南北戦争終結後、かつて敵同士であった南軍、北軍の二人の大佐がメキシコへ向かう道程で困難に立ち向かいながら互いに協力し合って行く西部劇。 南北戦争終結直後、旧北軍と旧南軍の大佐が、互いに協力しながら困難に立ち向かっていく西部劇。北軍大佐だったトーマスは部下たちと3000頭の馬を率いてメキシコへ向かっていた。一方、同じくメキシコヘ向かっていた旧南軍大佐のラングドン一行は途中、盗賊に狙われるが、トーマスの事前の忠告と協力で窮地を救われる。友情で結ばれた2人は目的の場所を目指すが…。
AIが作品の魅力を深く読み解いています
脚本: Lewis B. Patten / James Lee Barrett / Stanley Hough
音楽: Hugo Montenegro
制作: Robert L. Jacks
撮影監督: William H. Clothier
制作会社: 20th Century Fox
Obviously contrived with the box office in mind, this is an OK western that sees John Wayne (the rough and ready Yankee colonel) and Rock Hudson (the suave, debonaire, but broke, plantation owning Confederate colonel) and their respective ex-soldiers form an uneasy partnership after the US Civil war, to drive some horses to their new owner, Emperor Maximilian of Mexico. En route, they have the usual sequence of "Red River" (1948) style escapades before encountering treachery on a fairly grand scale that puts the lives of themselves and their horses at risk. There is a bit of chemistry between the two men, their opposing characters creating the odd spark - and some humour - as their journey progresses. Ben Johnson, Bruce Cabot and a very green looking "Airwolf" (Jan-Michael Vincent) chip into the story too, keeping it moving along steadily, if not exactly excitingly. Two hours felt too long - until the last fifteen minutes, not enough happens to keep the interest from dwindling, but it shows why both men were the stars they were, and is still just about worth watching.
