Le Jugement des flèches

This oater is a rather gory affair of a bitter ex-rebel's quest to put the Civil War behind him. The Confederate soldier heads west and decides that life among the Plains Indians is preferable to being a citizen of the United States after the war. Rod Steiger was probably the best actor to play the unreconstructed southerner in this grim cavalry-Indian western. The unhappy southerner finds companionship with an Indian maiden in his adopted tribe and harbors as much hatred for the soldiers as do the Indians. The film starts slowly but finds its own groove and delivers fine action sequences although some scenes are not for the squeamish. Brian Keith, Ralph Meeker, Charles Bronson and Frank de Kova are good in supporting roles. Pretty Mexican actress Sarita Montiel pairs up with O'Meara's but her overall effect is diminished by the obvious dubbing of her voice.

Confederate soldier Rod O'Meara (Rod Steiger) is bitter following Lee's surrender at Appomattox. He almost takes a shot at Grant. He travels west to escape the Union. He is befriended by a Sioux named Walking Coyote who is returning to his tribe after working for the Americans. The two are captured by Crazy Wolf who leads a band of young warriors. Walking Coyote demands a Run of the Arrow. Crazy Wolf is forced to oblige and O'Meara manages to survive with help from Yellow Moccasin. He is the first man to survive the trial. He joins the tribe and marries Yellow Moccasin. He is assigned to scout for the Americans as they built a new fort. Conflict soon arises and O'Meara is forced to choose a side.

Filmmaker Samuel Fuller is known for low budget B-movies which sometimes gained critical praise. O'Meara may not be an appealing protagonist but he has a point to make. It is a look at the world through the loser's side, both the Confederates and the Sioux. Both groups are in the last days of independence. It's a conflicted film about a conflicted world with conflicted characters. The movie is trying to say something but like O'Meara, the movie is unsure of its own point of view. This is interesting but it leaves me conflicted.

No one ever accused Sam Fuller of being a run-of-the-mill Hollywood dream merchant. Run of the Arrow is fairly typical of the noted director-writer's work, applying his thinking man's approach to a well-established genre; in this case, the western. Touching on the moral conflicts of the Civil War as well as the uneasy truce between the white man and the Native American, the movie centers on a disillusioned Confederate (Rod Steiger)trying to find his place in a world in which he has cast himself as an outsider.

Fuller handles the visuals and the action sequences with as much confidence as the more intimate sequences of Steiger trying to immerse himself into the culture of the Sioux after what he feels is the humiliating defeat of the Confederate forces to the Union. While he lacks is the poetic sweep of a John Ford, Fuller is refreshingly unsentimental and takes pains to establish the subtlety of the characters and their conflicts.

Still, it is by no means a perfect movie, undermined by the dreadful miscasting of Rod Steiger in the starring role. Although a highly skilled actor who has often excelled at portraying multi-dimensional, morally ambiguous characters, Steiger seems out-of-place as a Confederate renegade and his Irish brogue only calls attention to his uneasiness. Fuller barely shows any interest in fleshing out the relationship between Steiger and the Indian squaw he marries, casting a nondescript and unappealing actress for the love interest. But Brian Keith and Ralph Meeker are excellent as the Union officers, one kindly, the other oozing villainy from every pore.

The movie is a natural for fans of adult, upper-scale westerns (a la The Gunfighter, Shane, etc.) while the more action-oriented buffs won't feel entirely left out either.

Interesting, unusual Western to emerge during the genre's heyday given writer/director Fuller's typically uncompromising viewpoint. Starting off on the last day of the American Civil War, it deals with Southerner-of-Irish-descent Rod Steiger's inability to cope with defeat which sends him the way of the Sioux (the renowned Method actor, making a surprising third genre appearance in as many years, brings his customary intensity to the traditional Western canvas). After meeting up with renegade Indian Jay C. Flippen(!) and surviving the titular challenge, he's accepted by the Redskins and even lands himself a squaw (Sarita Montiel aka Mrs. Anthony Mann) and a mute foster-son; the latter is then involved in a startling sequence as, about to drown in quicksand, he's saved by a passing American horse soldier…except that he's rewarded for his good deed by falling headfirst into the slime himself! Steiger's past also comes back to haunt him at this point, with the arrival of the Cavalry (led by sympathetic Brian Keith and nasty Ralph Meeker – the latter was the last man to be shot during the war, by Steiger himself!) who want to build a fort in Sioux territory. Though the Indians (with Charles Bronson as Chief) desire peace, one of their number is a rebel and wages a one-man war against the whites…but Steiger has him do the 'Run Of The Arrow', which is then callously interrupted by Meeker. With Keith murdered by a Sioux arrow, the younger officer takes over command and, obstinately but unwisely, takes the unit further into Indian territory in search of a more strategic point for constructing. As Steiger's entreaty for surrender is rejected, the Cavalry are massacred (quite a violent scene for the time) – but Meeker is kept alive, since awaiting him is the fate allotted to those who willfully obstruct the 'run'. It's here, though, that Steiger draws the line for, whatever his feelings for Meeker personally, he can't bear to see his fellow man tortured: ironically, he uses the bullet he had shot him with originally, kept all along as a token, to end his ordeal. Looking on, Bronson – and, even more so, Montiel (voiced here by Angie Dickinson!) – realize that his place is with the white man after all; a wonderful scene has her throw the U.S. flag at Steiger and bringing him to admit that his home state of Virginia is equally represented on it. The concluding scene, then, has the surviving unit starting off to rejoin its ranks with Steiger (accompanied by his 'family') at the head.

Run of the Arrow is the 50's equivalent of 'Dances with Wolves', so if you wanted to watch Dances with Wolves in the 50's, you had to watch this. That's not such a bad thing, however, as although this film isn't brilliant; it's better than Dances with Wolves. The story follows the adventures of Pvt. O'Meara (portrayed impressively by Rod Steiger), a soldier on the losing side of the American Civil war. He is dismayed by his side joining with the other side at the end of war, and he wants no part of the unified American nation. So, he travels south to the land of savages, because "at least they have pride". On the way to the south, he meets up with a renegade Sioux Indian scout and he finds an admiration for the Sioux culture. He later becomes the first man to beat the 'run of the arrow', and finds himself taking a squire and being accepted into their tribe.

The visuals are gritty and fairly brutal. There is also lots on offer in the way of entertainment: the scene in which our hero beats the run of the arrow is well filmed and exciting, which is just the way it should be. Aside from this, the movie also features a quicksand scene, a near skinning alive sequence and a great Americans vs. Indians battle scene. It also stays entertaining all the through, and that is much to the movie's credit; it's something that Dances with Wolves couldn't manage anyway. The film also features two great actors, which very much impress. The aforementioned Rod Steiger is the first, who takes the lead role. Although he doesn't ever set the screen on fire, he is always believable in his role, and that is enough. Aside from Steiger, the film also features the talents of the very talented Charles Bronson as a Sioux Indian.

The story is nothing new for those who have seen films like Dances with Wolves, or Witness; but remember, this film predates both of those by nearly thirty years, so it's not unoriginality on the part of this. In fact, my only major criticism of the film is that it's under-ambitious. It never really gets under the skin of it's story, and that is a loss to the film as if it had have done; it would have been a more well rounded film. Smaller criticisms are that it's very short, and related to that; the ending feels very rushed and doesn't really satisfy the viewer. Still, The Run of the Arrow is a classic film and one that should not be missed by anyone lucky enough to see it.