Pony Soldier

Pony Soldier
Directed by Joseph M. Newman
Produced by Samuel G. Engel
Written by Garnett Weston (story Mounted Patrol)
John C. Higgins
Narrated by Michael Rennie
Tyrone Power
Starring Tyrone Power
Robert Horton
Penny Edwards
Thomas Gomez
Cameron Mitchell
Music by Alex North
Cinematography Harry Jackson
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release date(s) December 19, 1952
Running time 82 minutes
Country  United States
Language English

Pony Soldier is a 1952 Technicolor Northern Western set in Canada but filmed in Sedona, Arizona. It is based on a 1951 Saturday Evening Post story Mounted Patrol by Garnett Weston. It was retitled MacDonald of the Canadian Mounties in England and The Last Arrow in France and Spain.

Contents

Plot

In 1876, the North-West Mounted Police send Constable Duncan MacDonald (Tyrone Power) and a blackmailed Blackfoot scout (Thomas Gomez) to get the Cree to sign Treaty 6 with The Crown. In addition to negotiating with the Cree, MacDonald of the Mounted rescues white hostages (Robert Horton and Penny Edwards) arrests a murderer, and adopts a Cree son (Anthony Earl Numkena).

Production

Director Newman originally scouted locations in Montana but finding nothing he thought suitable, the film was made in Sedona, Arizona.[1] During the filming at Sedona, production was interrupted by snowstorms and the flash of a nuclear weapon tested 300 miles away in Nevada.[2] The producers recruited 450 Navajo to play Cree and used the services of technical advisor Chief Nipo T. Strongheart[3][4] (who also plays a Medicine Man in the film) to ensure a sympathetic portrayal. Strongheart had appeared in the film Braveheart with Tyrone Power Sr..

Included in the cast were Richard Boone, Frank deKova, and in his film debut, Anthony Earl Numkena.

References

  1. ^ http://www.sedonamonthly.com/gonehollywood/soldier.html
  2. ^ p.99 Heidinger, Lisa, Trevillyan, Janeen, Sedona Historical Society Sedona 2007 Arcadia Publishing
  3. ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0835072/bio
  4. ^ http://host119.yakama.com/images/sin-wit-ki/2006/Winter2006.pdf

External links