John Forsythe

Francis "Frank" Xavier Cross is a conceited, cynical television programming executive who has the position of president for television network IBC. Frank has found great success and wealth but only by becoming cold-hearted and arrogant. In the opening scenes, he is seen working out in a room with a border that reads "Cross: (n) A thing they nail people to." His ruthless concentration on his career has alienated him from his family, having only an "at arm's length" relationship with his brother James, who is now his only living blood relative. Frank overworks his assistant Grace Cooley, forcing her to constantly break plans with her family and neglect her mute son Calvin. When a disturbing TV commercial that Frank personally produced is criticized by timid staff member Eliot Loudermilk, Frank responds by firing him on Christmas Eve. Frank's boss Preston Rhinelander comes to Frank's office with an idea about reaching out to the animal audience, and takes the liberty of hiring Frank an assistant, weaselly sycophant Brice Cummings, who is transparently after his job. When Cross is given the task of heading up a live Christmas Eve broadcast of A Christmas Carol, his life begins to mirror the story he's producing. The decomposing corpse of his mentor, media mogul Lew Hayward who had died of a heart attack seven years prior, comes back to visit to tell him the error of his ways, or as Lew puts it "All my success and prestige ended on the 14th hole when I dropped dead", and warns a similar doom is befalling Frank. Lew also tells him three Ghosts will come. Frank awakens in his office, seemingly a nightmare, but Lew causes Frank's phone to call Claire Phillips, Frank's warm-hearted ex-girlfriend. The Ghost of Christmas Past appears as a loudmouthed New York City cab driver, and takes Frank back to his childhood in 1955 where his mother Doris Cross is watching The Lone Ranger with him, until his drunk and angry father Earl Cross comes home after a hard day of working at the meat packing plant, and gives him a side of veal for a Christmas present when Frank wanted a train set. Mrs. Cross says Mr. Cross was supposed to go to the toy store, and Frank's father snarls that Frank should buy his own toys. The ghost chides Frank for not doing anything in his youth except watch TV, then takes him to his late teens in 1968 when he had his first job at the TV station, where at a Christmas party he met Claire, then 1969 for his first anniversary with Claire, where they enjoy a Christmas with simple gifts. The Ghost of Christmas Past finally takes him to 1971, the year in which he chose his job as "Frisbee the Dog" over Claire, and to have dinner with Lew Hayward (who was the president of the network at the time) instead of with friends. The sequence shows how Frank gradually became the man he is in the present, first through his father, who was a blue-collar version of Frank, who in the 1955 scene ranted about how most men at the meatpacking plant are lazy slobs who make up excuses to get out of work, and in the 1971 scene when Frank breaks up with Claire because her friends offered no connections to get ahead. The Ghost of Christmas Present then appears as a life-size pixie who's cheerful, childlike demeanor offsets her violent behavior; she shows him how Grace's family lives in poverty because of his stinginess and how much his brother misses him. After the second ghost's visit, Eliot Loudermilk, now deranged and drunk after spending Christmas on the streets, storms the office with a Double-barrel shotgun and tries to murder Frank. The Ghost of Christmas Future, a seven-foot-tall ghoul with a TV screen for a face, appears and shows Frank a future in which Calvin has ended up in a mental hospital, Claire has become as cold and uncaring as he is, and only James and James' wife attend his sparse and sterile cremation. As he feels his body being burned, Frank finally sees the error of his ways and begs for a second chance. He awakens back in his office, just as the live broadcast is approaching its climax. The reformed Frank rehires Loudermilk at a considerable salary increase, and enlists his help to hijack the live broadcast. Frank steps in front of the rolling studio cameras, and publicly wishes his viewers a Merry Christmas and delivers a manic but heartfelt speech about the true meaning of Christmas. Calvin urges him to add Tiny Tim's phrase, "God bless us, everyone", finally breaking free of his mute condition. Claire rushes to the studio, aided by the Ghost of Christmas Past, who offers her a ride, and comes on set as Frank reconciles with her, sharing a romantic kiss as Grace and the other television workers start to sing "Put a Little Love in Your Heart". Frank looks up to see Lew Hayward and the Ghosts commend him, then vanish.

