Now, there just aren't that many "Westerns" set in Pennsylvania, so Allegheny Uprising gets points for freshness. It also falls into a limbo between A and B movies, coming in at a trim 80 minutes but boasting larger action set-pieces (shot on location in credibly Pennsylvanian pockets of California) than was customary for RKO, a studio that tended toward in-house miniatures; Nicholas Musuraca, a future Val Lewton and film noir mainstay, proves himself a master of sunlit cinematography as well. Director William A. Seiter (with a string of Shirley Temple movies behind him) never finds a satisfying overall rhythm, and there are odd scraps of unrealized intentions in producer P.J. Wolfson's script (e.g., the sudden murder of a captured Indian raider at knifepoint, whereupon Smith ruefully observes, "We teach 'em everything, don't we?"). The most interesting element of the film is George Sanders' performance as an intransigent Brit officer who causes much of the strife with the Colonials, yet discloses unexpected vulnerability in private moments. --Richard T. Jameson
