Only the Valiant Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

Only the Valiant Blu-ray Movie Review

Kiss yesterday hello.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 4, 2013

Gregory Peck seemed to have such an inherent decency that when he was called upon to play characters who had at least some potentially unsavory elements, there was often a fairly dramatic disconnect. This has nothing to do with Peck’s formidable acting prowess, which is unquestionable, but goes more to something almost genetic—Peck was just obviously, almost intuitively, a fine, upstanding, decent guy. Rather interestingly two of the films Peck made in his long and distinguished career where his character is at least slightly sullied were westerns, a genre in which Peck did some fine work (The Big Country ) but where he sometimes seemed just slightly out of his comfort zone. Probably one of his most unusual roles, and one of his few outright villainous ones, was as Lewt in Duel in the Sun, a Technicolor fever dream western which has yet to matriculate to Blu-ray. Four years after that film shocked audiences with its flamboyant sexuality, Peck was back in a slightly more upstanding western role in Only the Valiant, that of Cavalry Captain Richard Lance, a well meaning but uptight martinet whose decisions lead to one unneeded death and, later, the promise of many more. Peck evidently didn’t care much for Only the Valiant, one of two films James Cagney’s brother William produced for Warner Brothers in 1950 (the other was Olive Films’ recent Blu-ray release Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye). Only the Valiant was based on a best selling novel by Charles Marquis Warren, one written before politically correct tendencies had started to creep into the public’s awareness of how Native Americans had regularly been depicted in mass media outings. In both the novel and this film, the Apache are savage killers who need to be rounded up and taught a lesson. Several times throughout the film the American soldiers remark about the Apaches’ intelligence, as if it were something that no mere “Indian” (to use the common parlance of the day) should possess. Perhaps that viewpoint had something to do with Peck’s general distaste for this film. Could you imagine Atticus Finch feeling anything but sympathy for a minority ethnic group trying to survive against formidable odds?

We’re introduced to the unfortunately named Fort Invincible via the voiceover of the equally misnamed scout Joe Harmony (Jeff Corey). The first name is unfortunate due to the fact that it turns out the fort was actually anything but invincible, having been overrun by Apache and now the scene of incredible death and destruction. Harmony’s name is inappropriate since this grizzled scout seems anything but sanguine, and in fact in the film’s first actual narrative scene, nearly comes to blows with Captain Lance when the Apache leader Tucsos (Michael Ansara) is actually captured by Lance but Lance will not allow Harmony to kill the “savage”. Instead, Lance insists that Tucsos be taken to a larger, better fortified encampment where he can face the wheels of the American justice system.

Meanwhile a romantic triangle of sorts is detailed as Lance’s sweetheart Cathy (Barbara Payton, who also co-starred in the Cagney produced Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye) is seemingly fending off the advances of Lance’s chief lieutenant, Holloway (Gig Young). In fact, Cathy seems to be more than just a little interested in Holloway, perhaps due to Lance’s singular devotion to his career, at the expense of paying attention to his would be fiancée. When Lance, initially set to take Tucsos back to safety himself, is instead ordered to have Holloway do it, Lance follows orders, which only puts him in hotter water with the men who haven’t particularly liked him to begin with. When Holloway is ambushed and killed and Tucsos escapes, Lance finds himself surrounded by troops who consider him a traitor and a coward. But Lance is simply too stubborn to simply open up about what’s really happened, and he more or less consigns himself to taking everyone’s abuse.

When a second mission arises that has a greater chance than not of ending in death for all involved, Lance does something rather unexpected. He announces that most of the soldiers who had been complaining the loudest about him accompany him on the supposedly doomed outing, but not necessarily for the reasons one might think. In one of the oddest scenes from any calvary western, Lance lines up these soldiers, including hard drinking Corporal Gilchrist (Ward Bond), the sour and antagonistic Sergeant Murdock (Neville Brand), and the perhaps half mad Kebussyan (Lon Chaney, Jr.), an unbalanced man who had previously attempted to kill Lance by strangling him. Lance then proceeds to spout out a laundry list of why these guys are perfect for the job—which pretty much amounts to stating, “no one is going to notice when you’re dead”.

