Freaktana A Major Disappointment

SparkMore n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Hayleigh Joseph This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

Byrdz ALWAYS check inherited VHS tapes with no specific labels to make sure that the whole film is there BEFORE starting to watch the movie.That being said ... I did enjoy the part of "New Mexico" that I got to see.Sure it was hokey and impossibly historically inaccurate ... Lincoln in New Mexico Territory just before the end of the Civil War and just before his assassination... come on now ! There were problems with the costuming of the Native-Americans as well as their casting BUT was a very low budget film and western makers were not known for being detail oriented in B-westerns.I did get to see Raymond Burr being dastardly and Andy Devine wise cracking much less than usual. Missed the singing in the 2nd half but did recognize Verna Felton so all was not all lost. Surprised to find out who was playing Lincoln. Did NOT catch that one. Lew Ayres very good despite being out of his usual element.The scenery = fantastic. Plot = better than some.Wish I'd seen how they managed to get down off'n that mesa though.

bkoganbing Although this film is entitled New Mexico, it certainly might have taken place in any part of our Southwest. It begins with the totally ridiculous premise that Abraham Lincoln took time out in the middle of the Civil War to visit New Mexico territory and make promises to Indian chief Ted DeCorsia that the US government would be feeding the Indians. That was really too much to swallow, anyone who has even a rudimentary knowledge of American history knows that Lincoln never got beyond 50 miles of the White House during his term of office. So when the film began with Hans Conreid as Lincoln getting out of that stagecoach I figured this one would be one ridiculous film.It turned out to be a film that was not half bad, but could have used a lot of improvement including cutting those first six or seven minutes and some other premise used to show the disappointment of the Indians in the white man's failed promises. In that meeting with Conreid and DeCorsia is Captain Lew Ayres who wants peaceful relations and is a man of some honor. But an ambitious colonel played by Walter Greaza and a corrupt judge played by Lloyd Corrigan turn the promises of Lincoln into dust. When Greaza is murdered by the Indians, Ayres has to go in pursuit of DeCorsia.Circumstance places Ayres and his men along with saloon entertainer Marilyn Maxwell and Corrigan at an old mission built on a hillside where they hold off the attacking Indians. One of the troops, Raymond Burr, shoots down a young child who is DeCorsia's son giving him and additional reason to hate the army.Jeff Corey who was having blacklist troubles got to appear in this film as a cavalry Indian scout. That this was an independent film is significant because Corey could not get work at a major studio. New Mexico which was an independent film released by United Artists is too low budget and its characters not sufficiently developed which would have made a much better film. It was a sincere effort and no one in the cast need be ashamed of their work here.

dbborroughs Old school western has peace with an Indian tribe collapsing after the death of President Lincoln. An evil colonel and inspector run roughshod over the native population. A captain, who was decorated by Lincoln for keeping the peace tries to keep things calm however war flares which put everyone in danger.Okay western is very much run of the mill. Its nothing you haven't seen before, especially if you're a fan of the genre. certainly its done well but at the same time the sense of having been here before makes everything seem less than it is. I liked it but at the same time I don't think I'll ever see it again, or really even remember it.

bux The great cast here, including Ayers, Maxwell, Divine, and Conried cannot save this predictable and routine Western effort. All the stereo-types are here, the fallen woman, the honor-bound Cavalry Captain and comic relief, but none of it seems to work well. The ending attempts to be different, but by that time the viewer could not care less.