A young 12-year veteran lawyer battles not only one-on-one injustices in the courts, but the whole system as well.

The story is set in 1962 and opens with images of a Soviet military parade on the Red Square in Moscow, USSR. In Copenhagen, Denmark, a high-ranking Soviet intelligence officer defects to the West with his wife and daughter after a chase through the streets from the Soviet embassy to the US embassy. Upon arrival in Washington, DC, CIA agent Michael Nordstrom (John Forsythe) debriefs him and learns that Russian missiles are to be posted in Cuba. Nordstrom enlists the aid of his friend and French agent André Devereaux (Frederick Stafford), encouraging him to accompany his daughter Michèle (Claude Jade) on her honeymoon with journalist François Picard (Michel Subor) as a premise to get him to New York. André accepts, but his wife Nicole (Dany Robin) is worried for him. In New York City, André entrusts a familiar contact, a former French secret agent named Philippe Dubois (Roscoe Lee Browne), who currently runs a local flower shop in Harlem, to get hold of some seriously damaging papers concerning Soviet plans in Cuba from the visiting Cuban official Rico Parra (John Vernon playing a Fidel Castro-esq character). Parra is in New York to appear at the United Nations and stays at the Cuban consulate in Harlem at the local Hotel Theresa to show solidarity with "the masses". Dubois, taking the identity of a black journalist from Ebony, sneaks into the embassy (which is seething with visitors and surrounded by an enthusiastic mob), with a little help from a Cuban diplomat named Luis Uribe (Don Randolph), manages to take photos of some of the documents and then runs away, chased by Cuban revolutionaries. While cunningly dodging away, Dubois shams bumping into and overthrowing André Devereaux, who was watching events from the other side of the street, and slips the camera into his hand. A Cuban guard, named Hernandez (Carlos Rivas) helps André to get up, stares at him, and lets him go. Dubois manages to escape from his Cuban pursuers and returns to his job at working in his flower shop. After examining the photos, Devereaux confirms that the Soviets are secretly transporting and placing nuclear missiles in Cuba. Devereaux, unheeding of his wife's fear and jealousy, jets off to Cuba to find out more details. He catches up with his Cuban mistress Juanita de Cordoba (Karin Dor), widow to a former first-hour wealthy "hero of the Revolution", and herself now leader of the local underground resistance network: she acts undercover and collects information as Parra's lover. André, on arriving, finds Parra leaving Juanita's mansion. During a scene of intimacy in the mansion, Devereaux asks her to somehow take photos of the missiles as they are unloaded from Russian boats at the harbor. But Juanita's people, Mr. and Mrs. Mendoza, are arrested and tortured, while Parra's right hand man Hernandez, during a big mass rally held during a lengthy speech of the "leader màximo" recognizes André's face from the incident in front of the hotel. Parra, who has heard from the maimed and tortured Mrs. Mendoza that Juanita is their leader, leads a squad of Cuban soldiers to the mansion where he confronts Juanita and, hugging her in his arms, shoots her to save her from being tortured to death. In one of the film's most memorable shots, Juanita is seen from overhead, her dress spreading out on the floor like a bloodstain (although it is purple not red) on the big black-and-white pavement tiles, as she collapses. André is arrested is searched thoroughly at the Havana airport on departure, but the Cuban authorities are unable to find the carefully hidden microfilms, which provide crucial information for the CIA about Soviet activities in Cuba. André finds them hidden behind the cover of a book that Juanita gives him prior to leaving just before she is killed by Parra. At this point, the plot of the movie completely changes course. When André arrives back in Washington, he finds his home empty: his wife deserted him due to his Cuban love interest and returned to Paris. He is also recalled