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the enemy' with all his information and gold and a special group of Confederates isorganised to recapture him in an undercover operation. However, this group of long-termprisoners has little interest in the task or the South, and are only out to get what they can.In this case the gold and their freedom.America's alleged vulnerability to attack was addressed in The Raid (1954). The film wasbased on a true event in which a group of Confederates, composed mainly of prisonerswho had escaped to Canada, raided the town of St. Albans in Vermont in 1864. The townwas so far from the war that it had no defences and only a handful of soldiers werestationed there, recruiting for the army. The raiders infiltrate the town, burn it and escapeacross the border. 67 The Korean War had only just ended and, whilst Canada could not besaid to represent North Korea, the film demonstrated that sudden attacks could occur at anytime and anywhere and America had to be prepared. This was at the time when Americanfears of a nuclear attack by the Soviet Union were rising as both super powers weredeveloping ever more powerful weapons of destruction in order to gain a strategicadvantage.A film that picked up the race between America and the Soviet Union to develop a 'super-weapon' was The Siege at Red River (1954). In this film the super-weapon is the GatlingGun which, transferred to 1950s America, stands for a nuclear warhead. UndercoverConfederates steal the gun from Union soldiers and make their escape in a red mail van. Tomake the Cold War connection even clearer the Confederate leader wears a red cravat. Asit is being taken south one of the Confederates steals the gun and sells it to NativeAmericans. However, when they attack a Union cavalry fort, the rest of the Confederateforce joins in the defence and recaptures the gun. The Civil War is between whiteAmericans, the intervention of an alien force with superior weaponry cannot be tolerated.In times of crisis America had to unite to survive.These Civil War westerns contained the same messages as the dozens of anti-communistfilms Hollywood produced during the early 1950s but they were more indirect andtherefore far less frightening./-Q72