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Only the Valiant

Only the Valiant

Western · 1951

Only the Valiant, a classic western adventure, based on a novel by Charles Marquis Warren, the film tells the story of a Cavalry officer who volunteers for a suicidal mission to fight the hostile Apaches in an effort to prove his loyalty to his men and the woman he loves.

Movie details

Only the Valiant

“GREGORY PECK, AS CAPTAIN LANCE, WHO GAVE FORT INVINCIBLE ITS NAME!”

1951 Western 1h 45m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.5 / 10

Community rating

Only the Valiant, a classic western adventure, based on a novel by Charles Marquis Warren, the film tells the story of a Cavalry officer who volunteers for a suicidal mission to fight the hostile Apaches in an effort to prove his loyalty to his men and the woman he loves.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Only the Valiant?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Ride Lonesome

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On the way to pick up the bounty on a wanted murderer, a bounty hunter stops at a staging post where he is forced to continue his journey with two outlaws who want the murderer for their own reasons and a recently-widowed woman, with the murderer's brother and his men in hot pursuit.

Decision at Sundown

Decision at Sundown

Western · 1957

A man and his partner arrive at a small Western town to kill its most powerful man because the former blames him for his wife's death.

Death of a Gunfighter

Death of a Gunfighter

Western · 1969

In the turn-of-the century Texas town of Cottonwood Springs, marshal Frank Patch is an old-style lawman in a town determined to become modern. When he kills drunken Luke Mills in self-defense, the town leaders decide it's time for a change. That ask for Patch's resignation, but he refuses on the basis that the town, on hiring him, had promised him the job for as long as he wanted it. Afraid for the town's future and even more afraid of the fact that Marshal Patch knows all the town's dark secrets, the city fathers decide that old-style violence is the only way to rid themselves of the unwanted lawman.

Badland

Badland

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Detective Matthias Breecher, hired to track down the worst of the Confederate war criminals, roams the Old West seeking justice. His resolve is tested when he meets a determined pioneer woman who is far more than she seems.

The Naked Spur

The Naked Spur

Western · 1953

A bounty hunter trying to bring a murderer to justice is forced to accept the help of two less-than-trustworthy strangers.

Return of the Gunfighter

Return of the Gunfighter

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A gunfighter and a cowboy help a Mexican girl avenge the land-related murder of her parents.

The Gunfighter

The Gunfighter

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The fastest gun in the West tries to escape his reputation.

Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here

Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here

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While confronting the disapproving father of his girlfriend Lola, Native American man Willie Boy kills the man in self-defense, triggering a massive manhunt, led by Deputy Sheriff Christopher Cooper.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Gordon Douglas

Written by

Harry Brown · Edmund H. North

Gregory Peck

Gregory Peck

Capt. Richard Lance

Barbara Payton

Barbara Payton

Cathy Eversham

Ward Bond

Ward Bond

Cpl. Timothy Gilchrist

Gig Young

Gig Young

Lt. William Holloway

Neville Brand

Neville Brand

Sgt. Ben Murdock

Lon Chaney Jr.

Lon Chaney Jr.

Trooper Kebussyan

Jeff Corey

Jeff Corey

Joe Harmony

Court is in session

Put Only the Valiant on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Auteur Devotee

“Patience is part of the point.”

Duration becomes texture. The film asks you to inhabit its world instead of merely processing its plot.

The prosecution The Adrenaline Seeker

“A test of endurance, your honour.”

Stillness keeps submitting itself as meaning. At some point, contemplation needs something worth contemplating.