“Chuka” starring Rod Taylor, Ernest Borgnine & John Mills / Z-View

Chuka (1967)

Director: Gordon Douglas

Screenplay: Richard Jessup, Rod Tayor (uncredited); based on CHUKA by Richard Jessup

Stars: Rod Taylor, Ernest Borgnine, John Mills, Luciana Paluzzi, James Whitmore, Victoria Vetri, Louis Hayward, Joseph Sirola and Michael Cole.

Tagline: They called him saddle-bum…desert rat…pistolero…but where would they have been without Chuka on that bloody summer’s day.

The Plot…

A stagecoach makes it to Fort Clandennon, a remote US calvary outpost located on the frontier.  Accompanying the stage is a gunfighter named Chuka (Taylor).  Chuka rode with the stagecoach after finding it broken down in Arapaho country.  On the stage is Senora Veronica Kleitz (Paluzzi) and her niece Senorita Helena Chavez (Vetri).

Fort Clandennon is under the command of Colonel Valois (Mills).  The soldiers at the outpost, except for Sergeant Hansbach (Borgnine), have been sent there as punishment for past crimes. Sergeant Hansbach is an excellent soldier dedicated to Colonel Valois.  Hansbach takes an instant dislike to Chuka.  The feeling is mutual.

Colonel Valois is concerned with talk of an Arapaho uprising.  His last patrol never returned.  Chuka sees that Valois soldiers aren’t up to an attack and tells Valois they need to leave.  Colonel Valois is insulted and refuses.

But it’s too late.  The Arapaho are on the move.  It looks to be a massacre.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Chuka was one of my favorite westerns when I saw it a child.  It still is.

Rod Taylor, Ernest Borgnine and James Whitmore shine.

The fight between Chuka and Sergeant Hansbach is a perfect cap to their escalating dislike for each other.

The reveal of why Hansbach is so dedicated to Colonel Valois was shocking to me as a kid. (And no, it’s not because of what you’re thinking.)  It was a bold choice for 1967.

Chuka deserves to be better known.

Chuka (1967) rates 4 of 5 stars.