Sergeant Rutledge

Hunter plays a Calvary Lieutenant defending a black officer, played by Woody Strode, accused of raping and killing a white woman.

Wildly uneven entry from director Ford, with Strode’s stand-out performance overshadowed by stagy court scenes and the atrocious acting of the rest of his troop. Granted, you could make the case that Ford was trying to satirize the traditional portrayal of black characters in the western genre, by that still doesn’t excuse the gimmicky flashback transitions and improbably melodramatic ending.