Fort Courageous (1965)

Perhaps because this does not have a star, as such, it actually works a little better as a tense siege western. "Lucas" (Fred Beir) is being escorted to Alcatraz prison when they arrive at a fort where the defenders have been decimated by repeated Indian attacks. With the commanding officer "Howard" ('Red Barry) the lone, mean, survivor, it falls to "Lucas" to try and co-opt the remaining soldiers and residents into some sort of cohesive defensive outfit. Luckily, they do have one ace in the hole - they have managed to capture the son of the chief! Even though you just know what is going to happen at the end, this is a remarkably downbeat affair. Indeed, had it not been for the patent unacceptability to the audience, it seemed perfectly possible that they were all going to end up toast, or scalped - or both! Sadly, though, nobody had the courage of any such convictions and what we do end up with is hastily, and rather preposterously concluded, with a soupçon or romance for good measure. Still, it's not a bad watch just not a memorable one.