UNCONQUERED (1947)

This Cecil B. DeMille epic from 1947 in glorious technicolor, is a lot of fun to watch. Set in pre-revolutionary war western Pennsylvania, the movie centers around the Indian War on the western colonial frontier called "Pontiac's Rebellion."

Based upon a novel by Neil Swanson, the movie is about Abby Hale (Paulette Goddard) a convicted murderer who is granted clemency in exchange for becoming an indentured servant in America.  Abby gradually becomes the love interest of Captain Christopher Holden (Gary Cooper) who is busy fighting the evil Martin Garth (Howard Da Silva) who is selling guns to the Indians and hopes to turn the American Northwest into his own personal fiefdom.

The movie is very entertaining to watch and a feast for the eyes.  The movie does have a few problems.  Paulette Goddard at age 37 is way too old to be playing the role of a girl in her late teens and early twenties.  Boris Karloff is kinda silly playing the Indian chief Guyasuta, and the racial stereotypes of the 1940s are well on display in the portrayal of all the native Americans in the film. Then there is the notorious scene where Cooper and Goddard are being pursued by hostile Indians in a canoe.  In order to save them from going over the waterfall, Cooper grabs hold of a low hanging branch with Goddard hanging on to him and pulls them to safety on a ledge.  Yeah Right! 

Other than that, Unconquered is a lot of fun to watch.  I'm especially fond of the scene where Gary Cooper props up dead British soldiers in a wagon to fool the Indians into thinking that reinforcements have arrived.  The Bad Catholic gives Unconquered four out of five muskets.