Broken Arrow (1950 film)

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Broken Arrow

Directed by	Delmer Daves
Produced by	Julian Blaustein
Written by	Elliott Arnold (novel Blood Brother) Michael Blankfort (front name for Albert Maltz)
Starring	James Stewart, Jeff Chandler, Debra Paget
Music by	Hugo Friedhofer
Cinematography	Ernest Palmer
Distributed by	Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp.
Release date(s)	July 21, 1950 (U.S. release)
Running time	93 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

Broken Arrow was the name of a western released in 1950. It was directed by Delmer Daves and starred James Stewart and Jeff Chandler. The film was nominated for three Academy Awards, and won a Golden Globe award for Best Film Promoting International Understanding. It made history as the first Western to side with the Indians.

1 Plot
2 Balanced portrayal of Indians
3 Awards and nominations
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Plot

The main characters are Cochise (Jeff Chandler) and Tom Jeffords (James Stewart). The film is based on the actions of these historical figures, but tells their story in dramatized form. Jeffords is responsible for mail delivery in the Arizona Territory in 1862. When Apache raiding parties shoot up some of his mail couriers, he rides alone to the camp of Cochise to parley for their safe passage. This act of bravery so impresses the chief that he becomes friend and blood brother to Jeffords. Their friendship is instrumental in ending the decade-long Apache war.

Apache chief Geronimo, a major figure in the historical events but a minor character in this film, was played by Jay Silverheels, an actual Native American best known for his television role as Tonto, "faithful Indian companion" to Clayton Moore's Lone Ranger.

A fictional character Sonseeahray (Debra Paget) was added as a love interest for Jeffords.

[edit] Balanced portrayal of Indians

Most western films of the period portrayed American Indians as implacably hostile to the white settlers entering their domain, while the settlers were shown as peaceable people forced to defend themselves. Broken Arrow is noteworthy for being one of the first western films to portray Native Americans in a balanced, sympathetic way. Chronicle of the Cinema describes it thus: "Based on verifiable fact, it faithfully evokes the historical relationship between Cochise and Jefford (sic), marking an historical rehabilitation of Indians in the cinema."

In addition to the fictional Sonseeahray, the film does introduce distortions of the historical record. Nevertheless, its director Delmer Daves was justifiably praised for bucking a film-making convention of the time and showing Native Americans as something other than "bloodthirsty savages".