to Paris, but before he leaves, he is informed by Nordstrom about the existence of a Soviet spy organization called 'Topaz' within the French intelligence service. He is given the name of one certain member, NATO official Henri Jarré (Philippe Noiret), who leaked documents to the KGB. On arrival back in Paris, Andre attempts to get to the bottom of the leak, while his daughter Michèle wants to reconcile her parents. He invites some of his old friends and colleagues, including Jarré, to a lunch at a fine restaurant, "Chez Pierre". While Jarré eats, André tells the others about Topaz in order to provoke some reaction. Jarré answers that all this is a piece of misinformation, since he knows that the Russian official in fact died a year ago. But he begins to panic, and visits the man who is the leader of the spy ring, Jacques Granville (Michel Piccoli). But Granville, in his night gown, is "waiting for somebody". As Jarré is leaving Granville's house, a woman arrives. It is Nicole, André's wife, and as they kiss we see a photo on a stand: Devereaux, Nicole and Granville were old friends from their days together in the French Resistance. Devereaux sends his son-in-law François to interview and extract information out of Jarré. François calls Devereaux from Jarré's home, but the call is cut short. Devereaux and Michèle rush together to Jarré's flat, and find him dead having been thrown from his second floor window and landing on the roof of a parked car. François has disappeared. André and Michèle return to Nicole's, and a short time later François arrives: he was clubbed, but came to and managed to escape from his captors' car. He has overheard a phone number and shows a sketch of Jarré. Nicole, who was staring at the window then turns around and tells her family, with tearful eyes, that the phone number is Granville's, so he must be the leader of the "Topaz" organization. Devereaux goes to meet Agent Nordstrom and the Presidential entourage at Orly Airport, and to tell him about Granville. Nordstrom and company then tell the French they will brief them on the missiles in Cuba, but insist Granville not attend. The next morning, Devereaux and his wife, now obviously reconciled in mutual forgiveness, board a Pan Am flight back to Washington. And watch, she in revulsion, he in sardonic good humor, as Granville, bidding Devereaux "Bon voyage," boards an Aeroflot flight back to Moscow. "He never misses a trick," observes Devereaux. "But at least that's the end of Topaz." A few days later, the New York Herald-Tribune prints the news that Khruschev has agreed to dismantle the Cuban missile bases. An anonymous reader, sitting on a bench on l'Avenue des Champs-Élysées (with l'Arc de Triomphe in the background), reads the article. He then folds up the paper, sets it on the bench, and walks away. Note: The above is one of three endings for this film that Hitchcock shot. The DVD release has all three: 1. In which Granville boards a flight to Moscow in front of Devereaux, who shrugs and says, "Well, at least that's the end of Topaz." The final scene plays out as above. 2. In which, after the French authorities dismiss Granville from the meeting, we look down the street where Granville lives. A single shot rings out. We presume Granville has committed suicide. The final scene shows the headline about Khruschev withdrawing the missiles from Cuba, against a montage of those who lost their lives to achieve that result. But this time the passerby, instead of leaving the paper for others to read, puts it into a public trash basket. 3. In which Granville and Devereaux arrange and fight a duel with pistols. Granville, of course, loses when he is shot and killed by a Russian sniper who gets away. Devereaux claims that Granville was killed by his Russian handlers because he has outlives his usefullness to them. American TV networks, showing this film on their prime-time movie slots, typically showed the second ending. So also did various broadcast stations who acquired Topaz in syndication. But HDNet-TV, showing this film for its 2015 Alfred Hitchcock festival, showed the first ending.

