''Santa Fe Passage'' is a 1955 American Western film directed by

William Witney William Nuelsen Witney (May 15, 1915 – March 17, 2002) was an American film and television director. He is best remembered for the action films he made for Republic Pictures, particularly serials: ''Dick Tracy Returns'', ''G-Men vs. the Black ...

and starring John Payne,

Faith Domergue Faith Marie Domergue (; June 16, 1924 or 1925 – April 4, 1999) was an American film and television actress. Discovered at age sixteen by media and aircraft mogul Howard Hughes, she was signed to a contract with Hughes' RKO Radio Pictur ...

and Rod Cameron.

Plot

Kirby Randolph ( John Payne) is a veteran scout who comes to hate all Indians after being betrayed by a

Kiowa Kiowa () people are a Native American tribe and an indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in the 17th and 18th centuries,Pritzker 326 and eve ...

chief called Satank (

George Keymas George Keymas (November 18, 1925 – January 17, 2008) was an American film actor, film and television actor.Martin p.68 Keymas graduated from Springfield (Ohio) High School. Keymas began his Hollywood career in 1950, mainly in Westerns. His f ...

), whose massacre killed many men and ruined Kirby's reputation. Kirby and his partner Sam Beekman ( Slim Pickens) are offered work by Jess Griswold ( Rod Cameron), who believes a man deserves a second chance. Kirby immediately demands that an old Indian woman, Ptewaquin ( Irene Tedrow), be ordered off the wagon train, but her young companion Aurelie St. Clair (

) refuses to part ways with her. Aurelie has a half-interest in a shipment of ammunition being delivered to Mexican soldiers. The antagonism between her and Kirby changes to a mutual attraction after Kirby heroically saves several lives along the trail. Jess, who also loves Aurelie, picks a fight with Kirby by disclosing that the girl is a "half-breed." The two men's differences are forgotten during an attack by Satank's men. A broken leg slows Jess, who volunteers to remain behind and keep fighting while the others escape. Kirby ends up face-to-face with Satank, who is about to kill him when the old woman, Ptewaquin, saves him by killing the Indian chief at the cost of her own life. Kirby discovers that the woman was Aurelie's mother. His hatred gone, he and Aurelie plan to be married in the manner of her mother's people.

Cast

* John Payne as Kirby Randolph *

as Aurelie St. Clair * Rod Cameron as Jess Griswold * Slim Pickens as Sam Beekman * Irene Tedrow as Ptewaquin *

as Chief Satank *

Leo Gordon Leo Vincent Gordon (December 2, 1922 – December 26, 2000) was an American character actor and screenwriter. During more than 40 years in film and television he was most frequently cast as a supporting actor playing brutish bad guys but oc ...

as Tuss McLawery * Anthony Caruso as Chavez

Production

Parts of the film were shot in

Snow Canyon State Park Snow Canyon State Park is a state park in Utah, located in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve. The park features a canyon carved from the red and white Navajo sandstone of the Red Mountains, as well as the extinct Santa Clara Volcano, lava tubes, ...

References

External links

* * * * * 1955 films Films directed by William Witney 1955 Western (genre) films Republic Pictures films American Western (genre) films Films shot in Utah Trucolor films Films with screenplays by Henry Wilson Allen Films based on works by Henry Wilson Allen 1950s English-language films 1950s American films {{1950s-Western-film-stub

Plot

Cast

Production

See also

References

External links