Seminole (1953)

A western set in Florida? Budd Boetticher is admired for the series of classic westerns he made with Randolph Scott from 1956 to 1960. Though not in that league, this minor western is not without interest. Once friends when they were boys, a cavalry lieutenant (Rock Hudson) and a Seminole Indian leader (Anthony Quinn) find themselves not only on opposite sides of a conflict between the U.S. Army and the Seminole tribe but in love with the same girl (Barbara Hale). Unusual for a western of this period, not only because of its clear sympathy for the Indians but the interracial romance in which the white woman prefers the Indian to Rock Hudson! The film's setpiece is a trek through the Florida everglades by the ill prepared cavalry where they are at a clear disadvantage. The film was shot at Everglades National Park in Florida and that superb cinematographer Russell Metty (TOUCH OF EVIL, WRITTEN ON THE WIND ) takes full advantage of the exotic hothouse locale. Hudson is very awkward and his line readings stiff and Richard Carlson as the film's cavalry commander overacts the villainy to the point where I almost expected him to twirl his moustache! With Lee Marvin, Hugh O'Brian, Russell Johnson and James Best.