Taza, Son of Cochise is a 1954

1954 in film

The year 1954 in film involved some significant events and memorable ones.-Events:*May 12 - The Marx Brothers' Zeppo Marx divorces wife Marion Benda...

 western

Western (genre)

The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...

 film directed by Douglas Sirk

Douglas Sirk

Douglas Sirk was a Danish-German film director best known for his work in Hollywood melodramas in the 1950s.-Life and work:...

 and starring Rock Hudson

Rock Hudson

Roy Harold Scherer, Jr., later Roy Harold Fitzgerald , known professionally as Rock Hudson, was an American film and television actor, recognized as a romantic leading man during the 1950s and 1960s, most notably in several romantic comedies with Doris Day.Hudson was voted "Star of the Year",...

 and Barbara Rush

Barbara Rush

Barbara Rush is an American stage, film, and television actress.-Career:A student at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Barbara Rush performed on stage at the Pasadena Playhouse before signing with Paramount Pictures...

. The film was shot in 3D

3-D film

A 3-D film or S3D film is a motion picture that enhances the illusion of depth perception...

, but only released in 2D at the time.

Plot synopsis

Three years after the end of the Apache Wars

Apache Wars

The Apache Wars were a series of armed conflicts between the United States and Apaches fought in the Southwest from 1849 to 1886, though other minor hostilities continued until as late as 1924. The Confederate Army participated in the wars during the early 1860s, for instance in Texas, before being...

, peacemaking chief Cochise

Cochise

Cochise was a chief of the Chokonen band of the Chiricahua Apache and the leader of an uprising that began in 1861. Cochise County, Arizona is named after him.-Biography:...

 dies. His elder son Taza

Chief Taza

Taza was the son of Chiricahua Apache leader Cochise. He died September 26, 1876, after only about two years as chief. He is buried in Congressional Cemetery Washington D.C....

 (Rock Hudson) shares his ideas, but brother Naiche

Naiche

Chief Naiche was the final hereditary chief of the Chiricahua band of Apache Indians.-Background:Naiche name, which in English means "meddlesome one" or "mischief maker", is alternately spelled Nache, Nachi, or Natchez. He was the youngest son of Cochise and was named after his grandmother...

 (Rex Reason

Rex Reason

Rex Reason is an American actor.He is the brother of actor Rhodes Reason, who is two years younger...

) yearns for war...and for Taza's betrothed, Oona (Barbara Rush). Naiche loses no time in starting trouble which, thanks to a bigoted cavalry officer, ends with the proud Chiricahua Apaches

Chiricahua

Chiricahua are a group of Apache Native Americans who live in the Southwest United States. At the time of European encounter, they were living in 15 million acres of territory in southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona in the United States, and in northern Sonora and Chihuahua in Mexico...

 on a reservation, where they are soon joined by the captured renegade Geronimo

Geronimo

Geronimo was a prominent Native American leader of the Chiricahua Apache who fought against Mexico and the United States for their expansion into Apache tribal lands for several decades during the Apache Wars. Allegedly, "Geronimo" was the name given to him during a Mexican incident...

, who is all it takes to start a war.

Cast

• Rock Hudson
  Rock Hudson
  Roy Harold Scherer, Jr., later Roy Harold Fitzgerald , known professionally as Rock Hudson, was an American film and television actor, recognized as a romantic leading man during the 1950s and 1960s, most notably in several romantic comedies with Doris Day.Hudson was voted "Star of the Year",...
  
   - Taza
• Barbara Rush
  Barbara Rush
  Barbara Rush is an American stage, film, and television actress.-Career:A student at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Barbara Rush performed on stage at the Pasadena Playhouse before signing with Paramount Pictures...
  
   - Oona
• Gregg Palmer
  Gregg Palmer
  Gregg Palmer, originally Palmer Lee is an American actor, known primarily for his prolific work in television westerns...
  
   - Capt. Burnett
• Rex Reason
  Rex Reason
  Rex Reason is an American actor.He is the brother of actor Rhodes Reason, who is two years younger...
  
   - Naiche
• Morris Ankrum
  Morris Ankrum
  Morris Ankrum was an American radio, television and film character actor.-Early life:Born Morris Nussbaum in Danville, Illinois, Ankrum originally began a career in academics. After graduating from USC with a law degree, he went on to an associate professorship in economics at the University of...
  
   - Grey Eagle
• Eugene Iglesias - Chato
• Richard H. Cutting - Cy Hegen
• Ian MacDonald
  Ian MacDonald (actor)
  Ian MacDonald was an American actor and producer during the 1940s and 1950s. Some of his notable films included:* Warlock * The Lonesome Trail * Taza, Son of Cochise * Hiawatha...
  
   - Geronimo
• Robert Burton - Gen. George Crook
• Joe Sawyer
  Joe Sawyer
  Joe Sawyer was a Canadian film actor. He appeared in over 200 films between 1930 and 1962.He was born in Guelph, Ontario, Canada, and died in Ashland, Oregon from liver cancer....
  
   - Sgt. Hamma
• Lance Fuller - Lt. Willis
• Bradford Jackson - Lt. Richards
• James Van Horn - Skinya
• Charles Horvath - Kocha
• Robert F. Hoy - Lobo
• Jeff Chandler
  Jeff Chandler (actor)
  Jeff Chandler was an American film actor and singer in the 1950s.-Early life:Chandler was born Ira Grossel to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York, the only child of Anna and Phillip Grossel. He attended Erasmus Hall High School, the alma mater of many stage and film personalities...
  
  - Cochise