Walk the Proud Land (1956)
Every year or so I like to review a new-to-me Audie Murphy film in my Western RoundUp column.
My previous Murphy review, Apache Rifles (1964), was published last April. This year I’ve watched one of Murphy’s more unusual Western films, Walk the Proud Land (1956), for the first time. My late father told me Walk the Proud Land was “a superior film,” and I agree.
Audie Murphy was one of our greatest Western stars, yet even so I feel he’s somewhat underappreciated. Thanks to Kino Lorber Studio Classics, his films have become easier for home viewers to obtain — and what’s more, in wonderful copies. It’s my hope that these fine Blu-ray releases will bring more attention, along with new admirers, to Murphy’s films.
Walk the Proud Land is part of Kino Lorber’s Audie Murphy Collection V, along with two other strong entries, Seven Ways From Sundown (1960) and Bullet for a Badman (1964). A link for my past Western RoundUp review of Seven Ways From Sundown is at the bottom of this post.
Murphy was 31 when he made Walk the Proud Land. He plays John Philip Clum, a religious Easterner who in 1874 becomes an agent on an Arizona Indian reservation, where he helps the tribe return to self-governing principles.
The screenplay by Gil Doud and Jack Sher was inspired by a biography by John Clum’s son Woodworth, titled Apache Agent.
For those who are interested, over a decade ago the late Western historian Jeff Arnold, who passed away in 2024, wrote about this film at his site, Jeff Arnold’s West, and shared some of the history of the real John Clum. Suffice it to say that Walk the Proud Land seems to have done a fairly reasonable job accurately depicting parts of Clum’s story, while dramatizing other aspects.
As the movie opens, Clum (Murphy) arrives in Tucson looking very much like an Eastern dude, complete with bowler hat.
Despite initially seeming rather out of place, Clum proves to be an unflappable man of principle, guided by his Dutch Reformed Church beliefs. The governor (Addison Richards) and Army General Wade (Morris Ankrum) are highly skeptical of the Department of Interior putting churches in charge of Indian reservations, but Clum is firm about his plans to treat the Indians on an equal basis as fellow human beings.
Upon arriving at the San Carlo Apache reservation, Clum orders Chief Eskiminzin (Robert Warwick) and his men unchained and tells Eskiminzin that the chief will govern his people once more.
There is ongoing conflict with the military over how to treat the Indians, but Clum persists in making changes, including re-arming the Apaches.
Disalin (Anthony Caruso), a member of the tribe, takes advantage of this and tries to encourage his fellow tribe members to kill Clum, but instead Disalin is killed by his own brother, Taglito (Tommy Rall). After this incident Clum and Taglito become blood brothers in a formal ceremony.
Clum also has conflict on the home front, as Tianay (Anne Bancroft), an Apache widow with a young boy (Eugene Mazzola), wants to be Clum’s wife but has to settle for keeping house for him.
Clum’s fiancée Mary (Patricia Crowley) arrives but after the wedding is shocked to realize Tianay has been living under the same roof as her new husband. Indeed, Tianay makes clear to Mary that she would also like to be Clum’s wife.
Matters come to a head in terms of both military-Indian relations and Clum’s relationships with Mary and Tianay when Clum courageously sets out to capture Geronimo (Jay Silverheels).
I found Walk the Proud Land quite engrossing. It’s an interesting story, well told over its 88 minutes, and most of it was filmed in authentic-looking locations at Old Tucson and other areas in Arizona.
Murphy is outstanding as a quietly determined man who repeatedly won’t take “no” for an answer. While he does have a couple brawling action scenes, Clum is a man of peace and his character patiently and repeatedly does what he believes is right, hoping for the best outcome.
It takes Clum’s bride Mary (Crowley) a bit of time to catch up with her husband’s attitudes; she loves him but is dismayed by the way his refusal to offend the Apaches extends to not wanting to offend Tianay with overt rejection. He instead lets Tianay know that in his tradition he can have only one wife and trusts her to eventually work things out from there and move on.
Besides the conflict with another woman, Mary is also frightened her husband’s actions could leave her widowed. In a scene reminiscent of Katy Jurado’s confrontation with Grace Kelly in High Noon (1952), Tianay convinces Mary that it’s her role to stand by her man.
Murphy’s good friend Charles Drake, who appeared with him in multiple films, here plays a former Army sergeant who becomes his aide. Drake is relaxed and engaging, providing a supportive contrast to Murphy’s quieter character.
As was common for the era, many of the Indian roles, with the exception of Jay Silverheels, were played by non-Indian actors. I thought Robert Warwick was excellent as the aging Indian chief.
I was also fascinated by the casting of dancer Tommy Rall as Taglito, who becomes Clum’s blood brother. Rall is best known for his exceptional dancing in movie musicals such as Kiss Me Kate (1953), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), and My Sister Eileen (1955).
Except for a brief scene where Rall performs a war dance, this is strictly a dramatic role, and I found him quite credible.
Walk the Proud Land was well directed by Jesse Hibbs. It was filmed by Harold Lipstein in Technicolor. The movie was shot in late 1955 and released in the fall of 1956.
The Kino Lorber Blu-ray has an excellent widescreen print with a strong soundtrack. The disc includes the trailer, which was newly mastered in 2K, plus five additional trailers for other Audie Murphy films. There’s also a commentary track by Gary Gerani.
Previous Western RoundUp reviews of Audie Murphy films: Destry (1954), Seven Ways From Sundown (1960), Hell Bent for Leather (1960), Showdown (1963), Apache Rifles (1964).
Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.
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– Laura Grieve for Classic Movie Hub
Laura can be found at her blog, Laura’s Miscellaneous Musings, where she’s been writing about movies since 2005, and on Twitter at @LaurasMiscMovie. A lifelong film fan, Laura loves the classics including Disney, Film Noir, Musicals, and Westerns. She regularly covers Southern California classic film festivals. Laura will scribe on all things western at the ‘Western RoundUp’ for CMH.