** CONTAINS SPOILERS When HOLLY PARKER, a San Francisco shop girl, marries wealthy CLAYTON ANDERSON, it seems like a fairy tale, especially when he drives her up to the family mansion, complete with staff. Claytons domineering, possessive mother, ESTELLE, affects happiness for her son, but shes jealous and suspicious of Holly, suspecting that shell damage her ambitious sons rise in politics. The first few years of the marriage pass with relative success, and they have a child, CLAY JR., and although there are moments of joy, Holly begins to resent the large amounts of time that her husband spends away on business. Subtly manipulated by Estelle, Holly keeps up her social obligations, soon drifting into an affair with PHIL BENTON. When she tries to break it off with Benton, he becomes violent, accidentally falling down his apartment stairs to his death. Panicking, Holly flees the scene, leaving behind evidence that she was there. At home, Holly runs into Estelle, whose private detective knows of Hollys presence at the scene of Bentons death. Holly wants to tell the truth to Clay, whos out of town, but Estelle warns that it will destroy his career if Holly is accused of murder. Offering an alternative, Estelle demands that Holly fake her death in a boating accident and disappear to Europe, where a bank account will be set up for the rest of her life. Holly agrees reluctantly, says a tearful farewell to both husband and child, then goes ahead with the plan. In Europe, Holly tries to start a new life with a pseudonym and new hair-do, but the pain of separation follows her everywhere, and she soon collapses in the snow, found by pianist CHRISTIAN, who takes her to his villa. Holly convalesces, and although a warm relationship grows between her and Christian, she knows she can never marry him. Indeed, she eventually leaves him, referring to herself as "dead." Holly becomes an alcoholic, eventually landing in a cheap Mexican motel. There, she meets DAN SULLIVAN, a con man, who soon suspects the truth of her past. When he tries to manipulate her into a blackmail scheme against Clayton Anderson û now a New York gubernatorial candidate û a horrified Holly refuses. When Dan insists, Holly shoots him fatally. Arrested for murder, Holly slips into catatonia, refusing to speak, booked under the name "Madame X." Her case is turned over to a young public defender, who she does not realize is her son, Clay Jr., grown up! Clay Jr. feels an unaccountable love for this mysterious woman, and he tries her case. Meanwhile, Clay Sr. and Estelle watch from the courtroom, gradually suspecting that Madame X might be Holly. Holly/Madame X, meanwhile, addicted to absinthe, is gravely ill, barely able to endure the arduous trial. Holly soon finds out who Clay Jr. is, feels proud of what he has become, but doesnt divulge it to him, preferring to keep alive his memory of a fine, upstanding mother. She talks of a son she has abandoned, never telling Clay Jr. that hes the one. Meanwhile, Clay Sr. and Estelle also realize who Madame X is, but keep silent. Collapsing in court and carried to a back room, Holly tells Clay Jr. that she loves him just like a son, then dies in his arms. A devastated Clay Jr., uncertain why he feels such love for a virtual stranger, feels theres no use going on with the trial, but Clay Sr., knowing the truth but keeping Hollys secret, tells him its more important than hell ever know û indeed, without

One morning, in a forested area near the village of Highwater, Vermont, four-year-old Arnie Rogers is playing when he stumbles across the body of a dead man. After Arnie rushes off to get his mother, retired seaman Captain Albert Wiles, who has been unsuccessfully hunting rabbits, cleans his rifle. Having shot a beer can and a "no shooting" sign, Capt. Wiles is lamenting his luck when he stumbles across the corpse. Fearing that his third shot killed the man, who has a wound on his forehead, Capt. Wiles searches his pockets and finds a letter identifying him as Harry Worp of Boston. As Capt. Wiles is dragging Harry away to bury him, he is stopped by spinster Miss Ivy Graveley, who calmly asks him what the trouble is. Miss Graveley, who was out for a walk, is unperturbed by Capt. Wiles's situation, and agrees with him that he should bury Harry without involving the authorities, as the death was accidental. Miss Graveley leaves after inviting Capt. Wiles for tea later that day, but before Capt. Wiles can begin digging, Arnie returns with his mother, Jennifer Rogers. The captain quickly hides