Only the Valiant derives most of its drama once this second section offers this disparate group of misfits as a sort of castaway aggregation, trapped by a dangerous pass that is of course going to be attacked by the Apache. Internecine strife breaks out, and predictably Lance comes in for repeated haranguing (and even one more attempt on his life). The film hinges on Lance’s kind of dunderheaded decision to let everyone think he’s a murderer, more or less, instead of simply spilling the beans that he was “only following orders”. While this was perhaps intended to create sympathy for the character, what it does is actually make Lance more annoying, as many viewers will probably be saying to themselves, “You know, Captain, you could have had a much easier time of it by simply telling the truth”.

To my eyes, Peck does seem slightly ill at ease in the role, as if he’s only too aware of the artificialities the plot begins to pile on. But his innate understated forcefulness actually ultimately works toward the film’s benefit, especially in the rousing climax. The real interest here may well be the extremely colorful supporting cast. At this point in her career, Barbara Payton was the “it” girl in Hollywood, signed to a special management deal by William Cagney and paid the rather surprising sum of $5,000 week despite not having proven herself as a major box office attraction. Within just a few years, her career would be in tatters due to fast living and alcoholism and she would be prostituting herself on Sunset Boulevard. Lon Chaney, Jr. is virtually unrecognizable in this film, a bearded madman who is in some ways more frightening than any of the “monsters” he portrayed. This film is certainly more evidence that Chaney was a rather nuanced actor when given the chance. Ward Bond is fairly over the top in a role that might have been more at home in a John Ford film, probably played by the likes of Victor McLaglen. Journeyman director Gordon Douglas (who also did Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye) stages things very well, though it’s not hard to spot the changes from second unit location work to the much more pristine confines of the studio.

Only the Valiant Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Only the Valiant is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.37:1. Much like its 1950 Warner Brothers counterpart also recently released by Olive, Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye, Only the Valiant boasts a rather impressive looking high definition presentation, all things considered. The elements here are not in quite as good shape as with the James Cagney starrer, with a few more speckles and scratches dotting the proceedings. But contrast is very strong, with nicely shrouded blacks and a very well modulated gray scale. The image is decently sharp in midrange shots and a good deal more than that in many close-ups. As with virtually all Olive releases, there has been no restoration done here, but there likewise has been a lack of digital tweaking, leaving an occasionally slightly damaged but natural looking transfer.

Only the Valiant Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Only the Valiant's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio Mono track sounds relatively decent most of the time, though there is some minor recurrent distortion in the upper midrange which is especially noticeable in some of Franz Waxman's brass inflected cues. Otherwise, though, things sound nicely hiss and damage free, with dialogue coming through very well. Dynamic range is quite wide in this film courtesy of the expected Native American whooping and hollering and of course the requisite gun fights.

Only the Valiant Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

No supplements are offered on this Blu-ray disc.

Only the Valiant Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Only the Valiant is a western potboiler, and it hinges on a few too many plot devices to make it totally satisfying, but there are a lot of good elements here for those who like this sort of western adventure. If Peck isn't totally at ease in the lead role, he still does admirably well for the most part, and the supporting cast is uniformly excellent (though it must be stated if there's one actor even less likely to seem comfortable in a western than Peck, it would have to be Gig Young). Some of the barbs tossed out toward both "Indians" and "A-rabs" (courtesy of the Chaney character) may strike some politically correct ears as abhorrent, but one has to accept them as part of our cultural heritage, for better or worse. The film is nicely staged for the most part, though "staged" in its other meaning is a detriment, when one considers the patently fake looking studio sets that are supposed to mimic the great outdoors. This Blu-ray offers occasionally slightly problematic video and audio, but for western fans at least, comes Recommended.