War Arrow (1953)

Thanks for the memories!

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

The setting of 1953's "War Arrow" is Fort Clark in West Texas near Brackettville during the Indian Wars of the late 19th century. Major Brady (Jeff Chandler) arrives from D.C. to utilize a small band of transplanted Seminoles to aid the US Army against the marauding Kiowas. Brady conflicts with the Colonel of the fort (John McIntire) and romances a redheaded widow (Maureen O'Hara) while a Seminole woman takes interest in him (Suzan Ball).Chandler was 33 during filming and is great as the masculine protagonist with Hollywood looks, but his greying hair makes him look at least a decade older. Sadly, he'd be dead in less than ten years due to a botched surgery. McIntire as the by-the-book and jealous CO is odious, but maybe redeemable.The women, O'Hara and Ball, are another highlight. Maureen was 32 during filming and looked great, but she's one of those women who became more exquisite as she got older (to a point, that is). In the early 60s she was one of the most beautiful women to walk the face of the planet. In "War Arrow" she hadn't reached her voluptuous peak yet and she was hardly a good actress at the time, but it is interesting to see her when she was younger. Just as beautiful – and perhaps even more so – was the rising brunette Suzan Ball. She was only 18 during filming and is just stunning as the Seminole Avis. Sadly, she would pass away a mere two years after "War Arrow" was released due to cancer.Another positive for me is the Agoura, CA, locations, which – surprisingly – are a decent stand-in for West Texas. In any event, the film has a great Western "look." Unfortunately, the film loses points due to using white actors in the main Native roles, like Dennis Weaver as the Seminole brave who loves Avis and Henry Brandon as Avis' father, Maygro, not to mention Ball as Avis. But this is forgivable since this was the standard practice of the time and there were no Native actors available. Less forgivable is the stereotypical portrayal of the Indians (the haltingly way they speak English, dancing around the fire and the music), but actually it's not as bad as you would think.The biggest negative is the old-style of filmmaking of Westerns at the time. This is clearly a Hollywoodized portrayal of the Old West that could never be mistaken for reality. Yet there are a number of Westerns that broke out of the these limitations of the era, like 1950's excellent "The Sundowners" (not to be confused with the 1960 film of the same name) and 1956's "The Last Wagon," both of which rank with my favorite Westerns of all time. I point this out to show that some Westerns rose to the top in the 1930s thru 1950s, but "War Arrow" wasn't one of them. Still, it's certainly worth catching for the positives noted above. For me, it's like going back in time and it's enjoyable for this alone.The film runs 78 minutes.GRADE: C+

This B-Western follows US Cavalry officer Major Howell Brady who has been sent to Fort Clark in Texas to try a new method of fighting the local Kiowa tribe; he intends to recruit Seminole Indians who had been forcibly relocated to the area after their defeat in Florida. He has two immediate problems; the fort's CO, Col Meade, doesn't believe the Seminoles will be of any use and the Seminole chief, Maygro, has no desire to fight. His people are a little less reticent and when they see how good the latest army rifles are they decide that they will fight on condition that the non-fighting members of the tribe will be supplied with food while they are gone. Brady sets about training the men and soon they out performing the regular army. There is also a romantic subplot involving Brady and the widow of a captain apparently killed by the Kiowa and Maygro's daughter Avis; as the film continues we learn that the captain isn't as dead as was thought and is in fact helping to lead the Kiowa attacks... ultimately there will be a battle between the Army and Brady's Seminoles on one side and the Kiowa on the other which will determine who controls that corner of Texas.The main story was well handled and contained plenty of good action although like many films of its time it used made-up Europeans to play the Native Americans which made them somewhat less believable which was a pity. Jeff Chandler did a decent job as Major Brady however the lack of chemistry between him and leading lady Maureen O'Hara rendered the romantic subplot somewhat of a distraction from the main story. That said the twist of having her husband be a traitor was quite a good surprise that I hadn't seen coming. Some comic relief is provided by Brady's two sergeants and for a change the comic relief did raise a chuckle more than once. Over all this isn't a classic but is well worth watching on television if you are a fan of the genre.

I just happened to catch this rare gem on TV. I was very plesantly surprised.The action scenes are plentiful and brilliant including several ear blasting shootouts and an epic scale battle sequence which makes excellent use of sharps buffalo rifles, springfield rifles and cannons.The plot is nice and simple as it mainly involves a cavalry officer training a group of discraced semihole indians to fight against some other western indians.I really enjoyed this movie and it is one of the best B westerns out there. Its only available on region 1 but if its ever on TV again i highly recommend you watch it.

Cavalry officer Jeff Chandler trains a peaceful tribe of displaced Seminoles to fight against a warring tribe of Kiowa, while at the same time butting heads with stubborn commanding officer John McIntire and romancing pretty "widow" Maureen O'Hara, who's husband may or may not still be alive as the leader of the renegades.This B-western has some okay, but short and clumsy action scenes. The plot is a bit far-fetched and the romance seems a little contrived, with O'Hara and Chandler having very little chemistry.Still, it's not boring. War Arrow is fast-paced enough, with a compact running time.As the Seminole chief's daughter, Suzan Ball is very beautiful (even more so than Maureen O'Hara!), even if her character is rather unlikable. On the other hand, Noah Beery Jr. is an always likable comic foil.