Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

MamaGravity good back-story, and good acting

Hayden Kane There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Matylda Swan It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

classicsoncall When a single concept keeps intruding on one's enjoyment of a film it has to be mentioned. For myself, I kept wondering how a former British soldier with a French surname is in command of a U.S. Cavalry garrison in 1876. I wouldn't mind so much if this was a Thirties of Forties 'B' programmer but here it was 1967 so maybe a little background would have been in order.There's a lot more one needs to overlook in the picture as well, but having Luciana Paluzzi on hand as a Mexican senorita sort of balanced things out. Her mysterious association with gunslinger Chuka (Rod Taylor) is eventually revealed as things reach critical mass at Fort Clendennon, though it's never really confirmed whether she was still married or not. However I did notice a wedding band on her finger at one point, so I guess you have to make up your own mind at some point.Say here's something I never saw before - how about those clever Arapahoe Indians spearing the wall of the fort so they could use them as steps to breach the perimeter. I thought that was rather ingenious. Speaking of those spears, how is it that Chuka was able to remove one that entirely pierced his body? One minute it was there and the next minute gone. But even that wasn't as amazing as Senora Veronica (Paluzzi) taking an arrow in the back when she was standing against the wall of a barricade. How does that work? Oh well, trying to make sense of it all isn't going to get you anywhere. There were a couple of good moments like Chuka duking it out with Sergeant Hahnsbach (Ernest Borgnine), and the Indian attack on the fort was staged fairly well. I guess in the end we're supposed to understand that Chuka was a former cavalry soldier based on the narrator's description of the cross placed on a small grave after the dust settled. Just another question mark in the story that could have been explained better to keep us all from guessing.

dbdumonteil The director was not allowed to film on location,which ,for a western is perhaps not a very smart idea.But as almost all the action takes place in a fort besieged by starving Indians,the movie does not suffer for it.It's a very dark western,with a murky atmosphere ,unsympathetic characters; in spite of the gorgeous Luciana Paluzzi (one of the best James Bond girl that ever was ) and her niece (portrayed by Angela Dorian,more famous for her small part of Terry Gionoffrio in "Rosemary's baby" ),the dinner becomes a settling of scores.The movie contains very violent scenes in its last quarter ,predating Peckinpah and "soldier blue" and it's one of the rare films of the genre to feature a thoroughly unhappy ending.

ma-cortes The story occurs in 1876 , Chuka (Rod Taylor) is a grizzled gunfighter who helps an unexperienced though honorable cavalry officer to roust renegade soldiers and a tribe of Arapahoe Indians . When the main characters arrive at the fort a soldier being flogged for desertion (though hipping or whipping had been prohibited by the U.S. Army as of 5 August 1861) . There Cavalry commandant (John Mills) is saddled not only problems with Native American but irritability among his own troops (Louis Hayward) . Chuka eventually puts the bridle on tight and protects a pair of damsels (gorgeous Luciana Paluzzi and Angela Dorian or Victoria Vetri , famous Miss Playboy) in distress . The Indians are out on a rampage of killing , vengeance against the white intruders and with the aim for getting food .This is an unusually brutal tale of a hard-bitten gunslinger assembling a detail of misfit cavalrymen to hold-off rampaging Indians . Rod Taylor and an expert all-star-cast shine in this gripping story about a surrounded garrison and director takes a fine penned screenplay creating a cavalry-Indians tale that is far from ordinary , exploring the anguish and desperation of soldiers . It's the habitual theme about an unit stranded by enemies and their grueling efforts to break the siege , issue imitated many other times . The picture contains nice moments but partially unsatisfying for the reason of the claustrophobic environment . Produced by Rod Taylor , this Western is predictable and conventional but entertaining . It displays a colorful and adequate cinematography by Harold E. Stine . In addition , atmospheric as well as evocative musical score by Leith Stevens . The motion picture was professionally directed by Gordon Douglas . He's an expert on adventures genre such as ¨Black arrow¨ , ¨Fortunes of Captain Blood¨ , both starred by Louis Hayward and Western , as he proved in the films starred by Clint Walker such as ¨Fort Dobbs¨, ¨Yellowstone Kelly¨ , ¨Gold of seven Saints¨ , Gregory Peck as ¨Only the valiant¨ in similar plot to ¨Chuka¨ , Richard Boone as ¨Rio Conchos¨ considered the best , and on legendary bandits as ¨Doolins of Oklahoma¨ , ¨Great Missouri raid¨ , among others .

dinky-4 When "Chuka" was released back in 1967, who knew it'd be one of the last of those westerns which used to come out of the studio system with annual regularity? As an example of the genre it's quite competent and it benefits from a better than average cast -- including Oscar winners John Mills and Ernest Borgnine -- but the market for this kind of movie was drying up in the late 1960s and has never really recovered. Look for a sweaty Michael Cole, (soon to achieve fame on TV's "Mod Squad), getting a flogging as the stagecoach rolls into the fort. This flogging ranks 15th in the book, "Lash! The Hundred Great Scenes of Men Being Whipped in the Movies." Also look for the scene near the end when a freshly-dug grave is mentioned. Opinions may differ as to just who is occupying this grave.