Sitting Bull in Cinemascope, an Earnest Attempt at Depicting Native American History
In Hollywood films of the studio period, Native Americans were usually portrayed by White actors and actresses covered in "accurate" makeup. Actual Native Americans were sometimes employed as extras, a practice of John Ford, who used them for their horseback riding skills. In the same way, the Chinese police detective, Charlie Chan, was played by Warner Oland, a Swedish-American. Oland's acting was never at fault, but one wonders how the Charlie Chan films would've come off had a real Chinese actor played the part.
During World War Two, Japanese characters were played by Asian-Americans descended from countries other than Japan, America's enemy.
Much along these lines has changed since then. The lead Cambodian character in The Killing Fields, for instance, was played by a Cambodian. Native Americans filled most of the cast of Kevin Costner's Dances With Wolves. Racial authenticity and political correctness have converged in the same Hollywood that used to assign non-White roles haphazardly.
In 1954, Sidney Salkow's Sitting Bull featured Irish-American character actor, J. Carrol Naish, in the title role. Naish's career went back to 1925, so his abilities as a screen performer are hard to doubt. As Sitting Bull, the Hunkpapa Lakota leader, Naish delivers a pretty good performance nonetheless adversely affected by its secondary seat behind the protagonist (Dale Robertson as Captain Parrish, a kind of ambassador to the Sioux, seeking to maintain peace).
Parrish's on, and then off, and then on romance with his superior's redheaded daughter, Kathy Howell (Mary Murphy of The Wild One, playing another Kathy, albeit with a different spelling) occupies screen time better spent on the main story: the growing conflict between the U.S. Cavalry and the Plains Indians.
An interesting angle to this story is Captain Parrish's sympathy for Native Americans. He doesn't approach it from a Christian viewpoint, but from that of a humanitarian. He starts out as Major Parrish but loses a pay grade after he sets free several dozen captives who've been mistreated by a negligent prick working for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. This agent (Tom Brown Henry) takes pride in his disciplined approach, but thinks nothing of starving women and children, or shooting an escapee who turns out to be Sitting Bull's son.
The tribes gather for what will be known to history as the Battle of Little Big Horn. This battle isn't depicted accurately, except for Custer's men and Custer himself biting the dust. The film's widescreen imagery works well with all the action of horses galloping, formations of soldiers, the wide vistas of rolling landscapes.
What I mostly liked about this film is its dedication to showing the Native Americans sympathetically without looking down on them. Even though many of the background characters on the Native American side are obviously White, there's no condescension, no racist intent or result in the movie at all. Captain Parrish stands for someone genuinely trying to do right by a persecuted people who have their backs against a wall. He helps them sneak through a military perimeter after the battle, a violation of his orders that gets him nearly killed before a firing squad.
As it turns out, Kathy brings along Sitting Bull right before the execution is to commence. President Grant is present. Sitting Bull gets to meet the Big Chief from the other side. Parrish will not be shot. In reality, Grant secretly waged an illegal war in order to lay claim to the Black Hills, where gold had just been discovered.
Even so, Sitting Bull is an entertaining movie with moments of truth along the lines of an attempt to show a human story, if not a particularly historical one.
Vic Neptune
In Hollywood films of the studio period, Native Americans were usually portrayed by White actors and actresses covered in "accurate" makeup. Actual Native Americans were sometimes employed as extras, a practice of John Ford, who used them for their horseback riding skills. In the same way, the Chinese police detective, Charlie Chan, was played by Warner Oland, a Swedish-American. Oland's acting was never at fault, but one wonders how the Charlie Chan films would've come off had a real Chinese actor played the part.
During World War Two, Japanese characters were played by Asian-Americans descended from countries other than Japan, America's enemy.
Much along these lines has changed since then. The lead Cambodian character in The Killing Fields, for instance, was played by a Cambodian. Native Americans filled most of the cast of Kevin Costner's Dances With Wolves. Racial authenticity and political correctness have converged in the same Hollywood that used to assign non-White roles haphazardly.
In 1954, Sidney Salkow's Sitting Bull featured Irish-American character actor, J. Carrol Naish, in the title role. Naish's career went back to 1925, so his abilities as a screen performer are hard to doubt. As Sitting Bull, the Hunkpapa Lakota leader, Naish delivers a pretty good performance nonetheless adversely affected by its secondary seat behind the protagonist (Dale Robertson as Captain Parrish, a kind of ambassador to the Sioux, seeking to maintain peace).
Parrish's on, and then off, and then on romance with his superior's redheaded daughter, Kathy Howell (Mary Murphy of The Wild One, playing another Kathy, albeit with a different spelling) occupies screen time better spent on the main story: the growing conflict between the U.S. Cavalry and the Plains Indians.
An interesting angle to this story is Captain Parrish's sympathy for Native Americans. He doesn't approach it from a Christian viewpoint, but from that of a humanitarian. He starts out as Major Parrish but loses a pay grade after he sets free several dozen captives who've been mistreated by a negligent prick working for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. This agent (Tom Brown Henry) takes pride in his disciplined approach, but thinks nothing of starving women and children, or shooting an escapee who turns out to be Sitting Bull's son.
The tribes gather for what will be known to history as the Battle of Little Big Horn. This battle isn't depicted accurately, except for Custer's men and Custer himself biting the dust. The film's widescreen imagery works well with all the action of horses galloping, formations of soldiers, the wide vistas of rolling landscapes.
What I mostly liked about this film is its dedication to showing the Native Americans sympathetically without looking down on them. Even though many of the background characters on the Native American side are obviously White, there's no condescension, no racist intent or result in the movie at all. Captain Parrish stands for someone genuinely trying to do right by a persecuted people who have their backs against a wall. He helps them sneak through a military perimeter after the battle, a violation of his orders that gets him nearly killed before a firing squad.
As it turns out, Kathy brings along Sitting Bull right before the execution is to commence. President Grant is present. Sitting Bull gets to meet the Big Chief from the other side. Parrish will not be shot. In reality, Grant secretly waged an illegal war in order to lay claim to the Black Hills, where gold had just been discovered.
Even so, Sitting Bull is an entertaining movie with moments of truth along the lines of an attempt to show a human story, if not a particularly historical one.
Vic Neptune
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