Il sesto eroe

This is the sad and touching story of Ira Hayes, with a fine acting job by Tony Curtis. Do not expect action scenes with battles and heroics. There is only a brief section that takes place on Iwo Jima;the rest is drama. Some may argue about this or that point of historical accuracy-- with good reason probably--but when all that is done, we're left with just a good drama about a young man who could not cope with the bizarre role of 'national hero' that fate forced upon him. The story is about how events outside his control affected his relationships with friends, family, his community, comrades and his country. We wish life could have turned out better for such a decent man.

Clint Eastwood in Flags Of Our Fathers has probably given us the definitive version of the story of the flag raising on Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima. Three of the six were later killed in action before the the flag raising became a Marine Corps symbol. The other three came back to all kinds of publicity because they became media heroes.

Probably you couldn't find three more ordinary guys than Jesse Bradley, Rene Gagnon, and Ira Hayes. The first two lived long lives in respectable obscurity after their 15 minutes of fame finally died down. Ira Hayes was unique in that he both survived and was a minority group member.

When Branch Rickey decided it was time to integrate baseball Jackie Robinson was chosen after a very careful selection process. Ira Hayes was part of a group photograph of a flag raising during a lull in a great battle. Fame chose him and as we see in The Outsider, he wasn't ready to deal with it.

Tony Curtis gives one of his best screen performances as Ira Hayes, the Pima Indian kid who mere chance at being in the photographer's lens when an immortal picture was snapped gave him fame he didn't want to deal with. How could he, really he was probably no better or worse than any of the other men and simply raising a flag during a lull of battle wasn't anything heroic. Hayes was acutely aware of this and felt himself unworthy to be the Jackie Robinson for the Pima Indians.

Such a sad story that Tony Curtis brings to us on the big screen. How would we deal with fame if it was suddenly thrust upon us for no discernible reason? Something Ira Hayes asked until the day he died.

Ira Hayes and Tony Curtis, himself a World War II veteran, wouldn't mind if this review was dedicated to all the men who served in the Marine Corps and fought for that volcanic island in the Pacific called Iwo Jima. Just another hero in the company of thousands of heroes, that's what Ira Hayes would have wanted.

This movie "The Outsider" was a pleasant surprise from the moment it started, until the very end of it. I thought that Tony Curtis was supurb as "Ira Hayes"...a part I feel should have won him an Acadamy Award Nomation and/or an Oscar. Tony Curtis was able to give the viewer great insight of the pain felt by this misguided Hero. Also, the raising of the flag on Mt. Suribachi on Iwo Jima looked so real...and gave me such a powerful patriotic feeling. This movie does not come around to view very often...and my one wish is that it would be shown more. It was one of the best movies I have seen in a very long time.

The official U.S. release date of "The Outsiders" is given as December, 1961, but in late August/early September of 1961, Tony brought the movie to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, CA. to give all us Marines a sneak peek. He had filmed much of the movie at MCRD, plus in Oceanside and downtown San Diego, so he let us "locals" have the first look. Before and after the showing, Curtis came on the stage at the base theater along with his wife Janet Leigh and MCRD Commannder Gen. Victor Krulak, and we jar-heads were totally impressed with ourselves for getting the VIP treatment from such bigshots. Curtis didn't play the usual featherweight role as Ira Hayes, but gave a tough, gritty performance as an alcoholic on the skids. I don't notice "The Outsiders" listed among Tony Curtis's credits in all these obituaries, but if you get a chance to see it don't pass it up.

The movie itself stands on it's own merits and might be applauded for the telling of this powerful true story, but when other film makers like John Ford had used REAL Native Americans in movies, this was yet another slap in the face to Native Americans .

The movie itself also tended to use Hayes' personal weakness for alcohol to reinforce the belief that ALL Native Americans were prone to alcoholism.

While it is widespread on some reservations...it is because they were forced to live in that environment for decades where they have little do and must fall back on "the public dole"...and suffer the worst economic structure in the U. S.

This movie is long over-due for a re-telling...and the skills of Mr Curtis has nothing to do with my review.