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Set in the Montana wilderness of the 19th century, "Winterhawk" relates the story of the title character (Michael Dante), a mythical warrior of the Blackfoot people. Despite his feelings towards the white man, he realizes that he will have to ask for their help when smallpox starts to decimate his tribe. He goes to a community with the intention of a trade so that he can obtain needed medicine. But two of the guys in this community are the patently awful Gates (L. Q. Jones) and Scoby (Dennis Fimple), and they merely mock and assault Winterhawk and his fellow emissaries.

In retaliation, Winterhawk kidnaps lovely young Clayanna (Dawn Wells) and her younger brother Cotton (Chuck Pierce, Jr., the son of director Charles B. Pierce), and takes them on a very long journey North. They are followed by community members Big Rude (Woody Strode), Arkansas (Denver Pyle), and Little Smith (Jimmy Clem, a Pierce regular), as well as sullen loner Guthrie (Leif Erickson), who's always been a friend to people like Winterhawk.

This is pretty good, overall. It attempts to be epic in scope, spanning months and seasons, and it's the winter scenes that are the best. As befitting Pierces' style, there is time for some comedy touches, but he treats his Indian characters with dignity, and it's worth noting that not only was he doing his part in keeping the Western genre alive during this time, but he was also taking the time to tell stories that revolved around Indian people.

Overall, despite some very nice scenery and excellent music by Lee Holdridge (as well as a catchy theme song), Pierces' subsequent film "Grayeagle" is superior. For one thing, although he doesn't do a bad job, Dante is not as imposing or commanding a presence as Alex Cord is in that other film. But he's surrounded by such a top bunch of character actors that this picture is still quite watchable. (Strode, playing a strong / silent type, tends to be rather wasted until late in the story.) Also appearing are ever-welcome faces like Elisha Cook, Jr., Arthur Hunnicutt, and the notorious Sacheen Littlefeather as Guthries' young wife. Fimple and especially Jones play jerks so loathsome that you wait patiently for their hoped-for comeuppance.

This viewer could have done without the narration that came across to him as rather pretentious, but "Winterhawk" is still a reasonably engrossing story from writer / producer / director Pierce. Strodes' son Kalai Strode also contributed to the script, uncredited.

Seven out of 10.

It is set in 1845 Montana, there a Blackfoot Indian : Michael Dante seeks smallpox serum from a nearby trapper camp for his stricken tribe . When he is attacked for his efforts , he takes vendetta by kidnapping two of the settlement's members : Dawn Wells . Then a posse : Leif Erickson , Denver Pyle , Woody Strode , Elisha Cook Jr is formed , going after him . Before the West ever saw the American cowboy..Winterhawk had become a Blackfoot legend . He was the greatest legend the Blackfoot ever had ... and the White Man could never forget .

An agreeable , melodramatic Western movie with trappers , mountain men , Indians and extremely nasty baddies . It packs thrills , noisy action , pursuits and gorgeous landscapes. Exceptional and colorful photography of the gorgeous scenary can't hide the cliched story , in spite of it , resulting to be enjoyable enough . Very marvellous scenary shots of the Rocky Mountains and some pretty soundtrack make up for some of the known , predictable plot . The picture contains a good cast , giving dencent interpretation , with plenty of Western notorious secondaries as Leif Erickson , Denver Pyle , Elisha Cook Jr , Woody Strode , Michael Dante , L. Q. Jones in a really villain role and Arthur Hunnicut's last screen appearance

It packs a sensitive and rousing musical score by Lee Oldridge . Luminous and briiliant cinematography from Jim Roberson and Charles B Pierce himself . This acceptable and in medium budget motion picture was well directed by Charles B Pierce . This craftsman also made similar style westerns such as : Hawken's Breed , Sacred Ground and Grayeagle . Although he also made terror genre as Town that dreaded Sundown, The Evictors , Legend of Bobby Creek , Bobby Creek II and Adventures as Norseman . Rating : 6.5/10 . Worthwhile watching.

Love the scenery, cuz it is in our backyard!!! It was also cut down from the three hour epic that Charles Pierce wanted to make, as we have looked for lots of our friends who were extras is various scenes and they did not make it into the final 98 minutes.

The film also had a sizable budget for that period of time, so I think the issue is more related to the parts that landed on the cutting room floor.

Michael Dante was also extremely arrogant and was hard to work around. Dawn Wells was very nice, as was Denver Pyle who loved the Flathead Valley.

You are wrong! This is a great movie! I watched it again and again. I loved the scenery. And the music was beautiful. I love Dawn Wells and thought she was great in this part. A wonderful story that gives a sympathetic view of the American Indian.

