Die Rache der Gejagten

I have given this movie a six because of the power of the story. I would have given it a higher mark but for the historical inaccuracies of the story. Its strong point was the fact that it showed black people in the west where they surely were, but in this movie present the first of the inacfcuracies. It would not have been abnormal at all for black people to have been in Oklahoma territory in the latter part of the 19th century. They had been there since the trail of tears. Some of the transplanted Natives were slave holders and simply brought their slaves with them. Second, a black Marshall in that territory would not have been strange at all. Gypsy Smith could have easily been modeled after Bass Reeves who was one of several Black US Marshalls who patrolled Okla territory. While there has always been problems between black and white Americans, it did not really occur in Oklahoma until it became a state. Thirdly, I can't believe that the light bulb which was only invented in 1879 would have been used in a barn in Oklahoma. Great idea for a movie, but could have been more accurate.

But the DVD I bought from Amazon had about an hour cut out. One reviewer said it was about twenty minutes or more I believe but it was at least an hour. I knew the series had been chopped up but since I love it so much, I decided to get it anyway. I don't know why it could not have been left whole.

Don't know what film or version Jeff saw, but this entire film was awesome, not just Poitier and Going. The story was riveting, suspenseful and engaging. And for the guy complaining about historical accuracy, get real. Yes there were some Black deputy marshals in the Indian territory, but they had no authority to arrest Whites outside of Indian territory. As a rule, they did not "patrol" but exercised warrants on criminals only. I did find it odd that Corby didn't seem to have "any' Indian friends. I know their numbers were diminished but it still strikes me as strange. Even as Corby returned to his people, his Indian cohorts remain faceless and nameless.

This has to be one of the best movies we have seen and we highly recommend it for it's exposure of the injustices of bigotry. Billy Wirth is an incomparable actor and truly awesome as Corby/White Wolf. However, felt the story would have been enhanced if his character had more scenes. This is a movie that can be watched over and over without tiring.

"Children of the Dust" is a most unusual western movie that was made for TV. Unlike most westerns, this one talks a lot about bigotry and violence against Native Americans and blacks by the local Klansmen. It's worth seeing, especially since it stars Sidney Poitier and he was an incredible actor.

There were things I liked and disliked about this film. I appreciate the look at 18th century racism and found a couple of the plots very compelling...such as the emasculation of the sheriff and his revenge against the scum that hurt him. But, at the same time, I thought occasionally the film seemed a bit like a bad romance novel...which in some ways deflected from the stories. Now I am not saying the romance between the white lady and the native man was bad or unnecessary...but it did seem like the emphasis on their passion was distracting. As a result, the portions about the mistreatment of blacks on the prairie seemed stronger and more to the point.

By the way, I am not trying in any way to gloss over the mistreatment of black people in the west...though in many ways, the actual life was far better for a black American than those who remained in the South. There were more opportunities, less racism AND many of the US Cavalry soldiers were black...though you seldom see this in most films about the period.