Trailer—Blood on the Arrow

The film started off badly for Wade Cooper: a handcuffed prisoner of the US Cavalry, ambushed by Native Americans, wounded in the shoulder by an arrow, staggering through the wilderness . Then he sees Martha Hyer bathing * in the river ... She takes him back to her husband's trading post and nurses him so well that within a day or two he's able to defeat in hand-to-hand combat a brave who assaults her. Suspiciously well-graded roads also serve to diminish the film's worth. Often I feel that monetary values in these old Westerns reflect the era when the film was made, rather than the one that it features. At one point a bad guys reflects that his share of the loot - $4,000 - isn't that much, but in 18971 it would have been very useful indeed - worth some $88,000 in 2021 values. A predictable ending.

Blood On The Arrow is a pretty good, but not great western. It reminds you of other and better westerns. Take bad guy Ted.de Corsia ( Jud) he plays a character named Jud Spangler in The Quick Gun ( also made in 1964). Speaking of The Quick Gun, Audie Murphy played a quick draw character named Clint Cooper and here. Dale Robertson played: Quick draw escaped prisoner Wade Cooper. Even the ending music was the same. You also see elements of Shane and Hondo in this movie ( the relationship between the gunslinger and the boy). Of course, Martha. Hyer ( Nancy Mailer) is better looking then Jean Arthur ( Shane) and Geraldine Page ( Hondo), and spoilers ahead: The not so nice husband. Clint Mailer ( yep with Clint another reference to The Quick Gun), conveniently gets killed by Jud so Wade can end up with Nancy ( like. Scotty Grant ( James Best) gets killed by: Jud so Clint can end up with Helen. Reed ( Merry Anders)). Of course, Scotty was nicer then Mailer. I enjoyed the action and looking at Martha Hyer. I give it a 7/10 stars. Pretty good but not The Quick Gun ( let alone Shane or Hondo).

I never cared for dale robertson in any western role ... he always seemed like the out of place easterner ... he was especially terrible in the series "tales of wells fargo" ... in this film he played an outlaw on the run because he held up an army payroll ... the only series he did any good at was "ironhorse" marth hyer was especially hot in this film, her only naked scene i know of and even one indian brave thought she looked good enough for him

Outlaw Wade Cooper (Dale Robertson) is a prisoner of the US Cavalry. When the Apache attacks, he is the sole survivor. Nancy Mailer (Martha Hyer) rescues Wade and brings him back to the her miserly husband Clint's (Wendell Corey) trading post. When the Apaches raid the post, Clint propose to trade their lives for all the guns that the Apaches would need. The Apaches take their son for leverage. There are outlaws, Indians, gunfights, Cavalry, and melodrama. This is quintessential Western B-movie. The characters are all iconic. There isn't much subtlety. Not all of it makes sense. It's questionable why the outlaws didn't just fight for the gold, but instead help to rescue the boy. I get Wade's motivation for the Mrs Mailer. The other outlaws make little sense.

Despite flaws this is a watchable western due mainly to the perfect casting of lead actors and due to fast action scenes. Dale Robertson was a strong leading man and a pretty much authentic western guy in the old Western movie mold (Gary Cooper, Autry, Roy Rogers) of stars really from the West, in Robertson's case Oklahoma. He was also a good enough actor in the right role. Martha Hyer is truly beautiful in this movie and her acting is good here, too. Wendell Cory a classy and serious actor is perfectly cast as the vacuous husband. However, there is some ineffective/ borderline-laughable supporting acting by Caucasians portraying Native Americans. Good scenery, a good tale of the old west. Somewhat over-plotted but thats OK since its for the purpose of inserting lots of action. Some problems in the script, such as: at one point after the mine and guns are blown up, the bad guys wait for Robertson at house and say "He must come back here". True statement, but why did they wait? They could have just taken the $20,000 from the trap door and ran. There was no mine left, nor anything else for opportunist bad-guys to wait around for. Other issues: (1) obvious trap door with no rug or anything else to hide it. So why have a trap door? (2) During a chase they pass a large neat dirt pile beside road, obviously symmetrical and made by a modern road-grader. (3) Also during a chase you can see several phone or power lines- at least three lines at once. Look quick or you will miss it. Western fans should enjoy this movie, if they can overlook the flaws and just concentrate on entertainment value.

