Review: Broken Arrow (1950)

Set in the 1870s, this is the true account of the attempted truce between whites and Native Americans. Ex-cavalryman Tom Jeffords (Jimmy Stewart) wants an end to the bloodshed, and decides to approach the feared Apache leader Cochise (Jeff Chandler), even trying to learn their language and customs. Others see him as a traitor or at least foolhardy, with Will Geer playing a bitter rancher who will have none of it. He gains support from long-time friend Arthur Hunnicut, however. But Cochise is wary and will not be an easy man to sway. Debra Paget plays an Indian girl whom Tom falls for, which may or may not help his cause much. Jay Silverheels plays Cochise’s harsh dissenter Geronimo, with Iron Eyes Cody also turning up as an Apache.

 

No, not the shitty John Travolta/Christian Slater action dud from the mid-90s. Directed by Delmer Daves (“Destination Tokyo”, “Jubal”, “3:10 to Yuma”), this 1950 western does a better job than most (if not all) other westerns about White/Native American relations. Personally, I’m not a fan of these sorts of films, mostly because even the good ones still have not aged well, and this is no exception.

 

The film deserves credit for creating a pretty 3D Native American character in Cochise, but the rest is pretty formulaic western stuff that I could take or leave, to be honest. Jimmy Stewart’s romance with Indian girl Debra Paget was particularly tedious (Not to mention seriously creepy. Stewart was 41 at the time, and Paget was only 15 at the start of shooting!). It didn’t seem all that different to every other film of this sort, though I’ll accept that it may have been one of the first. It’s not a bad film, just clichéd and full of stereotypes, even the character of Cochise was not immune to this at times. It could also have stood to run another ten minutes or so, I believe. For instance, it was interesting to see Will Geer essentially playing a villain here, but he’s not in the film enough to make it count.

 

Jimmy Stewart is rock-solid as always, and the late Jeff Chandler (a Silver Fox if ever there was one) deserves credit for being a white man playing a Native American and getting away with it, not seeming remotely silly or racially offensive. It’s a serious-minded portrayal, and although I’m not sure his Oscar nomination was warranted, he’s a lot better than he could well have been. I still feel uneasy about whites playing Native American characters in general, however. It’s a hard lump to swallow. Meanwhile, if you’ve ever wanted to see Tonto (that is, actor Jay Silverheels) play Geronimo, here’s your movie (Well, one of two films, apparently, but you know what I mean). Silverheels is actually quite good in an intense, Wes Studi kind of performance…that goes against everything I’ve always imagined Geronimo to be. But it’s Cochise’s movie, not Geronimo’s. Or more precisely, it’s Cochise and the Jimmy Stewart character’s movie. Along with the character of Cochise, by far the best thing about the film is the really strong music score by Hugo W. Friedhofer (“The Best Years of Our Lives”, “Enchantment”, “An Affair to Remember”).

 

An OK, serious-minded western based on fact that tries (and largely succeeds) to represent a 3D Native American character, but nonetheless relies on a pretty simple, formulaic story that you’ve seen too many times since to really excuse. One of the first of its type (and apparently pretty true to the real history), but that doesn’t make it any more entertaining. This one’s just watchable, the good performances certainly help. If you’re into this sort of thing, you might want to bump the score up a bit. The screenplay is credited to Michael Blankfort (“The Caine Mutiny”), based on a novel by Elliott Arnold (who also wrote the book for “Deep in My Heart”). However, the blacklisted Albert Maltz (“Destination Tokyo”, “The Beguiled”) worked on the film, and was not originally given credit (He was one of the Hollywood Ten).

 

Rating: C+