It's the closing days of the Civil War, and the army is mopping up the situation out west.. Among the matters to be cleared up is a million dollars in missing gold. They have cut a deal with one of the robbers: freedom in return for helping to return it. Robert Fuller gets the assignment of leading the troops out to dig it up. There are just two problems: the first is that it's buried on Indian territory, from which the army is barred. The other is the guy leading them there is Dan Duryea at his smarmiest.

Over at Paramount they were producing geezer westerns, with stars who had been popular when sound came in and were now cheap. Universal was trying to promote its TV western leads onto the big screen, and Fuller had been doing a good job for the company on Wagon Train and Laramie. He's young, he's attractive, his character is clever, but Duryea steals everything in sight, including, it looks like, gorgeous Jocelyn Lane. What is she doing on an army expedition into Indian territory? Shut up, he explained.

With Claude Akins, Paul Fix, Noah Beery Jr, and Denver Pyle.

The man with a plan here was ex-Confederate Rebel Joe Barlow (Dan Duryea), who had a well thought out strategy for retrieving a shipment of gold stolen from the Union Army during the closing weeks of the Civil War. The story relates how he pitted his Southern cronies against each other and hijacked the only watering holes in the Staked Plains section of Comanche Territory. Which left the coast clear for him to do the same with Army Captain Matt Martin (Robert Fuller) and his band of volunteers as they tried to find the gold at the request of Union General Hood. This Barlow was a pretty sharp cookie.

There's a minor hitch in the works for all concerned with the appearance of Miss No Last Name Memphis (Jocelyn Lane), run out of Hays City by her former beau and sheriff Carter Drum (Don Collier) when he found a better catch. I don't know, Memphis looked pretty good to me and we never got to see who Drum threw her over for. Only thing is in Westerns like this, I could never figure how good looking gals, or any kind for that matter, managed to maintain their makeup in perfect condition throughout their entire trek through the desert. Lipstick, eye shadow, rouge, and never a smudge from wiping the sweat and grime off one's face - unbelievable!

Well this one proceeds along at a pretty standard pace with a band of Cheyennes trailing the gold hunters as their group gets whittled down through various means, mostly at the hands of bad guy Barlow. I couldn't help thinking Duryea borrowed his manic cackling bit from Richard Widmark for this picture, but Claude Akins' character proved even more of a nut case in his determination to get three more Indian scalps. I guess he couldn't foresee the consequences of attacking a half dozen Cheyenne all by himself. If Bugs Bunny were in this picture, he would have said, "Gee, what a maroon."

With a cool sounding title this was an okay Western, but that's about as far as I'll go. I thought the story might have been based on a real historical incident, but an internet search on the location brought up a bunch of hits for this picture and a place called Fort Phantom Hill in Texas. It was actually used by both Union and Confederate Armies during the Civil War, about the only connection this picture had with historical accuracy. No mention of stolen gold or any such incident as shown in the story.

Now thrill to TV's famed frontier fighter Robert Fuller in his first starring motion picture role . When in Southern California visit Universal City studios shows up this thrilling and nail-biting Western picture . From a forgotten page of history , this is the story of The Phantom Hill Incident, and the events that followed... Northwest Texas , at the end of the Civil War, a convoy carrying a million dollars in gold is ambushed in the desert . The U.S. Civil War occurred April 1861-April 1865, officially ending with the surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Court House ; once finished an Union army captain named Matt Martin (Robert Fuller) is assigned by a General (Paul Fix) to carry out a dangerous mission . As Matt Martin is sent on a secret assignment to retrieve the bullion with the reluctant help of one of the robbers , one man (Dan Duryea) who knows where it is hidden . Along the way they are accompanied by a motley group (Linden Chiles , Tom Simcox , Claude Akins , Noah Beery Jr) and by a Madame" (gorgeous Jocelyn Lane) who has been sanctimoniously ushered out by a sheriff from Hays City . Things go wrong when some bandits (Denver Pyle ..) set out to get the valuable stash . A million dollars in gold waits for two desperate men and a blonde wildcat !. As explosive as a bullet in the back ¡ . A woman's fury , deadlier than Apache arrows ¡ A man's gold fever hotter than the desert sun ¡

Tense , moving and suspenseful Western with a simple , standard story that engages the viewer until the last scene , dealing with a million-dollar gold shipment is hijacked and buried , while a misfit bunch is going to retrieve it , along the way they must fight off outlaws who are also after it and rampaging Comanches . The film packs thrills , psychological drama , noisy action , crossfire , twists , turns , and being enough entertaining . It's a medium budget film with comfortable actors , technicians , functional production values and pleasing results . Pretty good and pleasant traditional Western with professional direction and flawlessly acted by Robert Fuller and Dan Duryea as nasty Joe Barlow who steals the show as a treacherous villain . A Hollywood production full of interesting characters , shootouts , go riding , betrayals and Indian attacks . This ¨Incident at Phantom Hill¨not the best Western ever,...but pretty darn close . The picture is really intriguing , not merely because Earl Bellamy's tersely economic narration of his material , but because Universal Pictures made a decission to cut budget and reducing locations . This decent western is plenty of suspense as the dreaded trial approaches and the protagonist realizes he must stand alone against a heinous killer . The narration is perfectly adjusted , from the beginning , until the final showdown and being approximately developed in a moderated runtime : 88 min . Director managed to create a passable work of art with fine acting , appropriate scenarios , and attractive plot . Bursting with appealing , top-drawer characters, including adequate filmmaking and fine interpretation . The ending confrontation results to be tense , charged and riveting . This is one of a clutch of acceptable horse operas made in the sixties , many of them released in television . Here stands out a top-drawer support cast , along with the frankly excellent Dan Duryea , there appears other notorious secondaries , such as : Linden Chiles , Tom Simcox , Claude Akins , Noah Beery Jr , Paul Fix and Denver Pyle chewing up scenario playing another remarkable villainous .

It packs a colorful and brilliant cinematography in Technicolor , Techniscope by William Margulies . Being shot on location in Joshua Tree, and Lake Piru, California, and Universal studios . As well as an evocative and stirring musical score by Hans J. Salter , Universal's regular . Well produced by Harry Tatelman who also wrote the story along with the prestigious Frank S. Nugent , a Western expert who worked in John Ford's scripts , such as : Wagon Master , The searchers , She Wore a Yellow Ribbon , Fort Apache , Two Rode Together , The quiet man , The last Hurra ¡ , The Donovan reef , Mister Roberts . The motion picture was professionally directed by Earl Bellamy . Earl worked too much at TV , specializing in westerns that he shot a lot , such as : Three Guns for Texas , Seminola uprising , Backtrack , Against a Crooked Sky , Justice of the West , Speedtrap , Seven alone , The tracker , The wackiest wagon train in the West , Daniel Boone , The Viginian , Lone Ranger , The Sheriff of Cochise . He was a good professional who served in the US Navy's photographic unit in the WWII and directed more than 1600 episodes of television from known series such as : Marcus Welby , The Restless Gun , U.S. Marshal , Lassie , Bat Masterson , Shotgun Slade , The Best of the Post , US Marshal , Annie Oakley , Masquerade , Crusader , Wagon train , Soldier of fortune and catastrophe films for Irwin Allen , such as : Fire! and Flood! and a sequel titled Walking tall II . After Bellamy retired from directing he became the head of production for Universal Pictures , a cinema Company in which he made several movies like this ¨Incident at Phantom Hill¨ . Rating : 6.5/10 . Acceptable and entertaining Western . Well worth watching .