Command, The

With shoot-’em-ups galore; a clean-cut hero; dust-beaten horse soldiers and fearless warriors; The Command — Warner Bros.’ first CinemaScope release — is a galloping entertainment success. Guy Madison portrays 7th cavalry doctor Capt. Robert MacClaw; unexpectedly handed the reins of his battered troop’s command. Unfamiliar with by-the-book military tactics; MacClaw nevertheless knows how to take charge. He keeps the book closed and his mind open as he leads his men and a settlers’ wagon train on a desperate journey besieged by waves of Indian attacks. Multiple Oscar winner* Dimitri Tiomkin provides the lively score pacing the thunderous action. And plenty of hoofs provide the thunder: the movie’s wrangler estimated the project required 41;882 horse-hours (number of horses times number of hours used). That ain’t hay!