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NR | 1h 31m | Drama, Western | 1955
Western movies have always involved a surprising amount of traveling. Cattle need to reach markets near and far, families need to reach land they hope to call their new home, and men with troublesome histories keep deciding that the cure might be somewhere a few hundred miles west.
“My Darling Clementine” (1946) sends the Earp brothers across Arizona with a herd they hope to sell in California; “California” (1947) follows a wagon train filled with people betting their futures on whatever waits out West. Then, there are movies focused on characters like Jimmy Ringo in “The Gunfighter” (1950), a man who’d be perfectly happy if his old reputation would finally stop catching up with him.
That history rides alongside the wagons in William Witney’s 1955 Western “Santa Fe Passage.” In it, John Payne plays Kirby Randolph, a scout who makes his living getting people through regions which most would be foolish to cross alone.
The wagon–train Western was an early version of the road movie. The trip supplies its own problems, as wagons cross rough country, rivers, mountain passes, and long stretches where any sort of help could be days away. Bad weather, damaged equipment, and hostile encounters could all hold up the trip, while every mile traveled carries the settlers farther and farther from the lives they left behind.
Those wagon wheels were crossing lands already inhabited by native peoples. Encounters between newcomers moving out West and those who’d lived there for generations became one of the Western’s oldest subjects, though Hollywood’s treatment of those conflicts was often crude or one-sided.
By 1950, films such as “Broken Arrow” were beginning to give the relationship between settlers and Native Americans more attention, even though stereotypes and simplified portrayals remained common for years afterward.
Another Wagon Train, Another Chance
Wagon scouts Kirby Randolph (Payne) and Sam Beekman (Slim Pickens) are guiding settlers through Kiowa country when Sam chases down a Kiowa rider and knocks him unconscious with his rifle butt. Kirby recognizes the man as one of Chief Satank’s (George Keymas) warriors. Kirby decides that bargaining for safe passage offers their best chance of getting the caravan through. The deal goes badly, and Kirby and Sam soon find themselves blamed for a the massacre they failed to prevent.
Freight operator Jess Griswold (Rod Cameron) eventually gives the two scouts another job, this time on a run to Santa Fe. Traveling on this wagon train is Aurelie St. Clair (Faith Domergue) from New Orleans; Aurelie has hired Jess to transport a shipment of rifles she plans to sell to the Mexican army. Kirby’s hostility toward Native Americans quickly causes trouble between them, while word of the valuable cargo gives Satank another reason to take an interest in the caravan.
Rock Solid Republic Western
By 1955, director William Witney had spent years making Republic Pictures serials and Westerns, and this production gave him plenty of familiar flora and fauna to work with. We get all the trappings of classic Westerns—wagons rolling along, mysterious riders appearing on distant trails, punches flying through the air, and fists crashing into jawlines when tempers flare.
Lillie Hayward’s screenplay, based on a story by Heck Allen, also slips in some humor, including Kirby and Sam’s attempt to unload several doctored rifles during their meeting with Satank.
John Payne is well suited to the role of Kirby, especially once the scout’s ruined reputation leaves him bitter; the actor appears miserable without saying much. Faith Domergue gives Aurelie enough personality to make their scenes together work, and Rod Cameron is a good fit as the capable Jess Griswold. Slim Pickens was still years away from some of his most famous comic roles here.
Bud Thackery photographed this Republic production in Trucolor, with portions filmed near St. George, Utah; the location footage paid off. There are beautiful scenes of distant horizons with blue foothills, with many broad stretches of vibrant red rock that the wagons traverse.
There’s also a rather redemptive thread running underneath all the rifles and rumbling wagon wheels. Griswold gives two disgraced men another chance when nobody else will. Kirby eventually has to confront what happened after one horrific encounter with Native Americans hardened into hatred.
The movie handles parts of that subject in ways very specific to 1955 but warns against judging an entire people by the actions of some. The gorgeous Utah scenery, brisk action, and solid cast give movie watchers plenty to enjoy along the winding trail in “Santa Fe Passage.”
“Santa Fe Passage” is available on GanJingWorld.
‘Santa Fe Passage’
Director: William Witney
Starring: John Payne, Faith Domergue, Rod Cameron
Not Rated
Running time: 1 hour, 31 minutes
Release Date: May 12, 1955
Rated: 3 1/2 stars out of 5
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