Springfield Rifle

Film is set during the Civil War which took place in 1861-1865, yet one of the characters is seen to be using what appears to be a model 1873 Colt Army revolver.

The Trapdoor Springfield rifle featured in this movie was issued in 1873.

Its immediate breechloading predecessor in the military was not produced until after the Civil War.

When Captain Tennick is trying to line up a shot at the leader of the horse raiders, his kerchief changes from a bright red plaid color to that of an off-white, then back and forth several times.

During the battle between the army (driving herd of horses) and the rebels, Pete Elm's face is dirty/clean/dirty between shots.

At the beginning, General Halleck is wearing a crimson sash.

As a General, he should be wearing a cream-colored sash.

When Kearney is pursuing Hudson through the rocks, at one point he places his hat on his gun and pushes it forward.

The sunlight and shadows vary between shots in this scene, with Kearney and the hat sometimes in full sun, sometimes in full shadow.

When Kearney and the troopers ride out of town in the wagon with the Springfield rifles, at one point the edge of a road can be seen in the lower left of the screen.

When attempting to drive out the horse thieves by burning them out, the wagon section that Kearney drove is twice pushed over the edge in flames.

In the shot immediately after Col.

Hudson's bandits surrender, a piece of debris stuck on the camera lens is visible at the bottom of the screen.

At the start of the movie, when the Major has his shirt painted yellow, it's clear that the brush did not go all the way down to his trousers, however, when he was escorted out, you can see that it's now all the way down to his trousers.

After having escaped from the military prison with two of the horse rustlers Kearney rides back into town with McCool he has had an empty holster the entire time.

After dismounting in the corral he walks into town and has a revolver in his holster.

Gary Cooper is a real gem here, his cool, casual, collected, calm and concentrated demeanor builds a tremendous suspense. This is a classical western movie, albeit in a Civil War setting, and the theme is that of traitors, secret agents, spy circle, horse stealing and valiant conduct on a battle field.

Pretty decent movie overall but Lon Chaney JR just ruined it for me. Even at his peak he was a bad actor but by the time this movie was made he was a barely functioning alcoholic known for his bad performances.

During the American Civil War, a band of raiders led by rancher Austin McCool(David BRIAN)and his brutal right hand man Pete Elm(LON CHANEY JR),lead relentless attacks on shipments of horses being driven to railheads by the Union army for the benefit of their men fighting in the east. The raiders then sell the captured horses to the Confederacy.

I had a problem with the film's contention that the Springfield rifle was such an effective and awesome weapon. Eleven years after the end of the Civil War, a later-model Springfield was issued to Custer's 7th Cavalry, a weapon that, when fired continually, overheated, causing the soft copper cartridges of that era to expand, thus jamming the ejection mechanism.

The Union Army is losing horses to raiders in Colorado. A Confederate spy is suspected of passing route information.

The dates of the civil War stem from 1861 to 1865. In between, half a million men fought and died on both sides.

Tonight I watched "Springfield Rifle" for the third time in my life--but it's the first time in over 25 years. The reason I wanted to see it again was to see if the movie was as enjoyable as I remembered.

This is an enjoyable and underrated Western, but one aspect of it is particularly enjoyable and particularly underrated: the magnificent cinematography.Edwin DuPar's cinematography is excellent in every respect: the framing, the colour, the texture, the lighting and the location filming.

Gary Cooper heads a stalwart cast in "Day of the Outlaw" director André De Toth's western "The Springfield Rifle" set on the frontier during the American Civil War. The Union Army needs horses to launch its offensive, but Confederate spies out west are stealing those horses.