Treachery in the Territory
"Indian Uprising" is a treachery in the territory western which basically means we have another movie which following 1950's "Broken Arrow" demonstrated that the Apache's weren't mindless savages and their fighting was caused by greedy businessman and the white man not keeping their side of treaties. As such "Indian Uprising" is in reality quite unoriginal especially when watched now 60 years since it was released because the story of the good Cavalry man befriending the Apache and trying to keep peace is a familiar one with few twists. But whilst obvious "Indian Uprising" is also entertaining skipping along at a nice pace as it takes us through a variety of familiar western scenes peppered with action.
Having been pivotal in getting a peace treaty signed by Geronimo, Capt. Chase McCloud (George Montgomery - Man from God's Country) is put in charge of the Fort where his job is to insure that the local whites don't trespass onto Indian Territory to steal from the mines. But this doesn't go down well with the local businessmen who manipulate the situation so that not only is McCloud demoted for laying his hands on a civilian but also stage it so it looks like the Apaches have killed a white man so that the Cavalry will start a war with them and move them out of the territory.
So as already mentioned "Indian Uprising" features a storyline which ultimately is very familiar with it's storyline of Capt. Chase McCloud being the decent man who has befriended Geronimo and is pivotal in making peace with him. What follows is the greedy businessmen of Tucson manufacturing a situation so that not only is McCloud demoted but a fresh war starts between Geronimo and the Cavalry so that they can get their hands on the mines which are in Indian Territory. We may get deception, back stabbing and a stereotypical Major who wants to get Geronimo no matter what but all of this almost seems unoriginal.
And to be honest subplots such as a romance between McCloud and the pretty Norma Clemson is just filler as are the moments of comedy which comes from the Irish American officers. Even the action, the fist fights and skirmishes are not that spectacular with other 50s westerns delivering more thrilling moments of drama. Basically "Indian Uprising" is really nothing special and to be frank the acting isn't anything special either with George Montgomery delivering moral upstanding as Capt. Chase McCloud.
But the thing about all of this is that it is entertaining and skips along at a nice pace so that for its 75 minutes it never gets boring. The heroics of McCloud are dealt with quickly so that he isn't made into some super hero and the skulduggery of the businessmen who manipulate the situation to start a war are not so nefarious that they become hand rubbing pantomime villains. It almost feels the director Ray Nazarro realising what he had was just a stock western to churn out to capitalize on what "Broken Arrow" did, did just that, churned it out with an effectiveness which makes it nicely paced.
What this all boils down to is when it comes to treachery in the territory westerns there are much better movies than "Indian Uprising". But at the same time for something which is all very familiar it is entertaining mainly down to the perfect pace it moves along at, never becoming dull or long winded.
