Duel at Diablo

As James Garner and others descend a rock wall via ropes under a full moon, the men each cast two shadows.

Natives of the continent now known as North America had to get guns somewhere, and it took the white man to see that they got them. Trading with the "Indians" didn't bring cash, but other products or sources of food that the white man wanted.

Lieutenant McAllister (Bill Travers) is ordered to transport ammunition through Apache territory with only a small troop of rookie soldiers to guard them. Along for the ride is ex-scout Jess Remsberg (James Garner) who is trying to track down Ellen Grange (Bibi Andersson) who keeps running off to the Apache and away from her husband Willard Grange (Dennis Weaver).

I saw this movie at my local movie house in early 1967, this was just before the spaghetti western craze that would colour the American western and help hasten in the late revisionist movement. For the time this is a violent and brutal western which seems to linger on the many elements of torture though this is softened to some extent by the films focus on racism a very important theme at the time with the civil rights movement in full swing.

Caught between Hollywood's traditional western genre and the revisionist western styles of the late 1960s and 1970s, Duel at Diablo seems both a little behind and ahead of its time. As an old-fashioned western, Duel at Diablo has traditional cavalry vs.

"Duel at Diablo" is a gritty, realistic, top-notch Western directed by Ralph Nelson and released in 1966. James Garner stars as the independent scout.

What makes this film interesting albeit unconventional are various themes that swirl beneath the main story line. Made at the time when the Civil Rights movement was in full swing, the film subtly touches on issues that were important during the 60s (e.

Lots of conflict and shooting in this rather routine Western of US cavalry versus Apaches. Bibi Andersson, who practically glowed in Ingmar Bergman's movies, is only a subsidiary character and looks like just another Hollywood blond.

In an age when black actors were confined to black roles, this film shows Poitier in a role that could easily have been played by a white actor-plus he's the coolest dude in the movie.Bill Travers doesn't have to do an American accent.

A thoroughly enjoyable western from 1966.The two main actors involved here give top performances, with James Garner appearing as Jess and Sidney Poitier portraying Toller.