l'invincible trappeur

Going to the cinema was the highlight of a child's life during the 1950's and films about "Cowboys and Indians" were always very popular. None of us children were really bothered what the film was all about, just as long as there was lots of fighting, shooting, horses galloping and other sorts of action in the film.

I did not even know what the title of the film was. I remember giving the film my own title. I simply called it "The Indian Fighter".

I was attracted by the poster outside the cinema. It had a yellow and red background and had a black and white image of a man in a "Davy Crockett style", coonskin cap, fighting a ferocious, Mohican-like Indian. The poster excited me so much that I could not wait to get home from school to ask my mother to take me to see the film.

My mother agreed to take me to see it and as we walked down to the cinema, I could not contain my excitement.

However, my aura of excitement soon changed to tears of dismay. The man on the door said that it was not a children's film. He said that many nasty things happened in the film that an innocent child should not see - I cried all the way home. I think my mother had to buy me a colouring book to make me feel better.

I have just managed to track down the film and managed to match it against the poster that I remembered getting excited about as a child. The man, who had spoken to my mother at the door of the cinema, was right. Many "nasty things" did happen in this film that "an innocent child should not see".

However, having watched the film on YouTube, to my mind, the film was not as exciting as the poster that I saw outside the cinema depicted it to be; and not as brutal as the doorman at the cinema, who would not let me in to see it, said it was going to be.

If I had have seen it as a child, I would not have known whether it was a "sugar coated" family film that was trying to be a musical, or a comic adventure that was trying to be a violent history lesson about early frontier life in America.

So, after sixty years of searching for the film that I was never allowed to see, with only a childhood memory of the poster to go on, I will give it 8 out of 10.

After hoo-hooing American Indians scalp number one son, frontiersman Bruce Bennett (as Daniel Boone) seems, at first, like he wants to get even; but, he really wants to make friends with the natives. When sad-eyed Indian chief Lon Chaney Jr. (as Blackfish) also loses number one son, it gets more difficult to clear up misunderstandings. Apparently, this was Republic Pictures' attempt to do for their "Daniel Boone, Trail Blazer" what Disney Studio's had successfully done with "Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier" (1955).

The "Dan'l Boone" song, whistled and sung by a group of children in a wagon, did not follow Fess Parker's "Davy Crockett" up the Hit Parade. Singer Faron Young (as Faron Callaway) doesn't perform the title song (perhaps wisely); he does sing "Long Green Valley", and makes a good impression as a blond boyfriend for Boone's daughter. But, Spanish actor Freddy Fernandez is the film's most valuable player. In a cute scene, Mr. Fernandez reminds Mr. Young the name of the character ("Susannah") he is supposed to be in love with.

**** Daniel Boone, Trail Blazer (10/5/56) Ismael Rodríguez ~ Bruce Bennett, Lon Chaney Jr., Faron Young, Freddy Fernandez

This is a low-budgeted film about the famous adventurer and explorer Daniel Boone (Bruce Bennet) . After the guidance a settlers party from North Caroline to the fertile valley of Kentucky , Boone undergoes several adventures . This time Boone is living along with his wife and sons in Boonesborough , when his eldest son is kidnapped and murdered by the Shawnees Indians . Boone unites a group to track down a carriage full of children that are surrounded by the Indians , but he's taken prisoner and submitted deadly proof ; later on , he escapes . Chief Blackfish (Lon Chaney Jr.) and Boone accord a meeting in the location named Thousand Waterfalls but an Indian masquerading posing as white men threatens the peace . Then , the savage Indians attack the fort Booneesborough .

This shoe-string budget movie chronicling the further feats of our frontier hero , displays adventures , action , and spectacular outdoors . Filmed in Mexico and with Mexican actors as secondaries , such as Claudio Brook and Eduardo Noriega , and giving a surprisingly good acting by Lon Chaney Jr. including a touching weeping . Worn-out color , granulated and lousy cinematography , in spite of gorgeous landscapes . The flick was regularly directed by Albert Gannaway , also in charge of production and soundtrack which includes some songs . The film didn't help to spread Boone-mania among the kids of the 50s and 60s . Other adaptations about this frontiersman hero are the followings : the classic version (1934) by David Howard with George O'Brien and John Carradine , and the known TV series with Fess Parker .

