Huffaker's novel is reminiscent of the John Wayne films The Comancheros (for which Huffaker co-wrote the screenplay) and The Searchers. The main female role, played by Wende Wagner in a black wig, has no English dialogue. Rio Conchos was filmed in Moab, Utah, though the Conchos River and most of the action of the film takes place in Mexico.
An ex-Confederate States Army officer (Richard Boone) named Jim Lassiter, who has been avenging himself on Apache Indians for their massacring of his family, recovers a stolen new-type U.S. Armyrepeating rifle from some Apaches he has killed.
The U.S. Army arrests Lassiter for possession of the stolen gun. The army is concerned should the Apaches become equipped with the new superior firepower rifles, so offers Lassiter his freedom if he will lead a small scouting unit into Mexico to discover what became of the other stolen rifles, and if necessary destroy them. The unit consists of army captain Haven (Stuart Whitman), the Buffalo Soldier sergeant Franklyn (Jim Brown), a knife-wielding Mexican prisoner Rodriguez (Tony Franciosa) who Lassiter has befriended, and later an Apache woman warrior, Sally (Wende Wagner). They take with them 50 barrels of gunpowder, for use as required.
After battling their way through bandits and Apaches, they discover Colonel Pardee, an embittered former high-ranking Confederate army officer (Edmond O'Brien) who has set up a stronghold camp and wants to revive the war against the Union Army. Pardee's plan is to sell arms and ammunition to the Apaches and have them do the fighting. He has sold guns to those Apaches who slaughtered Lassiter's family.
The unit infiltrates Pardee's camp, claiming to be motivated by the money from the sale of the gunpowder to Pardee. The ruse is exposed when the Apache leader recognizes Lassiter as the man who kills Apaches whenever possible, and realizes Lassiter would not be doing anything that puts weapons in Apache hands. The men from the unit are assaulted and tied up, and told to expect much worse. Sally saves Lassiter's life and secretly releases him, and his hatred softens. He and Franklyn sacrifice themselves, holding off Pardee and his men long enough to enable Sally and Haven to get away, having succeeded in blowing up the gunpowder and in so doing destroying the new rifles and much of Pardee's camp.
The posters used the same approach to billing as Warner Bros. had in 1948's Key Largo, for which Humphrey Bogart had been listed first but Edward G. Robinson was placed in the middle of the three above-the-title leads with his name elevated higher than the other two (the third name being Lauren Bacall's). In the case of Rio Conchos, Whitman was billed as Bogart had been, with Boone in Robinson's middle slot and Franciosa in Bacall's spot, with his name listed third going left to right and at the same height as Whitman's. Boone, however, was billed before Whitman during the beginning onscreen credits, with each name appearing onscreen one at a time.
Reception
According to Fox records, the film needed to earn $5,300,000 in film rentals to break even, but it only made $4,610,000.[5]
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