behind a tree, and is pleased to hear Jennifer, who recognizes Harry, express delight that he is dead and instruct Arnie to forget that he saw the body. After Jennifer and Arnie leave, Capt. Wiles is forced to continue hiding when Dr. Greenbow, engrossed in a book, wanders by but does not see Harry, and a tramp also comes by and steals Harry's shoes. While the captain falls asleep, in the village, eccentric painter Sam Marlowe cheerfully reprimands Emporium store owner Mrs. Wiggs for not being able to sell his abstract paintings at her roadside stand. While the pair are inside the store, however, they ignore a millionaire, who has stopped while driving by and wishes to buy the paintings. Soon after, Sam walks through the woods with his sketchbook and comes across the dead body, of whom he draws a portrait. The captain wakes up and explains his situation to Sam, who reluctantly agrees to help him bury the corpse, provided that Jennifer does not intend to notify the police. Capt. Wiles decides that Sam is right and goes off to dine with Miss Graveley while Sam introduces himself to Jennifer, whom he has admired from afar. Jennifer calmly takes Sam's unusual manner in stride and explains that after her first husband, Arnie's father, died shortly after their marriage, she learned that she was pregnant. Harry, the older brother of Jennifer's husband, decided that it was his duty to marry her, and although she did not love him, Jennifer agreed for the sake of her child. On their wedding night, however, Harry never came up to their hotel room, and Jennifer learned that he had read an ominous horoscope, advising him not to undertake any long-term projects. Repulsed, Jennifer left Harry, changed her name and moved to Vermont. That morning, however, Harry found her and insisted that she return to him because he was lonely. Refusing, Jennifer hit him over the head with a milk bottle and the dazed Harry wandered off. Theorizing that Capt. Wiles's shot finished off Harry, Sam asks if Jennifer minds a quiet burial for Harry, and Jennifer gives her assent. Meanwhile, the flirtatious captain is enjoying his luncheon with Miss Graveley when Arnie arrives with a dead rabbit, which Capt. Wiles happily realizes he shot that morning. Capt. Wiles then joins Sam in the woods, where they bury Harry in a huge hole. After they are done, however, Capt. Wiles deduces that he could not have shot Harry if his third and last shot felled the rabbit instead, and persuades a tired Sam to dig up Harry so they can examine him. Upon looking closely, Sam decides that Harry died from a blow to the head and wonders if Jennifer killed him. Determined to protect Jennifer, Sam and the captain again bury Harry. Later that afternoon, Capt. Wiles talks with Miss Graveley, who confesses her fear that she killed Harry during her morning walk in the woods. She describes how the addled Harry, believing that she was his wife, dragged her into the bushes, and she stunned him with a blow to the head with her sturdy hiking shoe. Despite the captain's misgivings, Miss Graveley insists that she must tell the authorities, and they go to the woods, where they dig up Harry. Meanwhile, Sam is at Jennifer's house, where the couple admits that they are comfortable together, despite having known each other for only a short time. Their conversation is interrupted by Capt. Wiles and Miss Graveley, who arrive covered with dirt and tell them of Harry's latest dis-internment. The group then concludes that Harry should be re-buried, so that the details of Jennifer's marriage to him will not become public. After burying the body yet again, the quartet is returning to the village when Mrs. Wiggs tells them that the millionaire has come back and wants to buy Sam's paintings. In the store, Sam refuses the millionaire's offer of money and instead asks his friends what they want. Upon agreeing on fresh strawberries every month for Jennifer, a chemistry set for Arnie, a cash register for Mrs. Wiggs, shooting clothes for Capt. Wiles and a hope chest for Miss Graveley, Sam whispers his own request to the millionaire. After the millionaire and his chauffeur leave, Calvin, Mrs. Wiggs's son and a deputy sheriff, arrives with the news that he found the tramp with the stolen shoes. The quartet beats a hasty retreat, but after they depart, Calvin finds Sam's sketchbook with the portrait of Harry, which matches the tramp's description of the corpse. Meanwhile, at Jennifer's house, Jennifer agrees to marry Sam, which delights everyone until they realize that she