''Comanche Territory '' is a 1950 American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film directed by

George Sherman George Sherman (July 14, 1908 – March 15, 1991) was an American film director and Film producer, producer of low-budget Western (genre), Western films. One obituary said his "credits rival in number those of anyone in the entertainment indus ...

and starring

Maureen O'Hara Maureen O'Hara (; 17 August 1920 – 24 October 2015) was an Irish-born naturalized American actress who became successful in Hollywood from the 1940s through to the 1960s. She was a natural redhead who was known for playing passionate b ...

and

Macdonald Carey Edward Macdonald Carey (March 15, 1913 – March 21, 1994) was an American actor, best known for his role as the patriarch Dr. Tom Horton on NBC's soap opera '' Days of Our Lives''. For almost three decades, he was the show's central cast membe ...

. Jim Bowie is sent into Comanche country on a mission to allow the government to mine silver on the Indian's land. This film marked the first credited role of James Best.

Plot

An Indian treaty prevents settlers setting up camp on Comanche territory, but

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

has been found and the government has sent Jim Bowie (

) and Dan'l Seeger ( Will Geer) to negotiate a new treaty to allow the precious metal to be mined. Bowie soon finds that settlers are planning a raid on the

Comanche The Comanche (), or Nʉmʉnʉʉ (, 'the people'), are a Tribe (Native American), Native American tribe from the Great Plains, Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the List of federally recognized tri ...

, all instigated by saloon owner Katie Howard (

) and her crooked brother Stacey ( Charles Drake). Katie falls in love with Bowie and turns honest, but it may be too late to prevent another Indian war.

Cast

as Katie Howard *

as James Bowie * Will Geer as Dan'l Seeger * Charles Drake as Stacey Howard *

Pedro de Cordoba Pedro de Cordoba (September 28, 1881 – September 16, 1950) was an American actor. Biography De Cordoba was born in New York City to parents who were French and Cuban in origin. He was a classically trained theatre actor who confessed h ...

as Quisima * Ian MacDonald as Walsh * Rick Vallin as Pakanah * Parley Baer as Boozer, the bartender * James Best as Sam * Edmund Cobb as Ed

Production

In March 1949, Universal announced they would make a biopic of Jim Bowie produced by

Leonard Goldstein Leonard Goldstein (May 28, 1903 – July 23, 1954) was an American film producer who produced mainly low-budget films, making multiple films at a time. Arthur Lubin called him "a doll to work with. I don't think he knew too much about production ...

, most likely to star Scott Brady as Bowie. The film was originally called ''The Bowie Knife''. It was O'Hara's second film for Universal, following '' Bagdad'' (1949), and co-star Macdonald Carey's second film on loan from

Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. **Paramount Picture ...

, following '' South Sea Sinner'' (1950). Location work was done at

Kanab, Utah Kanab ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Kane County, Utah, United States.Find a County
". ' ...

, but

location shooting Location shooting is the shooting of a film or television production in a real-world setting rather than a sound stage or backlot. The location may be interior or exterior. When filmmaking professionals refer to shooting "on location", they are ...

took place in and around the Oak Creek Canyon area of

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

. Filming was postponed a week in August 1949 so O'Hara could recover from laryngitis.

2025 Cannes Film Festival tribute

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American filmmaker, actor, and author. Quentin Tarantino filmography, His films are characterized by graphic violence, extended dialogue often featuring much profanity, and references to ...

paid tribute to ''Comanche Territory'' and one other George Sherman film, '' Red Canyon'', by hosting special screenings of the films at the

2025 Cannes Film Festival The 78th annual Cannes Film Festival took place from 13 to 24 May 2025. French actress Juliette Binoche served as jury president for the main competition. Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi won the Palme d'Or, the festival's top prize, for the drama ...

References

External links

* * * 1950 films Films directed by George Sherman 1950 Western (genre) films American Western (genre) films Films set in the 1830s Films scored by Frank Skinner Universal Pictures films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films Cultural depictions of James Bowie English-language Western (genre) films Comanche in popular culture {{1950s-US-Western-film-stub