The picture is partially based on real deeds , the actual events are the followings : Daniel Boone (1734-1820) long hunter , Indian fighter , trail-blazing pioneer and first of the frontier folk heroes was born in Pennsylvania . Moving to North Carolina he settled in the Yadkin Valley , supporting his family by hunting, often making long trips for profitable animal skins . The long hunters were so called because their long wildness hunts might last more than a year . Boone was impressed by the Indian hunting grounds of Kentucky and determined to make his home in this unsettled , fertile land rich with game.The journey was thwarted by hostile Indians who killed six of the party including Boone's eldest son . With a band of hardy woodsmen , Boone set forth and blazed a trail , known as the Wilderness Road , through the Cumberland Gap of the Appalachian Mountains to the Kentucky River , where they built a fort named Boonesborough , to which later brought his family and a group of settlers. In January 1778 Boone was captured by Shawnee Indians and adopted into tribe as the foster-son of Chief Blackfish . In June escaped escaped to warn Boonesborough of an impeding Shawnee attack . Frustated by legal nullification of his Kentucky lands claims, Boone moved on to Missouri . Boone died aged eighty-six in his son's farmhouse in Missouri.

It's hardly surprising that Republic Studios would bring out "Daniel Boone, Trail Blazer" when they did. After all, Disney brought out "Davy Crockett: KIng of the Wild Frontier" the year before and it caused a major sensation. Kids all over America went Davy Crockett crazy...demanding 1001 different products emblazoned with his name on them and endorsed by him. But what is surprising is how bad this Republic film was when compared with the Disney film. Instead of just doing a knock-off of the film, someone got the bright idea of making it more like a musical or singing cowboy movie...which was NOT what the public apparently wanted. Additionally, the film just looks cheap by comparison...not terrible...but obviously made on the cheap compared to the Disney film.

The basic plot is that the settlers in the west (really, the Ohio/Kentucky area of the eastern portion of the Midwest) were having trouble with the local Indian tribes. Those dastardly Indians apparently thought Boone and his friends were coming to take away their land and dispossess them...which, history has taught us was 100% true. While Boone himself might have wanted to co-exist (and who knows if this is true or not), the 'bad Indians' in the film were actually right. I know back in the 1950s people didn't think this way...but the tribes were right to suspect that the settlers wanted more than just a place to raise a family.

Throughout the film, Boone is shown trying to convince the local tribesmen that he meant them no harm. The leader (Lon Chaney Jr.) is torn...and many of his men favor war, though he personally seemed to like Boone and trust him. At the same time, some of the Indians were doing much to stir up war and a few of the settlers (one in particular) seemed more than happy to fight them. And, oddly, throughout this ordeal, folks kept taking time to sing! The singing was not good like that of Gene Autry or Roy Rogers...more just annoying and pointless.

If it sounds like I didn't like this movie, you are generally right. I thought historically speaking it was quite naive and the singing drove me batty. Additionally, the acting was only fair and it was obvious Republic was doing this on the cheap. Worth seeing if you adore B-westerns but otherwise, just watch the Davy Crockett films on Disney+ or see if you can find the old Fess Parker "Daniel Boone" television show.

I'm not a big fan of the western genre - meaning I watch some of them but not a lot of them. So this review is coming from one that watches westerns on occasions - depending on who is in the film, recommendations and/or what the movie is about. It was Lon Chaney that attracted my attention to this film mainly but I am also interested in film biographies and histories.

While this film maybe not be perfectly accurate it is a good film that gives us a fairly decent idea of what might have took place during the real Daniel Boone's life. I enjoyed the movie.

There are 3 songs in the film - although it's not exactly a musical those scenes are like a musical. They could have left them out of the film but it did not take away from the film to me.

Anyway - I liked this film and would watch it again.

8/10