Search - Only the Valiant on DVD


Only the Valiant
Only the Valiant
Actors: Gregory Peck, Lon Chaney Jr., Art Baker, Ward Bond, Neville Brand
Genres: Action & Adventure, Westerns
NR     2008     1hr 45min

Genre: Westerns Rating: NR Release Date: 1-JUL-2008 Media Type: DVD

     
1

Larger Image

Movie Details

Actors: Gregory Peck, Lon Chaney Jr., Art Baker, Ward Bond, Neville Brand
Creators: Lionel Lindon, Franz Waxman
Genres: Action & Adventure, Westerns
Sub-Genres: Action & Adventure, Westerns
Studio: Lions Gate
Format: DVD - Black and White,Full Screen - Closed-captioned,Subtitled
DVD Release Date: 07/01/2008
Original Release Date: 01/01/1951
Theatrical Release Date: 01/01/1951
Release Year: 2008
Run Time: 1hr 45min
Screens: Black and White,Full Screen
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaDVD Credits: 1
Total Copies: 0
Members Wishing: 4
MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Languages: English
Subtitles: English, Spanish
See Also:

Similar Movies

Yellow Sky
Director: William A. Wellman
8
   NR   2006   1hr 38min
The Stalking Moon
Director: Robert Mulligan
5
   G   2008   1hr 49min
Escape From Fort Bravo
Director: John Sturges
8
   NR   2008   1hr 39min
The Bravados
Director: Henry King
4
   NR   2005   1hr 38min
Fox Western Classics
Rawhide / The Gunfighter / Garden of Evil
Directors: Henry Hathaway, Henry King
5
   NR   2008   4hr 32min
Distant Drums
Director: Raoul Walsh
2
   NR   2004   1hr 41min
Shootout
Director: Henry Hathaway
2
   NR   2002   1hr 35min

Similarly Requested DVDs

The Long Kiss Goodnight
Director: Renny Harlin
   R   1997   2hr 0min
   
The Lawnmower Man
New Line Platinum Series
Director: Brett Leonard
   R   1997   1hr 47min
   
Top Gun
Director: Tony Scott
   PG   1998   1hr 50min
   
The Thomas Crown Affair
Director: John McTiernan
   R   2000   1hr 53min
   
Silverado
Director: Lawrence Kasdan
   PG-13   2002   2hr 13min
   
The Art of War
   R   2000   1hr 57min
   
The Eagle Has Landed
Director: John Sturges
   PG   2001   2hr 3min
   
American Outlaws
   PG-13   2001   1hr 34min
   
Pulp Fiction
Two-Disc Collector's Edition
Director: Quentin Tarantino
   R   2002   2hr 34min
   
Firefox
   PG   2002   2hr 16min
   
 

Movie Reviews

Outstanding Western
Charles J. Rector | Woodstock, IL United States | 06/25/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Only the Valiant is an early example of what might be called the
"impossible mission" movie subgenre. Flicks of this type have plots in which a certain number of men, ususally hard cases, are picked for a do or die mission in which there is a high degree of failure. Other notable films of this sort are The Guns of Navarone, The Dirty Dozen and Where Eagles Dare.

Gregory Peck stars as Captain Richard Lance who is a commander of United States Cavalry stationed in the Wild West. Captain Lance needs to send an Apache Chief Tuscos (Michael Ansara), who harbors violent hatred of Americans, to a prison at another fort. Captain Lance sends Lieutenant William Holloway (Gig Young) to escort the chief.

However, Indians attack the escort freeing the chief and killing
Lieutenant Holloway. The chief then goes on to lead an Indian uprising against the Americans. Captain Lance is held responsible for the debacle by both his men and his girlfriend, Cathy Eversham (Barbara Payton). This is especially serious since Holloway was widely beloved.

With the uprising, the fort that Captain Lance's troops are stationed at is vulnerable to attack. If the fort falls before reinforcements can arrive, then the territory and its settlers will be wide open to Indian attack. Captain Lance decides that the best course of action is to take a personally selected task force to a nearby fort that occupies a mountain pass that is a superior strategic position that was abandoned some time earlier. If that fort can hold out long enough for reinforcements to arrive, then the territory will be spared from
Indian incursions.

For this mission, Captain Lance decides that the only soldiers whose lives should be risked are the hard cases. These are the dregs of the army whose devotion to the cause is rather suspect. They include cowards, criminals, deserters and just plain malcontents. Among others, they are Corporal Timothy Gilchrist (Ward Bond), Trooper Kebussyan (Lon Chaney, Jr.) and Sergeant Ben Murdock (Neville Brand). The selected troopers, in turn, suspect that this is precisely why they have been chosen and they resent Captain Lance all the more for it.

Needless to say, Captain Lance's work is cut out for him. He must meld men who have severe character flaws together into a cohesive unit. He must work in a confine of responsibility and honor that is every bit as narrow and have the potential for being dangerously conflicting as the pass that the bloodthirsty Apaches have to move through to attack the fort.

Only the Valiant is a flick that could easily have been just another Western but in the hands of veteran director Gordon Douglas, it is a masterpiece of suspense. Douglas was one director who really understood just how to build suspense. This movie is atmospheric and intense and tells a story worth telling. It is filmed in stark black and white that only adds to the suspense. Douglas aimed to make a character driven Western and in that he succeeded admirably."
Above average western
Robert Haro | Califronia | 08/02/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)

"Very good western with strong cast. Gregory Peck does an excellent job as a captain in the cavalry wrongly blamed for the death of a popular officer at the hands of the Apaches. Film has much in the way of drama and suspense."
The Art of Leadership
Chuck | 06/21/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)

"A great story on the type of man who can lead, and the many types of men who cannot. A previous reviewer mentioned Robert Ryan as one of the actors in this film. Actually, he's not in it."
Hold Down the Fort
R. Webb | u.s.a. | 09/11/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)

"A classic made in the making,they just don't do'em' like this anymore. Gregory Peck,one of the true all time great actors is surrounded with a legendary all star cast,Lon Chaney,Ward Bond,Neville Brand, are just a few that make this film a winner. Peck is a Cavalry Captain who is strictly by the book leading a band of misfits to protect an empty fort from hostile Indians,as the tension builds each man's past is revealed and sets the stage for the final climax. One helluva Cavalry picture,although filmed in black and white,1951,Only the Valiant,a must see."