The Indian Fighter (1955)

Best movie of this year hands down!

Perfect cast and a good story

Boring

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

This first film released by Kirk Douglas's Bryna Production Co. begins with luscious Italian actress Elsa Martinelli(Onahti) slipping out of her clothes in a forest, and taking a bath in a river. Kirk Douglas comes moseying along on a horse, takes a peek, and continues on. But, he'll make his acquaintance more forcefully in the future, always when she is alone and near or in the river. They will end the film floating together in the river. In between these sensual interludes, which are what most people most remember about this film, is more traditional frontier western fare, including bad white men, who want to steal the Indians' gold mine, a bad Indian, who's willing to tell them where the mine is for a jug of whiskey, and a bad wagon train guide who leads the train into the heart of Sioux territory just to have a tryst with the chief's daughter. The later is, of course, Kirk Douglas, as Johnny Hawks. In his absence from the wagoners, bad things happen, which might have been averted if he had been present. These launch a full scale military response by the Sioux, and a panicked retreat of the wagoners to the fort from wince they came. Shirking his duty, even for a few hours of pleasure, made him partly responsible for the travesties that occurred in his absence, and made him vulnerable to the charge of being an Indian lover, rather than an Indian fighter. After all, he usually verbally minimized the chance of a seemingly unprovoked Indian attack, saying that he liked Indians and white folks equally well, and saw no reason why they couldn't get along peacefully(I'm afraid he was a little overoptimistic in this regard). Thus, Johnny Hanks had to redeem himself in the eyes of the whites by taking a leading part in the defense of the fort and inhabitants during the all out charge of the Sioux, who unwisely staged their attack in broad daylight. In reality, Indians very rarely launched a full scale attack, even at night, against a well built fort with an adequate number of defenders. It was simply too lethal, in most cases. They were less able to absorb a large loss of life than the whites. But, such an attack, especially if accompanied by a partial burning of the fort, as in this film, was hard to resist as the climactic 'action' event. Of course, such an attack is also seen in certain other films. Hawks finally ended the battle by escaping the fort to parley with Red Cloud, trying to convince him that further bloodshed wouldn't bring back brother Gray Wolf. Also, he promised that he would bring in the assassin of Gray Wolf(Walter Matthau, as the greedy Wes Todd) to be dealt with in Indian fashion. Lon Chaney, Jr., played his partner Chivington, in the quest for gold. Chivington killed several other Indians, that added fuel to the animosity of the Sioux toward the whites.......Diana Douglas, Kirk's ex-wife, played Susan, a widow with a son. She tried to get Hawks to accompany her to Oregon, but no dice. He preferred Onahti and his accustomed lifestyle......Veteran actor Alan Hale, Jr. played a wagoner who tried to interest Susan in joining him in Oregon, citing his experience growing apples. Walter Abel played Captain Trask, of the fort, while stern-faced Edward Franz played Red Cloud........Ironically, the film was about people moving to Oregon, and was filmed entirely around Bend, Oregon, but the story takes place entirely in eastern Wyoming........I'd like to return to the Hawk-Onahti romance. When Hawks first accosted her, she struck back with a knife, which he took from her. Ignoring her water jars, she ran toward the encampment. Surprisingly, she didn't tattle on Hawks, suggesting possible interest in him. In the second, most memorable incident, again, she was initially hostile, including when he pulled her down in the river shallows and lay on top of her. But, suddenly, she smiled and stopped resisting. Later, they relaxed under a tree and talked about Hawks need to continue with the wagon train vs. his desire to be with her. Hawks' defeat of Grey Wolf, in a staged duel, may have influenced her perception of him. Next, they independently cooperated in subduing Gray Wolf-killer Todd, and bringing him in to stand Indian justice. Lastly, of course, they are floating together in the river........In all, one of the most memorable westerns you will find. See it at You Tube.

The Indian Fighter (1955) is a nearly forgotten western gem about the former Indian fighter Johnny Hawks (Kirk Douglas).A war breaks out between the Indians and the whites when some of them are too interested in their gold.Walter Matthau (Wes Todd) and Lon Chaney Jr. (Chivington) are two of such people.Also Hawks' interest in the Sioux Chief's daughter Onahti (Elsa Martinelli) causes some trouble.André De Toth is the director of this western movie.Kirk Douglas has some credibility in the lead.He was just the right man to play these tough guy roles and still would be if he decided to do new movies.His ex-wife Diana Douglas plays a tough woman called Susan Rogers.Walter Matthau could be the funny man and in this movie he makes a fine crook.Lon Chaney Jr. makes a perfect accomplice to Walter.I enjoyed watching this western.It entertained me from the beginning till the end.Isn't that what a good western should do?

Just four years after making this movie Andre De Toth goes on to make Day Of The Outlaw with Robert Ryan and Burl Ives which was a much better film than this one. Kirk Douglas plays a man called the Indian fighter but has a better relationship with the Indians than his name might suggest. The Indians just want to be left alone and don't want any white men like Walter Matthau and Lon Chaney Jr. selling whiskey for gold to any Indians. Matthau is caught by the Indians and almost killed but Douglas fights one of the leaders to save him. Douglas winds up falling in love with an Indian played by Elsa Martinelli and this is looked down upon. The movie goes by pretty quickly at 88 minutes and it does have a good cast that also has Alan Hale Jr. and Elisha Cook Jr.

Kirk Douglas turns in another of his wonderfully flamboyant performances as Johnny Hawks, `The Indian Fighter'. The movie is humorous and action picked. It even has a terrific performances from Diana Douglas, Kirk's ex-wife. However, for whatever reason, Kirk Douglas has populated his movie with some ridiculous casting choices: Eduard Franz as a Sioux chief(?), Harry Landers as Grey Eagle(??), Hank Worden as Crazy Bear(?!!!!?) and Elsa Martinelli as an Indian maiden(??!!!!!!!???). The first time Martinelli delivers that thick Italian accents, I started giggling. Come on, Kirk; you produced this. Couldn't you have found some REAL Indians, or at least an actress that didn't sound as if she's just come off the boat at Ellis Island. Hank Worden also plays a white character, making things seem even more ridiculous.Hey, my wife is Italian, so I wouldn't dare take cheap shots at Martinelli. Actually, when she keeps her mouth shut, Martinelli is pretty darn good. Had the script be rewritten so she only spoke Sioux, Martinelli would have been MUCH more believable. Oh well.To it's credit, the movie neither exploits or downplays the interracial relationship between Douglas and Martinelli. That's daring and commendable on the part of producer Douglas, particularly given the era of both the story and race relations in 50s America.No one seems to have commented on the Douglas-Martinelli courting ritual. It looks more like rape than romance. I thought feminist reviewers would be outraged. However, I've been told this ritual was common among the Plains Indians, though it is not clear to me whether this applies to the Sioux. Some comments should be made about the performances of Walter Matthau and Lon Chaney. Matthau comes across as WAY too contemporary and Chaney still seems to be playing Lenny from `Of Mice and Men'. Elisha Cook seems to have wandered over from the set of `Shane.' Nonetheless, Cook is still pretty watchable. Michael Winkelman (`The Real McCoys'), who played Diana Douglas's son, is terrific.The Technicolor photography is very good, the editing only OK. For example, the wagon train has traveled at least one full day, but seems to get back to the fort in a couple of minutes. The Oregon landscapes are spectacular.Given its shortcomings, `The Indian Fighter is STILL a pretty decent western. I give it a weak `6'.