Redskin (film)
| Redskin | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Victor Schertzinger |
| Written by | Elizabeth Pickett |
| Starring |
Richard Dix Julie Carter |
| Music by |
Louis De Francesco J.S. Zamecnik |
| Cinematography |
Ray Rennahan Edward T. Estabrook |
| Editing by | Otho Lovering |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release dates |
|
| Running time | 90 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Redskin is a 1929 American feature film with a synchronized score and sound effects, filmed partially in Technicolor, and released by Paramount Pictures.
Cast
- Richard Dix - Wing Foot
- Julie Carter - Corn Blossom
- Tully Marshall - Navajo Jim
- George Regas - Notani
- Noble Johnson - Pueblo Jim
- Jane Novak - Judith Stearns
- Larry Steers - John Walton
- Augustina Lopez - Grandmother Yina
- Bernard Siegel - Chahi
- Jack Padjan - Barrett (uncredited)
Production background
Color film was used for the scenes taking place on the Indians' land, while black and white was used only in the scenes set in the white man's world. Roughly two-thirds of the film is in color.[1]
The title of the film is not meant to be degrading to Native Americans. The title refers to the film's hero, Wing Foot (Richard Dix), who is a Navaho educated in an otherwise all-white school. In the course of the story, he experiences prejudice from both the whites (because of his race) and the Navahos (who disown him because of his upbringing). Thus, Wing Foot is looked upon as neither Indian nor white, but simply a "redskin."
The film deals sympathetically with the American Indians in an era of filmmaking that far too many people think was one where Indians were shown as murderous savages.
Not only does Redskin avoid this stereotype, but it also sidesteps the more contemporary, "politically correct" stereotype. In those films the Indians are generally depicted as being mainly peaceful and morally right, while the whites (save the main protagonist) are seen as the bloodthirsty savages - greedy bigots with little or no redeeming values. Instead of showing the red man as evil and the white man good - or vice versa - Redskin presents good and bad in both. The government agent who beats Wing Foot in the beginning of the picture eventually emerges as a decent man - some one who made a mistake and later regretted it. At the end he redeems himself by aiding Wing Foot in his attempt to register his oil claim. Redskin presents not only the conflict between whites and Indians, but also between the Indian races (Navajos and Pueblos are shown to dislike each other).
Home video
Redskin is currently available in the United States on disc 4 of the DVD collection Treasures III: Social Issues in American Film, 1900-1934.
See also
References
External links
- Redskin at the American Film Institute Catalog
- Redskin at the Internet Movie Database