Run of the Arrow

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.

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.

Run of the Arrow is written and directed by Sam Fuller. It stars Rod Steiger, Sara Montiel, Brian Keith, Ralph Meeker, Jay C. Flippen and Charles Bronson. Music is scored by Victor Young and Technicolor cinematography is by Joseph Biroc.

As the American Civil War closes, Confederate Pvt. O'Meara (Steiger) finds he just can't bring himself to be part of the United States. With his head full of memories about what the Yankees put his kind through, and a heart full of bile, he decides to go West and live native. Here he encounters the Sioux and his life takes on a new meaning.....

Run of the Arrow, and director Sam Fuller in general, has grown a sterling reputation over the decades. Where Fuller's rep as the American Primitive auteur is well deserved, Run of the Arrow's is not. It seems that the themes at work, and they are strong and potent, have made many forget the glaring flaws in the production.

Churning away in the screenplay are themes of nationalism, identity, loyalty and racism, with the dialogue well scripted, but these themes are hardly presented as complex issues. Literally overnight O'Meara has a grasp on Sioux customs and language, with the Sioux not afforded any characterisation outside of O'Meara's musings (the authoritative voice after one day of going native!) and a brief scene where Blue Buffalo (Bronson) bizarrely accepts the Christian faith is the same as the Sioux faith. Ultimately the presentation of the Sioux is so one dimensional it's nigh on impossible to accept that O'Meara is now conflicted in his calling.

Then there is the small matter of Steiger's miscasting. As some critics have fallen over themselves to laud the film as an ambitious masterpiece, they have forgotten about the lead man's misplacement. The attempt at an Irish accent is woeful, it comes off as more like an Eastern Europe and Asian mix, thankfully he gives up later in the film to give our ears a rest. But he is also physically wrong as well, we are asked to believe that his stocky frame can outrun lithe and muscular Sioux warriors, it's insulting even when taking artistic licence into account. Amusingly some critics of the time praised Fuller for fluidly tracking running feet as opposed to full bodied character, truth is it wasn't artistic intent, Steiger had sprained his ankle so Fuller had to shoot another actor running! It's just one of the many irrelevant scenes in the picture.

The use of white actors to play Indians always causes friction with Western fans, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Here it cuts both ways, Bronson gets away with it, he looks the part, but Flippen is embarrassingly unconvincing as Walking Coyote and Montiel as Yellow Moccasin is done up like a porn version of a Sioux squaw! (voice dubbed by Angie Dickinson as well). It's hard to focus on strong thematics when Steiger is talking through a mouth full of beans, Flippen looks like he has wandered in off of an L.A. street and Montiel is making you horny with a shapely thigh! Where the film lifts itself above average is with Fuller's knack for stylised violence and the location photography of Biroc (latterly Ulzana's Raid). Officially the first film to use squibs for bloody impact of weapons, Fuller utilises this to the max, there's also some excellent flaming arrow work as well. Even though the print I viewed of the film is drab and scratchy, you can still see the great work of Biroc as he brings the beauty of St George, Utah, to Fuller's harsher human edges. While Young's score is inventive in blending Civil War and Irish tunes into the otherwise standard Cavalry and Indians mix.

I consider myself a big Fuller fan, I love Forty Guns, Shock Corridor and The Naked Kiss, but Run of the Arrow has too much wrong with it to deserve the "great" reputation it has. While those trying to put it forward as being this great inspiration that Dances With Wolves copied! Are seriously barking up the wrong tree. Each has a disenchanted soldier venturing West and encountering the Sioux, from there on in, though, the films vastly differ. 6/10

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.