Springfield Rifle (film)

Springfield Rifle is a western film, directed by Andr de Toth and released by Warner Bros. Pictures in 1952. The film is set during the American Civil War and stars Gary Cooper, with Phyllis Thaxter and Lon Chaney Jr.. It is described as essentially an espionage thriller that pits a Union intelligence officer Gary Cooper against a Confederate spy ring.

What no one knows is that Kearney has accepted a fake discharge so that he can carry out a topsecret assignment to go undercover and find the rustlers who have been providing horses to Confederate troops.The film was not well received by critics. Jeffrey Meyers noted that Coopers career went down hill in the early 1950s, until High Noon opened in 1952, and labelled Springfield Rifle a mediocre western. Rebecca Fish Ewan called the film confusing and said that Cooper looked ever perplexed. New York Magazine said even Cooper cant keep this film from being just another ho hum Western. However, New York Life described it as an exciting military melodrama of espionage and counterespionage in a frontier fort. ........

Source: Wikipedia