Springfield Rifle

Following a standard western blueprint that has the hero going undercover to crack an outlaw gang, SPRINGFIELD RIFLE casts an aging Cooper (on the heels of his phenomenally successful HIGH NOON) as a Union officer during the Civil War. He gets himself booted out of the Army on charges of cowardice in order to infiltrate a Confederate gang. A rash of attacks on cavalry outposts leads Cooper to believe that an insider is supplying the raiders with information on the cavalry's operations. He joins up with Brian, the head of the raiders, and soon becomes a trusted member of the gang. Meantime, Union officials appeal to Cooper's wife, Thaxter, for information, but she i...