The Command

This was Warner Bros. first film in CinemaScope, and in the final eleven-minute fight between Indians and a wagon train, action spreads across the entire wide screen, virtually making participants of the audience, equalling the stagecoach-Indians brawl in STAGECOACH. The story concerns Army medical officer Madison, who assumes command over a cavalry troop when the major in charge is killed in action. Pressed into escorting a wagon train through hostile Indian territory, Madison, who is used to healing, finds he must take lives to preserve his command. He is taught the realities of war by tough sergeant Whitmore. The direction is taut, especially when the film takes...