A Western-style Christmas story. In 1856, the U.S. Army created camel connections to transport goods south between Arizona and Texas. After the construction of the transcontinental railway, the need for camel connections disappeared. And the camels stayed. Some of them were sold to entrepreneurs, some fled to the southwestern desert. This is the story of this unusual Christmas story.
The main intonation of the film, director George Blair and his team chose humor.
The main character (an ironic acting work by Wayne Morris), a gold digger with the speaking name Ford (John Ford is the most famous director of westerns) and the speaking surname Smith (a narrative name in English-speaking countries) is poisoned on a trip to Death Valley. On the way, he meets a companion Mary (another iconic name), whose charm is a priori unlimited (another pleasant acting appearance by Virginia Gray).
On the way, they will be pursued by three gold plunderers of Arab origin: Hassan of Arabia (“charmingly scoundrel” by Anthony Caruso) with friends. This journey is more like a country walk-competition than a deadly pursuit.
Unexpected will be the meeting of Christmas on the reservation of the Apache tribe. Native Americans who have embraced Christianity are like children, naive and simple-hearted. In the appearance of three Arabs on camels, they see God’s Providence and take them for three magicians. For these gullible Indians, the miracle of the Nativity of Christ continues in the present, their symbolic worldview transforms the celebration into an amazing mysterious mystery.
Ford Smith, Mary and Hassan and friends have the opportunity through the reverent attitude of the Apache to Christmas to get deeper into the importance of what is happening. And as befits a Christmas story, the finale will be happy, which was clear from the very beginning of this easy simple story of the Wild West.
Special thanks to the old "Leather Face" (screaming acting work of Emmett Lynn) for the bright beginning of the story. Folklore tramp-gold detector, booze and chatter combined the history of this film with many other stories of the genre.
My opinion is not bad.
6 out of 10