Conquest of Cochise

After war between Mexico and the U.S., calvary officers are sent to maintain peace and halt killing that still persists in the southwest. Stack, as commander of American troops, brings the mayhem to detente. Hodiak is Cochise (Jeff Chandler really owned this role, made famous in BROKEN ARROW).

Cashing in on the popularity of such pro-Native American films as BROKEN ARROW, Columbia's resident quickiemeister Sam Katzman came up with CONQUEST OF COCHISE. John Hodiak plays the eponymous Apache leader, who at the beginning of the film is seen conducting raids on the U.S.-Mexican border in the company of the Comanches. Eventually realizing that the whites are better armed and equipped than the Indians, Cochise wants to put an end to the raids and smoke the peace pipe, but the Comanches don't see things his way. In films of this nature, there is usually a foredoomed love affair between a white man and an Indian girl. This time, however, Cochise falls in love with Mexican aristocrat Consuelo de Cordova (Joy Page), whom he holds hostage while U.S. cavalry officer Burke (Robert Stack) searches for the killer of Cochise's Indian bride. Director William Castle does a nice job matching stock footage with his newly-shot scenes.