Incident at Phantom Hill

source: Incident at Phantom Hill

It's the closing days of the Civil War, and the army is mopping up the situation out west.. Among the matters to be cleared up is a million dollars in missing gold. They have cut a deal with one of the robbers: freedom in return for helping to return it. Robert Fuller gets the assignment of leading the troops out to dig it up. There are just two problems: the first is that it's buried on Indian territory, from which the army is barred. The other is the guy leading them there is Dan Duryea at his smarmiest. Over at Paramount they were producing geezer westerns, with stars who had been popular when sound came in and were now cheap. Universal was trying to promote its TV western leads onto the big screen, and Fuller had been doing a good job for the company on Wagon Train and Laramie. He's young, he's attractive, his character is clever, but Duryea steals everything in sight, including, it looks like, gorgeous Jocelyn Lane. What is she doing on an army expedition into Indian territory? Shut up, he explained. With Claude Akins, Paul Fix, Noah Beery Jr, and Denver Pyle.

This film takes place within the closing weeks of the Civil War with a Union convoy carrying approximately $1 million in gold in West Texas. Suddenly, without warning the convoy is ambushed by Confederate forces and the wagon carrying the gold is seized. That being said, with the war having now ended the scene then shifts to a young American cavalry officer by the name of "Matt Martin" (Robert Fuller) being given instructions to take a former Confederate soldier named "Joe Barlow" (Dan Duryea) and a couple of volunteers to West Texas to find the gold and bring it back. Unfortunately, there are several problems with his mission that he will have to resolve with the first being that he cannot travel in uniform because the specific part of West Texas where the gold is hidden now belongs to the Comanche--who guard the territory very aggressively. Another problem has to do with the fact that Joe Barlow happens to be a cold-blooded outlaw who has been promised a pardon if he cooperates but cannot be trusted to fulfill his end of the bargain. So he needs to be watched very closely and at all times. And if that wasn't enough, while traveling through a nearby town they are forced to take a young woman by the name of "Memphis" (Jocelyn Lane) with them to prevent the secrecy of their mission from being exposed. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was an okay Western for the most part but it had a couple of slightly unrealistic scenes which could have been presented a little better. Even so, I thought it was sufficient for the time spent and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Average.

Incident at Phantom Hill was an awesome western movie starring Robert Fuller. Mr. Fuller is an actor that knows how to ride a horse and shoot a gun. Therefore playing the role of a cowboy comes easy for him and in turn the audience is in for a big surprise of watching this man act the role of a cowboy back in the West in the 1880's. He makes it look easy doing these cowboy things but we really know how hard it is. It is just as hard to play a cowboy as it is acting the role of Shakespeare or MacBeth in a play or movie. It is certainly is ashame that Mr Fuller did not get more movie leading roles back in the 1960's and 1970's but this movie shows us that he was and is still is a classic western hero! Thank you Mr. Fuller for keeping the western cowboy hero alive! And Five ***** Stars for Best Actor!

The man with a plan here was ex-Confederate Rebel Joe Barlow (Dan Duryea), who had a well thought out strategy for retrieving a shipment of gold stolen from the Union Army during the closing weeks of the Civil War. The story relates how he pitted his Southern cronies against each other and hijacked the only watering holes in the Staked Plains section of Comanche Territory. Which left the coast clear for him to do the same with Army Captain Matt Martin (Robert Fuller) and his band of volunteers as they tried to find the gold at the request of Union General Hood. This Barlow was a pretty sharp cookie. There's a minor hitch in the works for all concerned with the appearance of Miss No Last Name Memphis (Jocelyn Lane), run out of Hays City by her former beau and sheriff Carter Drum (Don Collier) when he found a better catch. I don't know, Memphis looked pretty good to me and we never got to see who Drum threw her over for. Only thing is in Westerns like this, I could never figure how good looking gals, or any kind for that matter, managed to maintain their makeup in perfect condition throughout their entire trek through the desert. Lipstick, eye shadow, rouge, and never a smudge from wiping the sweat and grime off one's face - unbelievable! Well this one proceeds along at a pretty standard pace with a band of Cheyennes trailing the gold hunters as their group gets whittled down through various means, mostly at the hands of bad guy Barlow. I couldn't help thinking Duryea borrowed his manic cackling bit from Richard Widmark for this picture, but Claude Akins' character proved even more of a nut case in his determination to get three more Indian scalps. I guess he couldn't foresee the consequences of attacking a half dozen Cheyenne all by himself. If Bugs Bunny were in this picture, he would have said, "Gee, what a maroon." With a cool sounding title this was an okay Western, but that's about as far as I'll go. I thought the story might have been based on a real historical incident, but an internet search on the location brought up a bunch of hits for this picture and a place called Fort Phantom Hill in Texas. It was actually used by both Union and Confederate Armies during the Civil War, about the only connection this picture had with historical accuracy. No mention of stolen gold or any such incident as shown in the story.

