased profits from provisioning for the Army and made Clum's presence less than heaven-sent for the mounted troopers. WALK THE PROUD LAND is based upon incidents to be found within Woodworth Clum's 1936 biography of his father, which is the principal source for the screenplay written by the capable pair of Gil Doud and Jack Sher. Unfortunately, Doud ("To Hell and Back") and Sher ("Shane") fail to utilize the most dramatic elements of Clum's story, replacing them with a collection of banal contrivances which serve only to dissipate the feature's impact. Filmed with the wide-screen Cinemascope process, and with sublime Technicolor, the work is delightful to the eye, and benefits as well from the stylish efforts of costumer Bill Thomas. A top-notch performance is given by Anne Bancroft as an Apache warrior's widow who is "given" by the tribe's chief to Clum and who becomes his strongest ally against the Agent's enemies from within both the cavalry and the tribe. Audie Murphy's native earnestness is very effective in his portrayal of Clum, with his palpable lack of emotive flexibility being of no consideration here, and he is well supported by Bancroft, sturdy Charles Drake as his closest comrade, winsome Pat Crowley as his wife, Tommy Rall as his Indian blood brother, and character actors Addison Richards and Morris Ankrum. Many good hands were not utilized properly during the creation of this film, and since Clum's travails were largely for nought, Geronimo being released by his successor, leading to nearly 15 years of unabated Indian wars, a bittersweet and indeed revelatory quality would have been more effective in lieu of numerous scenes depicting lamely comedic children and romantic frippery that have no basis in fact.