On B List of Movie Reviews
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Broken Arrow (1950)
Rate:
6
Viewed:
7/25
7/25:
Mohican Press did an interview with Russell Means via telephone on January 18, 1999, and I found it
instructive.
At one point, the famous activist, who's easily recognized as Chingachgook in
The Last of the Mohicans, talked about the racism and
stereotypes against American Indians that were perpetuated by Hollywood on screen. Thinking of films that did
them justice instead, he couldn't come up with any made before the 60's except for one: Broken Arrow.
That piqued my attention, and I sought a Blu-ray copy. After watching it a while, I could see why: the
sympathetic portrayal of American Indians. It's an immense relief after so many John Wayne movies had been
made. However, Broken Arrow isn't the first ever to do so; there have been others that did it earlier.
By the way, the word "wickiup" is mentioned a lot; it's an authentic living space in the Apache culture
instead of the stereotypical tepee.
I know everybody was sincere and wanted to make an earnest effort to right things by presenting the positive
side of the Apaches, but it's so disappointing to see all of the principal leads (Jeff Chandler, Debra Paget,
etc.) to be Indianfaced. All Delmer Daves had to do was make a simple switch. That way, the movie would stand up
very well today. However, the secondary cast was made up of real Apaches, and Geromino was played by a Mohawk
actor named Jay Silverheels who's better known as Tonto in The Lone Ranger which began to run
around the same time.
As things stand, the story isn't bad with gorgeous cinematography of Arizona and plenty of violence that's
not normally shown in 1950 along with blood and the massacres. The performances are generally well-done with Jeff
Chandler earning an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Starring in the first true Western of his career
although Winchester '73 was theatrically released beforehand, James Stewart is fine, but Debra Paget was
actually fifteen years old at the time and he was 41, making some of their love scenes pretty icky to watch.
All in all, despite the egregiousness in certain ways, I consider Broken Arrow to be a positive step
forward and also recommend Ulzana's Raid and
Dances With Wolves for further exploration in American Indian
relations with the whites.