If you liked Dances with Wolves or Last of the Mohicans then this film is for you. What a joy to find a film that espoused today's ideas on the treatment of American Aboriginals back in 1932. You will find the acting a little over the top but enjoy the scenery and the story line and it will leave you thinking what happened between 1932 and the 1970 before the film industry began to deal with the treatment of the American Indians in an intelligent way.
3 Reviews
A Surprise Awaits at the "End of the Trail"
glennstenb25 April 2023
Warning: Spoilers
I had never seen this film and was impressed and surprised as it unspooled. Not many B-westerns had Indians in them at all, but Indians, and I mean real ones, permeate "End of the Trail," and indeed treat them with care and quite respectfully, all of which figures with the Indian expert Tim McCoy starring. Someone at Columbia must have decided to let McCoy have an Indian picture.
McCoy's employ of sign language while speaking with the Indians looks a little repetitive and basic, but one hopes, if not expects, he was portraying its use here authentically. His closing speech about the relations between the natives and the interlopers is somewhat of a shock, both in its strongly assertive content and presentation and in its generous running time.
By contrast, the Army is portrayed as inept with a fortress about as secure as a chain link fence. The Colonel is played by super-busy man-with-authority Lafe McKee, but this has got to be one of his worst performances, apparently inadequately rehearsed and about as wooden as the fort's log walls. I also couldn't help but imagine that McCoy and McKee broke up in laughter during the filming of the closing Indian speech as they looked at one another's orations.
In sum, "End of the Trail" is an entertaining and unique B-western project, with the Indian village depicted at a most picturesque locale and our hero Tim McCoy giving us several well-delivered emotional passages and the stirring and inspiring closing speech.
McCoy's employ of sign language while speaking with the Indians looks a little repetitive and basic, but one hopes, if not expects, he was portraying its use here authentically. His closing speech about the relations between the natives and the interlopers is somewhat of a shock, both in its strongly assertive content and presentation and in its generous running time.
By contrast, the Army is portrayed as inept with a fortress about as secure as a chain link fence. The Colonel is played by super-busy man-with-authority Lafe McKee, but this has got to be one of his worst performances, apparently inadequately rehearsed and about as wooden as the fort's log walls. I also couldn't help but imagine that McCoy and McKee broke up in laughter during the filming of the closing Indian speech as they looked at one another's orations.
In sum, "End of the Trail" is an entertaining and unique B-western project, with the Indian village depicted at a most picturesque locale and our hero Tim McCoy giving us several well-delivered emotional passages and the stirring and inspiring closing speech.
Surprisingly well made for a cheap B-western--and very different from the norm.
planktonrules11 April 2015
I have been a fan of Tim McCoy's westerns for some time. This is because he played 'normal' characters---not the pretty boys who sang their way through the old west. Additionally, McCoy really WAS a cowboy--who knew how to ride and rope horses, was a world-class shot as well as a Colonel in the Army! He brought a realism that was often lacking in many of the other B-western stars of his age.
Of the dozens of McCoy films I have seen, this is one of his best. Much of it is because of how the American Indians are portrayed in the film. The film is extremely sympathetic towards them--much more than other films of the era. McCoy's character even makes a very impressive speech about how badly these people have been treated by the White folks and the Indians in the film are actual Indians--with authentic costumes and sign language! You just don't normally see this concern for the tribes in most westerns.
As for the story, McCoy plays Captain Tim Travers in the Cavalry. When his men are attacked by the natives and he alone survives, the idea that perhaps Travers was working with the Indians takes hold and he is soon tossed out of the service in disgrace. In response to this and the death of his young son, Travers goes to live with the Indians and his life as a White man is over...at least for now. When his people are later attacked by the Cavalry, he fights with them--killing one of the soldiers. Will it be the firing squad for Travers?
Other than the way the natives are treated, this is also a very unusual movie in so many ways that it also seems like it's not a B- movie. Folks who are major characters who normally would NEVER die in a B-western die, the usual clichés are mostly missing and the film really keeps your attention far more than the usual film in this overcrowded genre. My score of 9 is not because it's one of the best westerns ever made--but among the Bs, it is. Among McCoy's best--and definitely one of his top performances in addition to the terrific script.
By the way, I have no idea why but IMDb reveals in the summary who framed Travers! Huh?!
Of the dozens of McCoy films I have seen, this is one of his best. Much of it is because of how the American Indians are portrayed in the film. The film is extremely sympathetic towards them--much more than other films of the era. McCoy's character even makes a very impressive speech about how badly these people have been treated by the White folks and the Indians in the film are actual Indians--with authentic costumes and sign language! You just don't normally see this concern for the tribes in most westerns.
As for the story, McCoy plays Captain Tim Travers in the Cavalry. When his men are attacked by the natives and he alone survives, the idea that perhaps Travers was working with the Indians takes hold and he is soon tossed out of the service in disgrace. In response to this and the death of his young son, Travers goes to live with the Indians and his life as a White man is over...at least for now. When his people are later attacked by the Cavalry, he fights with them--killing one of the soldiers. Will it be the firing squad for Travers?
Other than the way the natives are treated, this is also a very unusual movie in so many ways that it also seems like it's not a B- movie. Folks who are major characters who normally would NEVER die in a B-western die, the usual clichés are mostly missing and the film really keeps your attention far more than the usual film in this overcrowded genre. My score of 9 is not because it's one of the best westerns ever made--but among the Bs, it is. Among McCoy's best--and definitely one of his top performances in addition to the terrific script.
By the way, I have no idea why but IMDb reveals in the summary who framed Travers! Huh?!
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