Perfect cast and a good story

Excellent, a Must See

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Often I wish we could give scores like 6.5, as "Flaming Feather" isn't quite good enough to merit a 7 but better than a 6. I also notice that the other reviewers really liked this one. Well, I did too--just not quite as much.The film begins with a rancher (Sterling Hayden) having his homestead attacked by an Indian bandit named 'The Sidewinder'. In the attack, Hayden loses everything but his life and is naturally determined to watch this bandit and punish him. Along the way, he meets up with the Cavalry--and Hayden isn't particularly nice to them. After all, they should have stopped the Sidewinder, as he and his gang have been at it for years and no one STILL has any idea who he is. He and the Commander (Forrest Tucker) make a bet as to who will get the Sidewinder.In town, Sterling meets up with two interesting ladies--a crazy red-head who seems like poison and a gorgeous and nice dark-haired lady (Barbara Rush) who is headed west to marry some guy named 'Lucky'. However, twice folks try to either kill or kidnap her--and both times the hero, Sterling, rescues her. What's next and what the fiancé (Victor Jory) has to do with all this is something you'll need to see for yourself.I think the film's biggest strength is that the plot is unusual--something pretty rare with a western. And, it never hurts to have Sterling Hayden starring in a film. But the film also has a few problems--such as wasting Edgar Buchanan in a support role, a ridiculous fighting scene where tiny little Jory is a match for the hulking Hayden as well as a final scene where the Indian lady runs up and grabs a gun and shoots someone--as Forrest Tucker just sits there and lets her do this. This final complaint is just sloppy and with a better finale, I might have scored this one a bit higher. Worth seeing--just not brilliant.

At one time the IMDb cast list did rather spoil things by telling us who the Sidewinder is, but since I wrote this review some years ago it seems to have been amended. So I'm altering what I wrote then.There are several possibilities about who the Sidewinder is, and I had my own suspicions (which eventually proved to be correct) as soon as he appeared. Sterling Hayden was his usual wooden self in the lead role, Forrest Tucker was sufficiently rugged as the army officer, but Edgar Buchanan made an unconvincing sergeant - almost as much so as Andy Devine in "Two Rode Together".In the opening shoot-out at his ranch, Tex seems to have a revolver that never needs reloading; I counted 17 successive shots, though six of these were fired when he was sheltering in the cattle pen; arguably he could have reloaded out of camera, but he then gallops off, firing another 11! And when the stagecoach leaves town it's picturesquely filmed from under a distinctive tree - which features again later in the coach journey after Tex has done his rescue act.The film is redeemed by a good closing fight between the whites and the Utes, with an unusual setting for the inevitable concluding fisticuffs.

Sterling Hayden stars as a cowboy who hits the trail in search of a renegade white man leading a band of Indians who burned his ranch and ran off his horses and cattle. The mysterious raider is responsible for the killing and looting of towns and wagon trains manages to elude the pursuing cavalry until events conspire to unmask the villain. Barbara Rush is the romantic interest of Hayden and also the renegade and her role is that of a damsel in distress throughout the picture. Forrest Tucker is good as an army lieutenant and there are comical exchanges between old timers Edgar Buchanan and George Cleveland. Victor Jury is also good as the dark, saturnine trading post owner. Arleen Whelan's role as a saloon singer doesn't have much to do with the film's plot but is quite a looker nonetheless. The technicolor is excellent, as is Paul Sawtell's spare music score.

A band of renegade Utes, led by a sneaky, low down, forked tongue white man, burn, loot, and pillage across the southwest. A rugged settler and the Army go after the elusive skunk and his gang of dirty rats and meet in a blazing gun battle in the mountains. Above average western.