cannot legally marry again until she proves that Harry is dead. Dragging themselves back into the woods, the friends dig up Harry and are startled by the sudden appearance of Dr. Greenbow, who believes that they have just come across Harry and agrees to examine him at Jennifer's house. There, the friends are attempting to clean Harry so that the doctor will not suspect that he has been buried several times already when they are interrupted by Calvin. They quickly hide Harry in the bathtub and scatter his clothes around the house, after which a suspicious Calvin interrogates Sam. Sam casually manages to alter his drawing so that it no longer resembles Harry, and as the doctor arrives, Capt. Wiles steals Harry's shoes out of Calvin's car so that Calvin will not have any other evidence. After Calvin finally leaves, the friends are astounded when Greenbow announces that Harry died from a heart attack. Once the doctor departs, the friends decide to take Harry back to the woods and have Arnie, who has a tenuous grasp of the passage of time, discover him again, so that they can alert the police. In the morning, the quartet watches as Arnie finds Harry, then rushes off to get Jennifer. Before they disperse, however, Capt. Wiles questions Sam about his request from the millionaire, and Sam happily reveals that he asked for a double bed. The film closes with the text proclaiming: "The Trouble with Harry is over".

The year is 1863. The Civil War still rages. Far off in the Arizona desert, captured Confederate soldiers are being held at Fort Bravo by their Union captors. Surrounding them all is the monumental, inhospitable terrain and the implacably hostile Mescalero Apaches. Captain Roper (William Holden) of the US Army drags an escaped Confederate prisoner named Bailey back to the fort on a rope behind his horse. As they enter the grounds, the prisoners in the stockade resentfully glare at Roper. Roper tells his commanding officer that the man had ridden his horse until it gave out and left it to die, then fled on foot before being ridden down. Roper finds that his brutal tactics are unpopular with his commanding officer, his second-in-command Lieutenant Beecher (Richard Anderson), and the post's doctor. The post commander pointedly reminds Roper that the prisoners nearly outnumber the garrison. Roper admits that his actions are designed to intimidate the restless prisoners and keep them in check. Confederate Captain Marsh (John Forsythe) asks Roper for permission to see Bailey, which Roper grants. The young man is in a bad way, exhausted and dehydrated. He apologizes for his foolhardy solo escape attempt but couldn't wait for the pending larger attempt. Some of the more aggressive prisoners question Marsh's delay in staging a larger escape. Roper leads a mounted patrol into the desert to locate an overdue supply convoy carrying rifles to the fort. They find the wagons overturned and burned, the drivers tortured to death on ant mounds. As the slain men are being laid to rest, Roper notices smoke and mirror signals in the distance. An attack is imminent. On the return to the Fort they are ambushed and Beecher takes an arrow to the shoulder as the surprise attack commences. The Mescaleros wheel around the surrounded troopers, inflicting and incurring several casualties. The Apaches soon retreat into the distance and the patrol heads out to the nearest water hole. As night falls, the soldiers make camp and almost immediately hear gunfire. A band of Apaches is pursuing a stagecoach through the desert, with both the shotgun guard and a passenger returning fire. Roper' sends his men to intervene and drive off the attackers. The stagecoach is escorted to the camp, where the beautiful Carla Forester (Eleanor Parker) alights and introduces herself to Roper. She explains that she was on her way to Fort Bravo to see the colonel and his engaged daughter who is soon to be married to Lt. Beecher. Carla dresses Beecher's wound and explains that she went to school with the colonel's daughter, Alice (Polly Bergen). The next evening, sparks fly between the aggressively flirtatious Carla and an amused Captain Roper as she escorts him to his quarters. He agrees to accompany her, when asked, to the post dance the next evening. At the dance, Carla expresses surprise that a pair of Confederate officers have been permitted to attend. One of them is Captain Marsh, who gallantly asks her to dance with him. As they dance closely together, it is revealed that they are in fact lovers, and she has come to the fort to aid