In 1871 Arizona, after Geronimo's escape to Mexico and Apache return to the reservation, a tribe of Coyotero Apaches are defying orders to lay down their arms. They attack army patrols and settlements. Captured outlaw Wade Cooper is transported by an army patrol to the nearest fort when they are attacked by Apaches. All are killed, except Wade who is wounded. Making his way to a creek he's saved by Nancy Mailer who washed in the waters. She takes him to the nearby trading post which is run by her family. Clint Mailer is her husband and Tim is her son. The husband has a secret gold mine nearby and has extracted 20,000 dollars in gold nuggets already. The family hides Wade but an army patrol, en route towards the troublesome Apache, tells the Mailers to leave the unsafe area immediately. While they all pack to leave, Apaches attack the trading post and take all rifles they can find. When they want to kill the whites, Clint Mailer promises them many more rifles in exchange for their safety. The Apaches agree but they take the young Tim as hostage. The Apaches promise to return Tim in exchange for the promised rifles in ten days. After their departure, Wade Cooper offers to help the Mailers retrieve their son by stealing army rifles for the Apaches. In return, he wants the gold nuggets Clint has been stashing inside a wagon and under the floorboards inside the trading post. The Mailers reluctantly agree but Wade first needs to contact some of his old buddies to help him steal the army rifles. Wade's buddies eventually arrive at the trading post but the ensuing events prove that no one can be trusted. ... Quite an enjoyable western with an interesting story, a plot that pulls you in and interesting characters, especially centering around Wendell Corey and his wife. Corey seems more interested in his gold than his wife and son, and predictably Hyer and Dale Robertson are going to fall in love with each other. It's a familiar story, well told, has some fine action sequences, great landscape, but what plays against it is its plodding pace.

"Blood on the Arrow" (1964) is a "B" Western, which mixes together several staples of the genre: Calvary, outlaws, saguaro cacti, Indians, gunfights, a trading post, a hottie, a mine and gold. It rips-off blatant elements of "Shane" and transplants them to the Arizona desert, but gets away with it because there are enough differences. It's just severely mediocre by comparison, although Dale Robertson is stalwart as the hopefully redeemable outlaw protagonist and Martha Hyer is a blonde beauty worth risking everything. Regrettably, there are some "Why sure!" plot problems and what's up with the trap door that's anything but hidden? Also, you'll clearly see power/telephone lines on 3-4 occasions. I'm assuming that the producers felt they'd pass for telegraph lines, which WERE present in 1871 when the story takes place. I'll accept that argument, I guess. GRADE: C/C-

Blood on the Arrow is a rather confused western that stars Dale Robertson, Martha Hyer and Wendell Corey. It's got everything in it, cavalry, outlaws, Indians and a damsel in distress. Lest no one be confused the damsel is Martha Hyer. Martha finds a wounded Dale Robertson, an outlaw separated from his men, and brings him back to the trading post where she endures a loveless marriage with Wendell Corey. But before the film is over they will have to put up with Apaches jumping the reservation and Robertson's men, none of whom are as scrupulous as he. For an outlaw Dale's a little too good to be true. When the Indians kidnap young Dandy Curran, Hyer's son, Robertson gets his men involved in a scheme to rescue the lad that involves stealing army rifles and arming the Apaches. A big old no-no in any Hollywood western. Personally while I think Martha's beautiful, one of the most beautiful women ever in films, I just can't swallow Dale risking all for her. If I was him, I'd have kept on riding. The cast performs well, certainly Robertson is no stranger to the Hollywood west. But the film's just a tad bit too unreal for my taste.

In 1871 Arizona, after Geronimo's escape to Mexico and Apache return to the reservation, a tribe of Coyotero Apaches are defying orders to lay down their arms. They attack army patrols and settlements. Captured outlaw Wade Cooper is transported by an army patrol to the nearest fort when they are attacked by Apaches. All are killed, except Wade who is wounded. Making his way to a creek he's saved by Nancy Mailer who washed in the waters. She takes him to the nearby trading post which is run by her family. Clint Mailer is her husband and Tim is her son. The husband has a secret gold mine nearby and has extracted 20,000 dollars in gold nuggets already. The family hides Wade but an army patrol, en route towards the troublesome Apache, tells the Mailers to leave the unsafe area immediately. While they all pack to leave, Apaches attack the trading post and take all rifles they can find. When they want to kill the whites, Clint Mailer promises them many more rifles in exchange for their safety. The Apaches agree but they take the young Tim as hostage. The Apaches promise to return Tim in exchange for the promised rifles in ten days. After their departure, Wade Cooper offers to help the Mailers retrieve their son by stealing army rifles for the Apaches. In return, he wants the gold nuggets Clint has been stashing inside a wagon and under the floorboards inside the trading post. The Mailers reluctantly agree but Wade first needs to contact some of his old buddies to help him steal the army rifles. Wade's buddies eventually arrive at the trading post but the ensuing events prove that no one can be trusted. ... Quite an enjoyable western with an interesting story, a plot that pulls you in and interesting characters, especially centering around Wendell Corey and his wife. Corey seems more interested in his gold than his wife and son, and predictably Hyer and Dale Robertson are going to fall in love with each other. It's a familiar story, well told, has some fine action sequences, great landscape, but what plays against it is its plodding pace.