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Arrowhead
Director Charles Marquis Warren's 1953 western stars Charlton Heston and Jack Palance. Chief of Scouts Ed Bannon works for the US Army at Fort Clark, Texas and he dreams of aiding in bringing peace to the region, despite opposition from both the Army and the Apaches.
Release : | 1953 |
Rating : | 5.8 |
Studio : | Paramount, |
Crew : | Art Direction, Set Decoration, |
Cast : | Charlton Heston Jack Palance Katy Jurado Brian Keith Mary Sinclair |
Genre : | Action Western |
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How sad is this?
best movie i've ever seen.
It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.
In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.
There's plenty of action in this one, but there's a lot of talk too. Basically, the movie is an anti-Apache harangue, complete with a large cast, actual location filming in Technicolor, and plenty of action. Maybe too much action. Maybe too much talk too. Certainly the movie would benefit from astute cutting but what to cut is the problem. Cutting Katy Jurado's scenes is the obvious method of attack, but she is not in the movie all that much anyway. Mary Sinclair could also go, but she has only one or two brief scenes. Throwing them away, is not going to make any difference. Besides, Mary Sinclair was actually a prolific TV actress who made only two movies (the other, playing herself briefly in 1974's Alice Goodbody), so it would be a shame to cut her brief role in Arrowhead. And it would also be difficult to cut Jack Palance's footage as just about all of it is essential to the plot. So the scissors would have to be sharpened for Charlton Heston. Although he's the good guy (the character was actually based on a real army scout named Al Seiber) and he's always in the right, this role is actually a bit of a liability as he often tends to rub the audience – as well the people on the screen – the wrong way! Available on an excellent Paramount DVD.
This is for me the most racist western of all time. At least, one of the most, because perhaps some are missing in my movie buff memory...It tells the terrific face too face between a racist white man, raised among Indians - Charlton Heston - who HATES Indians to death, and an authentic Indian, raised among white people, in white schools - Jack Palance - who HATES White ones...So their only purpose is to destroy each other. It's exciting at the most, not for the squeamish filled with good intentions. This is really a war monger western. Charlton Heston is here tall, handsome, strong, the authentic hero as American are used to show in their features. But he is a f...racist, and some people in the audiences may be influenced by his feeling about Indians. We can say it's somewhere disgusting. The same thing about Jack Palance. He is tall, handsome, strong, wild, attractive at the most, and he preaches war and destruction for the White people...Get what I mean? Nothing to do with James Stewart and Jeff Chandler in BROKEN ARROW....But, even if it is nasty, it remains a very good feature, a great western. It changes from anti racist or pro Indian ones.And I LOVE being surprised !!!There have been some films with their leads who were racists or bad ones, but the audiences got very quickly that the heroes were actually anti heroes, and they finally understood that they were on the wrong way. The audiences were not confused about that. Those movies denounced racism or something else...Take CROSSFIRE, for example, starring Robert Ryan.But that's for another comment...
This is the movie which gave Heston the persona of the self righteous bigot of the movies. It is an action filled Western, true, and Brian Keith actually plays a more likable character than either Heston or Palance. Palance probably felt sick about the role he played in this movie which can only be described as a "hate film". There has never been a movie before or after this one which depicted native Americans so horribly, in such a way reminiscent of Nazi propaganda against Jewish people. This is the movie people are talking about when they talk about such sick junk. I'll try not to spoil it too much. It's told from the punk's point of view (I imagine, but it is the most insane point of view you'll ever see I hope). I will say that the "hero" sleeps with an Apache woman, kills her brother, then kills her, and after he kills her in his room, he tells a cavalry guard "There's a dead Apache on my floor. Get it out!" The punkiness leaves you speechless. It left people speechless when the movie was made, it was so insane! Somehow, the director must have thought he justified the wacko's actions, but he failed. Words can't describe how horrible this movie is. If you watch it, you'll be stunned with the fact someone duped you into wasting your time, and you'll be stunned that so many people actually spent so much time, effort, and alleged talent making this garbage.
This is typical Hollywood revisionism with the US Cavery constantly talking about peace and respect for the Apache, while all the Indians want is to kill and destroy. Nonsense. I could never figure out the Charlton Heston character. He plays someone who learned everything he knows from having lived and been raised by the Apaches, yet he hates them with a vengeance, always referring to them in degrading and subhuman terms. At home, however, he has no problem using the beautiful Mexican-Apache laundress (Katy Jurado) as his concubine.Poor Katy Jurado. Only a year away from her pillar 1952 role in 'High Noon,' this doll, with more class and talent in her little finger than most of her female Hollywood contemporaries, can only get offered this role playing a half-breed concubine to a hate-mongering character who insults her at will and doesn't deserve her company. Kind of puts it in perspective why 40 years later we similarly didn't see most of the intelligent kids from 'The Cosby Show' cast in any roles of substance once that non-stereotypical show ended. Maintaining your integrity while remaining employed is a monumental challenge for many in Hollywood. No wonder Katy never relinquished her Mexican citizenship or Mexican movie acting career.The end credits to the movie state that Heston's character is based on the true life of the Army's Chief of Scouts during this period, Al Sieber (1844-1907). If so, it isn't exactly a flattering portrayal. After seeing the movie, I wonder if Sieber's family sued the studio for 'definition' of character. Watch this one only if you've never seen how Hollywood depicted American Indians in the West.