in his escape. The breakout is planned for the night of Lt. Beecher's wedding to Alice. Following the dance, Roper takes Carla to see his prized rose garden on the way back to her quarters. Surprised by this softer side of the stern captain, she asks about his late father. He slowly starts to reveal a human side as he falls for her. The next day, Carla and Alice depart for a nearby town to shop for a wedding dress. Roper unexpectedly and inconveniently volunteers to accompany them. Roper and three troopers escort the carriage. In town, Roper accompanies Carla to a dry goods store run by a Mr. Watson, a Confederate sympathizer who has agreed to provide supplies for the escape attempt. While Roper is distracted, she covertly slips Watson a wad of cash and describes the clothing, provisions, horses, and guns that will be required. Watson is to prepare the supplies and on the night of the wedding conceal the escapees in his wagon to leave the fort. After returning to the fort, Roper accompanies Carla on a ride into the beautiful rock formations above the fort. Roper comes on to her and embraces her. She fights him at first but then willingly submits as they kiss passionately. After Beecher and Alice's wedding, Roper tells a conflicted Carla that he in love with her, asking her to stay on and marry him. Meanwhile, the four escapees (including Marsh and Bailey) have climbed into the back of Watson's covered supply wagon. Carla tells Roper that she needs to be alone to think. After he leaves, she runs to the supply wagon and tells Marsh she is going with them. Roper pointedly questions the nervous Watson as he exits with the concealed prisoners and Carla in his wagon. The next morning, the escape is reported. Roper is stunned and bitter at Carla's deception. He is to lead a detail in pursuit of the escapees and Beecher, even though just married, is concerned about Roper's methods and forces his way onto the patrol. Bailey is captured in a saloon, as Roper has judged him to be too cowardly to ride out into the desert again. Another army patrol has been attacked and Roper sends his troops to help them and continues on with just Beecher, the Kiowa scout and Bailey. Out on the desert, Carla seems distracted, and Captain Marsh suspects that she has true feelings for Roper. Roper's pursuit group soon sneaks up on the Confederates' campsite and gets the drop on them. Marsh, upset by losing his girl, hits Roper resulting in a fistfight, with Roper winning handily. Roper gathers up his prisoners and starts back for the fort. Watching from atop the spectacular desert rock formations, the Mescaleros discover Roper's outnumbered party and attack. The group is forced to dismount and take cover in the open in a small defile. Roper arms the Rebs and they acquit themselves well, but the group is hopelessly surrounded and their Kiowa scout killed. As night falls, Bailey bolts from the ditch and flees on one of their horses which has returned. The others curse him as a coward. The following morning, the Apaches attack again, wounding Beecher and one of the Rebels. During the attack, the Apaches curiously bracket the soldiers' position by thrusting lances into the soil around their position. No one knows why. The reason soon becomes apparent as single arrows are carefully lobbed from the surrounding cliffs, registering the distance to Roper's band. Deadly volleys of arrows soon follow, cascading down onto the group. Captain Marsh, Beecher, and others are hit. Two of the Confederates desperately leap from cover to knock down the lances guiding the archers. Both are shot dead. Roper makes his own dash and finishes the task, but the end is near. As night falls, Marsh uses a gun to try to force Roper and Carla to leave together, telling Roper that she fell in love with him and now he has to save her, but Marsh collapses before they can leave. With Marsh and Beecher near death, Roper realizes that his only remaining option is to pretend the others are all dead and break cover himself to face the Apaches and hope they leave the rest to rot and move on. At dawn, he sprinkles Marsh and Beecher with dirt and tells a tearful Carla to play dead. As he walks out of the defile, with two drawn pistols, he is shot twice and collapses. Suddenly, there is a distant bugle call and the Apaches flee past him. The cavalry has arrived. Bailey was not a coward after all; he had ridden to the fort and brought help back. Roper, Carla and Beecher are saved, but it is too late for Captain Marsh, who dies after congratulating Bailey.