Incident at Phantom Hill stars one of my favourite western heroes, namely Robert Fuller of Laramie ( my favourite TV western) and he is here, gravelly voice and all, on a mission to retrieve a shipment of gold that an ex-confederate officer Barlow ( excellently played by Duryea) stashed in the staked plains after stealing it from the union. Along for the ride, there's an assortment of characters, and they are put under trial throughout the 85 mins with Comanches, greedy men and Dan Duryea. This is an underrated western adventure that has excellent performances, great suspense and the staked plains location adds to the tension. Not a boring moment. Jocelyn Lane is a hottie. I am surprised that Mr Fuller didn't make more western movies, he is tailor made for the western hero and fights quite athletically ( well he was a stuntman)

What a picture!!! A low budget that apart Dan Duryea were almost totally made by unknown actors, the premise are really interesting, nearly shot on location with a breathtaking landscape on the desert and rocky hillsides, the plot has many holes indeed, however it was slowly mitigated on the movie, a one million gold has been transported by a convoy in charge a unit of the Union Army thru the Comanche desert, it was attacked by the Confederates at threshold of the end the civil war, the gold simply disappears without a trace, just one had survived, a confederate soldier Barlow, the Captain Matt Martin (Fuller) has a hard assignment to find out the gold with a help of a killer Joe Barlow (Dan Duryea) in exchange a pardon of the his previous crime, then enter at scene a beauty women, Memphis (Jocelyn Lane) joint on the group, in the casting has many attractive actors as Claude Akins, Linden Chiles and Noah Beery Jr., also a versatile director Earl Bellamy, even a Duryea making an overacted acting on a disgusting scoundrel, this B-movie is solid and fully enjoyable!!! Resume: First watch: 2019 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD-R / Rating: 7.25

Incident at Phantom Hill was released in 1966 as the western fad was fading- more's the pity as it's a cracking good western film. A great cast of western stalwarts lead by Robert Fuller from TV's Laramie as the hero and Dan Dureya as the ultimate villain. Any film featuring Dureya has class and here he chews up the scenery. Also along, the beautiful Joycelyn Lane and western heavies Claude Akins and Noah Beery jr. The plot involving a search for a lost horde of gold in remote Indian country moves along at a good pace.Directed by old hand Earl Bellamy , we are treated to some great location work and excellent character studies.I wish that all the actors had more time to display their talents but really it's a three way show with Fuller, Dureya and Lane to the fore.However Tom Simcox manages to register well as a survivor of the opening massacre of union soldiers . Dureya leads the confederacy on this attack and he has plans for this gold, just for himself. It is surprising that Fuller did not get more movie leading roles, he should have as he is the classic western hero.This film with it's excellent colour photography merits a DVD release and it has just received one in France, of course it's Pal but there is an English track. About time it was released in USA and U.K.

Trailer—Incident at Phantom Hill

Incident At Phantom Hill is a fair western, not good not bad. The highlights are the very beautiful Jocelyn Lane ( Memphis) and Dan Duryea ( Joe Barlow). Duryea who usually plays a bad guy plays one of this nastiest characters here, in a treacherous murderer who was also a former Confederate Officer who stole $1,000,000 in Union Gold. Up against him is Union Captain Mark Martin ( Robert Fuller) and four other soldiers who volunteered for the mission to get the gold in Indian Territory. Does Martin succeed and get the gold back ( and finish off Barlow?). Spoilers ahead: Of course he does ( thanks to Memphis ( who he does end up with). The problem is this is a story we have seen many times before. That is why it is fair. Not good not bad. 5/10 stars.