Classic American Indian Movies   (BFS/AFT)

 

Picture: C-     Sound: C-     Extras: D     Films: C- each

 

 

When I saw the title of this DVD, I had to wonder if this was going to be a collection of very politically incorrect films just for the hell of it, or something unusual.  It turned out to be the latter, though the quality of the transfers are as cheap as the DVD itself.  With that said, there is a terrible copy of the CinemaScope Sitting Bull (1954), NOT letterboxed and unwatchable.  It stars Dale Robertson, J. Carroll Naish and Iron Eyes Cody (NOT a real Native American, but best remembered for the U.S. Government Anti-Pollution campaign), which thinks it is a Western, but is too muddled to work.  This was one of the very first CinemaScope films United Artists ever released, but there’s no telling if they own it.  Knowing current catalog owner M-G-M, this is likely public domain.

 

Cry Blood, Apache (1970) tries to transplant the Hippie look into the genre, complete with rape, assault, greed and robbery.  It looks the best of the three, but director Jack Starrett would be doing TV for a few years before his Blaxploitation period, then back to TV.  Too bad the script was not more observant, for this could have been a good film.  It also has future Eagles lead singer Don Henley as “Benji”, but the film is not a dog.

 

Battles of Chief Pontiac (1952) is lucky enough to have an Elmer Bernstein score, but writer Jack De Witt wrote the three Man Called Horse films, so it shows the beginnings of where he was going.  It is nowhere near as good, but has some moments before getting messed up in its limited screen time.

 

The extras are some bios, filmographies, and some Native American info, but if you are looking for Dances With Wolves or A Man Called Horse, this set is not quite what you might want, though Pontiac will be the obvious curio in that respect.  So it is not as bad as expected, but only worth it if losing a couple bucks does not bug you.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo