Johnny, l'indiano bianco

"The Light in the Forest" is a live action Disney film that I found on YouTube. I was surprised, as I had never heard about this one before....which is odd since it's a very good movie...one of the better live action films they made during this era.

The story is set in the Colonies during the 18th century. A new peace treaty has been created between the British and the local tribes. A provision of that treaty is that all folks kidnapped by these tribes will be repatriated. This story is about Johnny Butler (James MacArthur), a young man who has little recollection of his years spent with white folks. All he really knows is the tribe that raised him...and he was the adopted son of the chief. So, his transition to life among the colonists was problematic, to say the least. The man responsible for returning him to his folks (Fess Parker) isn't planning on leaving the colony until Johnny has adjusted...which might just be a very, very long time.

This is a tremendously sensitive film for its time in its portrayal of the natives and because of this, it makes for a fine film...with excellent writing, direction and acting. Well worth seeing and historically fascinating. See this one!

James MacArthur is very good in early role as young white man in 1760s Philadelphia who, years earlier, was kidnapped and raised by the Delaware Indian tribe, now being traded back to his people as part of a peace agreement. The white man's customs (such as taking a bath) have the kid feeling alienated and sullen, but a sympathetic frontiersman and a lovely servant-girl try to help him adjust. MacArthur has a great masculine stance and a firm jaw--and he's unhurt by his Mohawk haircut--but he's perhaps too rigid; the character might have stood some silly, self-effacing moments. Everything in this adaptation of Conrad Richter's book is taken with the utmost seriousness, but where's the heart of the piece? And with whom should our sympathies lie? Wendell Corey overdoes his role as a town bully--not only racist and a liar, but an alcoholic as well!--though Fess Parker's good-hearted scout relieves some of the tension in this solemn scenario. Carol Lynley makes her film debut (playing a white girl named, of all things, Shenandoe!); she's sweet flirting with MacArthur, and looks like Alice in Wonderland in her apron-dresses. Good-looking Walt Disney production is nevertheless stodgy, as if it were written as a history lesson. Disney buffs and fans of wholesome, old-fashioned entertainment should enjoy it. **1/2 from ****

The film is surprisingly beautiful with even Bambi making an appearance for an introduction. It's the very natural settings that make it beautiful, glorifying life in freedom together with nature and generously sharing the splendour of the wilderness along the river in great sequences of pastoral idealism. The boy 'True Son' or 'Johnnie' has been raised wit the Indians for eleven years when he is being repatriated to the whites by the force of a peace treaty, which he initially refuses to accept, but the law is the law, and he adapts to the strange ways of the whites with difficulty and reluctance. Naturally, like in all Disney movies, there is an abominable villain (Wendell Corey) who does everything to ruin his denaturalisation, and there will be conflicts and settlements. Naturally there are pretty girls and ladies involved also, and the happy ending is obligatory and inescapable - after many critical turns. The novel behind it should be much more interesting in exploring these cultural differences, but the film is good enough, and Fess Parker does an admirable job as the boy's guide. The music adds to the charm and beauty of this very likeable film.

A couple of young players, James MacArthur and Carol Lynley, got their breakout roles in Walt Disney's The Light In The Forest. I saw this way back when I was a 10 year old kid, urged as I always was by the Disney publicity machine greatest in the world then. I doubt any kid who saw both the Disneyland TV show or the Mickey Mouse Club let their parents alone until they saw this or any number of other Disney products.

Seeing it almost 60 years later and knowing now what I know of the source of this film, Conrad Richter's novel a whole lot had to be strained out in order to make this G rated entertainment. The Paxton Boys that are headed by Pastor John McIntire were quite real and as murderous a gang of thugs on the frontier as you would find. There is the Conestoga massacre eluded to in the film. That was quite a real incident where many Delawares were slaughtered without reason or provocation, a colonial era Sand Creek. McIntire's character John Elder though had a certain plausible deniability in the affair.

Stephen Bekassy's character General Henry Bouquet is also real, he pops up in the Cecil B. DeMille epic Unconquered. The rest is Richter's tale of a young white captive returned to his people by terms of a treaty with Chief Joseph Calleia. MacArthur goes back and accompanying him is scout Fess Parker who kind of eases him into acceptance by his long lost parents Frank Ferguson and Jessica Tandy and others.

One who doesn't accept him is Wendell Corey who is a swaggering Indian hating bully. Corey could play some truly hateful people on the big and small screen and he's one of the worst. The climax is the showdown between MacArthur and Corey and I will say viewing it now, what happens makes no sense.

Carol Lynley plays a young indentured servant bound to Corey and this is a topic I see rarely discussed. In order to obtain passage from Great Britain one could bind one self over into essential slavery for a period of seven years. Corey who's a cad besides everything else is real interested in Lynley for other than house work. Fess Parker has also a love interest in McIntire's daughter Joanne Dru.

Maybe one day we'll get a more true to the book adaption of this story. But The Light In The Forest is a decent Disney film that served its cast well.

Mainly, the story, based on the novel of the same name, of a boy: True Son(James McArthur), Caucasian by birth, captured by the Delaware 11 years ago, when 4. It takes place in southwestern Pennsylvania and adjacent Ohio in 1764, which is just after the conclusion of the French and Indian War. At this time, most Delaware are located in Ohio, on their gradual westward migration ultimately to Oklahoma. The British want the Delaware to sign a peace treaty granting them exclusive rights to the general area of present Ohio. One of the provisions is that the Delaware must give up all white captives. Unfortunately, this rigid provision makes no allowance for the fact that some of these captives much prefer to remain identified as Delaware. This is especially true of those captured when young in the distant past, and those who have given birth or fathered a child while so captive. True Son was adopted by Chief Cuyloga(Joseph Calleia), cannot remember his natal parents, and has no wish to be returned to white society. Thus, the crux of the story relates to True Son's forced repatriation into white society, where he takes on his birth name: Johnny Butler, and is housed with his birth parents. We experience some of the hardships he encounters toward becoming an accepted member of the white community. He refuses to give up his Mohawk hair style, which constantly reminds others of his Delaware past. He must relearn English ,and learn to chop down and split trees, making fences of some, and various other skills. He must face people like Uncle Wilse(Wendell Corey) who hate all Indians, and perhaps have killed some. Also, he should try to cultivate a friendship with a girl of his age range(He does, with indentured servant(Shenandoe, played by 16y.o. Carol Lynley). ... At one point, Johnny runs back to become True Son again. But, Chief Cuyloga tells him he must return to the whites. At this point, he doesn't feel comfortable being a Delaware or a white man. What to do? Whom to trust? See the film to find out. I will say that the film ends on an upbeat note, but how long can it last? The film is especially suitable for teens, but many adults will enjoy it too.