Only the Valiant

For the Argentine film, see Only the Valiant (1940 film).

Only the Valiant
File:Otvpos.jpg Film poster
Directed by	Gordon Douglas
Produced by	William Cagney
Written by	Screenplay Edmund H. North and Harry Brown Novel Charles Marquis Warren
Starring	Gregory Peck Barbara Payton Ward Bond Gig Young Lon Chaney, Jr. Neville Brand Jeff Corey Michael Ansara
Music by	Franz Waxman
Cinematography	Lionel Lindon
Edited by	Walter Hannemann Robert S. Seiter
Distributed by	Warner Brothers Pictures
Release dates	April 13, 1951
Running time	105 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$2 million (US rentals)

Only the Valiant, also known as Fort Invincible, is a 1951 western film produced by William Cagney (younger brother of James Cagney), directed by Gordon Douglas and starring Gregory Peck and Barbara Payton. The screenplay was written by Edmund H. North and Harry Brown, based on the 1943 novel of the same name by Charles Marquis Warren.

Plot

Gregory Peck, in a role he considered a low-point of his career, plays Captain Richard Lance, a by-the-book West Point graduate who is not very popular with the men under his command.

Following the American Civil War, peace is maintained in the New Mexico Territory by Fort Invicible, a fortification set up outside a mountain pass that blocks marauding bands of Apache. The Apache are able to eventually take the fort by cutting off its water supply then assault the fort when its garrison is at its weakest.

Captain Lance arrives with a patrol soon after the battle and captures Tucsos, the charismatic leader of the Apache. Lance's scout advises the Captain to kill Tucsos but Lance will not shoot a prisoner.

Back at the headquarters of the 5th Cavalry, the invalid commanding officer orders Lance to assign an officer to command an escort to take Tucsos to a larger post. Lance wishes to lead the patrol but at the last minute the Colonel says he needs Lance at his fort in case of Apache attack and to assign a popular officer, Lieutenant Holloway, to lead the small group of men escorting Tucsos; but the Apaches will stop at nothing to get him back. Lieutenant Holloway ends up dead, and the men at the fort blame Captain Lance. They believe that his decision to assign Lieutenant Holloway to the dangerous mission was a personal one (both Lance and Holloway were vying for the affection of the same woman).

Lance's standing with the soldiers at the fort only gets worse when he assembles a group of misfit cavalrymen to hold off rampaging Indians at the ruins of Fort Invincible which is considered to be a suicide mission.

Cast

• Gregory Peck as Captain Richard Lance
• Barbara Payton as Cathy Eversham
• Ward Bond as Corporal Timothy Gilchrist
• Gig Young as Lieutenant Bill Holloway
• Lon Chaney, Jr. as Trooper Kebussyan ("the Ay-rab")
• Neville Brand as Sergeant Ben Murdock
• Jeff Corey as Joe Harmony
• Warner Anderson as Trooper Rutledge
• Steve Brodie as Trooper Onstot
• Dan Riss as Lieutenant Jerry Winters
• Terry Kilburn as Trooper Saxton
• Herbert Heyes as Colonel Drumm
• Art Baker as Captain Jennings
• Michael Ansara as Tucsos
• Nana Bryant as Mrs. Drumm
• David Clarke as guardhouse sentry (uncredited)
• John Doucette as sergeant (uncredited)

See also

• List of Western films: 1950-1954
• Wiard Ihnen – production designer
• Leah Rhodes – wardrobe
• Yakima Canutt – uncredited stunt coordinator

External links

• Only the Valiant at IMDb
• Only the Valiant is available for free download at the Internet Archive
• Only the Valiant at AllMovie
• DVD Review Review of the film & DVD at Vista Records
• DVD Review Review of the film & DVD at DVD Verdict