Sie nannten ihn Komantsche

Sal Mineo eschewed the urban areas which most of his films had him in for the Old West as he plays a young Sioux brave who captures and tames a wild horse he names Tonka. This is a fine film that still holds up well today and gave Mineo one of the best parts he ever had.

Sal and his peer Rafael Campos are warriors in training and Sal after trying to capture a brown stallion he admires loses the rope and a bow and quiver of arrows and gets the riot act read him by Sitting Bull. Still he goes out and actually finds and tames Tonka. But a warrior cousin H.M. Wynant claims the horse by seniority. Mineo would rather see the horse anywhere else but with Wynant and he frees him.

Through a chain of circumstances the horse gets captured and sold to the cavalry where he's renamed Comanche and he becomes the property of Captain Myles Keogh played by Philip Carey. And that is the background of the story of Mineo and the horse, the Battle of the Little Big Horn where the only survivor on the cavalry side was the horse Comanche.

All the players including Custer and Keogh are real people and the Battle of the Little Big Horn is well staged by Disney Studios. And next to Mineo the most notable performance in the film is that of Britt Lomond as General George Armstrong Custer.

If you are used to the image of Custer as portrayed by Errol Flynn in They Died With Their Boots On then what Britt Lomond did with the role will be a revelation. For those of you who think that Custer was glory hunting Indian hating fanatic than you will love to hate Britt Lomond. Lomond is best known as Captain Monasterio in the first episode of the Disney Zorro TV series. He was pretty hateful as Monasterio and just as hateful as Custer.

Tonka is a nice coming age story told from the American Indian point of view. Kids will universally identify with both Mineo and Campos. Tonka is also one of Disney Studios best films of the Fifties and one of its best ever.

A really amazing film to come from the Disney studio at a time ( 1958 ) when they were making tough films for family audiences. First viewed in 1965 aged 7 when my father hired the 16mm print for private home use to family and friends. I think he projected it twice and then the film remained in the memory for many years as an early favourite. Those were the days when you saw a film once or twice and there was no way of seeing it again until a reissue or TV. Having just seen the film again 43 years later, I have to say that it really is superb entertainment with a useful message about racial tolerance yet never needing to compromise it's swiftly told, exciting story. A passionate, memorable performance from a very fit, believably cast young Sal Mineo. Beautiful Technicolor photography from the great Loyal Griggs (Shane) and not forgetting the various horses used for the lead role of 'Tonka wakan - The Great One', of course several had to be used and one has to suspend disbelief occasionally as the animals don't always look similar but all in all Disney did a very commendable job. Top Direction from Lewis R.Foster with the battle at the Little Big Horn impressively staged. A very underrated film and long overdue for a DVD restoration, in fact some filmmakers do admire it as the whole story was recently reworked in animated form for a Spielberg production 'Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron'.

I remember this movie being shot on location on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in Central Oregon about 100 miles southeast of Portland,OR.. I was 13 at the time. It was during the summer when school was out. Some footage was shot just west of the BIA Agency compound behind the Boarding school and other locations as well. Some of the residents were used as extras and of course all the girls went crazy meeting him.

He made us all feel very special while he was there. As I remember, other scenes were shot around Bend Oregon.

Thanks Sal for being so gracious.

Walt Disney is the reason I now live in Tenn. He is also responsible for my interest in early American history. I seen the 'Davy Crockett' series when it was shown on TV in the 1950's. I have never gotten over it. I have over 350 books on this subject. And, all the movies made about Davy Crockett and The Alamo. Some are better than others, BUT, they are all great!

I loved the story of Tonka. I read the book in school and I have many, many books and movies about 'Custer's Last Stand'.

I moved to Tenn and was at the 'Crockett Tavern Museum for about 9 years..

I am thankful to Walt Disney for the many historic themes he turned into movies.

This was one of my absolute favourite movies as a kid. It seems strange to me now that they could make a family movie about a battle where one side was entirely wiped out (except the horse of course). Not that there was any blood and gore in the film. It just seems a strange topic for a kids movie.