In R. John Hugh’s Yellowneck, five Confederate deserters make a break for Cuba, but become hopelessly lost in the Florida swamp. Surrounded by alligators and Seminole warriors, the greatest threat ultimately comes from within.

Yellowneck comes from Republic Pictures, an amalgamation of several Poverty Row production companies that specialised in B-grade westerns. All of the obvious signs of the B-picture are present: the comparatively short running time, the limited scope and production budget, and the telltale lack of rehearsal among the actors. Within those tight constraints, however, Hugh has directed a reasonable piece of entertainment.

There is an old running joke about the British Broadcasting Corporation, which gained a reputation in the 20th century for telling ambitious stories on shoestring budgets, with a hypothetical example being an adaptation of Zulu that consisted of two men looking out of a tent with one exclaiming ‘there are thousands of them out there!’ While that is obviously a slight exaggeration, it is impressive – and highly reminiscent – to see just how much mileage Hugh gets from five angry men in a swamp.

The ragtag crew consists of a nameless Sergeant (Lin McCarthy), the gold-smuggling Plunkett (Berry Kroeger), the avaricious “Cockney” (Harold Gordon), and the idealistic “Kid” (Bill Mason). Soon into their escape, the stumble into a runaway Colonel (Stephen Courtleigh) who refuses to take demand and seems to be hoarding a terrible secret. While the cast acquit themselves solidly, it is Kroeger and Gordon who benefit from more vividly drawn and entertaining characters. In the film’s second half it is Courtleigh that impresses the most.

The plot forms a high-pressure powder keg. The Cockney wants Plunkett’s gold, and is willing to kill to get it. The unseen Seminole seem to be growing ever-closer. When one of the group falls sick with a fever, his comrades debate whether to continue dragging him along or leave him to die. The screenplay, by Nat S. Linden from a story by Hugh, builds tension well with a strong narrative pace.

Production values are, in a word, scrappy. Scenes shot on location do not match well with ones shot in a studio. The film has been shot in Republic’s own Trucolor, an inferior process to Hollywood’s better-known colour systems. Much of the budget appears to have been expended on a climactic solider-versus-Seminole shootout. As one might expect, it is not executed in a remotely respectful fashion, with stereotypical ‘savages’ played by white actors in brownface. Technically speaking, it does well with what it has. It even includes a number of traditional elements of the jungle film, including a horde of snakes and a patch of quicksand.

While the film is clearly limited by budget and scope, Hugh has pulled together a surprisingly effective small-scale thriller. As with all films, one has to ask what the filmmaker is attempting to do, and then whether or not they succeed. With Yellowneck, the aim is to make a short, entertaining diversion before the main feature – and on those requirements, the film succeeds.

1955 West is a review project to watch as many western features from 1955 as possible, in order to gain a ‘snapshot’ view of the genre at its height. According to Letterboxd, there were 72 westerns released that year. You can see all of FictionMachine’s reviews of them to date by clicking here.