RELEASED IN 1975 and written/directed by Charles Pierce, "Winterhawk" chronicles events in western Montana in the 1840s when small pox breaks out in a remote tribe of Blackfoot. The titular chief (Michael Dante) goes to the New Americans to apprehend a remedy, but things don't go well and a movie-length chase ensues. Dawn Wells from Gilligan's Island plays the female lead while Leif Erickson plays a mountain man who's friends with the Blackfoot. Woody Strode, Denver Pyle, L.Q. Jones & Elisha Cook Jr. have peripheral roles.

While watching, I was reminded of 1977's "Grayeagle" and therefore wasn't surprised to discover that Pierce made both films. "Grayeagle" is superior, though, and it shows that Pierce learned a thing or two while making this one two years earlier.

The movie has its points of interest, like a notable cast, with great alpine locations and moments of aesthetic wonder. But it's marred by a sometimes draggy vibe with overly syrupy moments and a blaring piano-oriented score that starts to grate due to its booming redundancy. Moreover, Winterhawk (the character) is depicted as excessively mysterious, noble and superhuman, not to mention more time needed spent on his group in the chase for the simple sake of human interest. If you can handle these cavils, however, this is a worthwhile Western.

Some have pointed out that "Winterhawk" is noteworthy because of its respectful view of Native Americans (who aren't really 'native' since their ancestors emigrated from Asia), yet pro-Indian Westerns actually go back to "Buffalo Bill" (1944), "Fort Apache" (1948), "Broken Arrow" (1950) and "The Last Wagon" (1956), not to mention the more contemporaneous "A Man Called Horse" (1970) and "I Will Fight No More Forever" (1975).

THE FILM RUNS 98 minutes and was shot in Kalispell & Browning, Montana, and Durango & Silverton, Colorado.

GRADE: B-

Up n the mountains of Montana ad Colorado on the Blackfoot and Flathead Indian reservations it musr have been a rugged shoot for the filming of Winterhawk. Michael Dante in the title role makes a proud and impressive Blackfoot chief.

Who is on a mission for his tribe. He wants to trade with the white trappers in 2840ish Montana, furs for medicine for smallpox . The disease has ravished hs tribe. But the minute the trappers hear smallpox they open fire. So Dante grabs the niece and nephew of missionary Elisha Cook for trade. Dawn Wels who narrates the film from the perspective of old age and Charles Pierce, r., are the barter.

Cook hires Leif Erickson to lead a rescue party. There's also a score to settle with L.Q. Jones who was the one who started te shooting. Erickson has some personal score to settle with Jones.

Beautiful cinematography of the high country is the number one feature of Winterhawk. Dawn Wells's narration is also poignant in many spts. And finally a realistic portrayal of the Blackfeet people.

One good western.

I have been watching westerns since I was in grade school. I often laugh at the inaccuracies found in these westerns. Caucasions playing native americans, etc. This is one of those westerns. Winterhawk is obviously riding a horse with a saddle hidden by a red blanket, stirrups are visible. Most of the other indians are correctly riding bareback as it should be.

Great cinematography in Montana , good colors and remarkable sharp for an almost 50 year old movie, from a time when the word pixel was not yet known.

A story simply and well told , In the 1820's the smallpox virus was a far bigger problem then our recent COVID pandemia.

Vaccinaton was started 80 years later , in England ( Edward Jenner)

Acting is so so and the matching of the stuntman and the stars is rough .

Sacheen Littlefeather, remembered for accepting Marlon Brando's Godfather Oscar, has a nice performance, but only one line " Someone is coming "

The chief seems to be the only one who speaks the Blackfoot Siksika language, the tribesmen all speak perfect american english.

The good cast culled from Hollywood's Poverty Row cannot save this routine oater about an Indian Chief seeking aid from white men when his tribe is afflicted with small-pox. Sadly this would be the screen swan song for character actor Arthur Hunnicutt, who served so well as the side-kick in so many westerns, and notably as Davy Crockett in "The Last Command"(1955). This one is easy to pass on.

From the opening credits when the hero is riding across the plains, i knew this was going to be bad. His horse keeps stumbling. As the camera pulls back, you realize that the horse is running across a plowed field. In the background are the clear cuts with power lines running over the mountains. Worse, under the horse blanket is a saddle.

It goes downhill from there.

Historically, there is little that is true about the story. It is true that smallpox epidemics killed many of them in two different outbreaks (1781 and 1837). When the buffalo disappeared in 1880's it pretty much wiped them out.

They were originally from the Great Lakes region, and traditionally hunted and gathered in the plains and not mountains.

Anyway, this is a film that should be soon forgotten.

I absolutely don't agree with all the sour apple reviews of this movie. Yes, it definitely has its flaws, but on the whole, I love it - the stirring musical score, the Winterhawk song, the gorgeous scenery, the story, and especially the slow motion sequences displaying Michael Dante's dazzling horsemanship - which was why I saw it 7 times in the theater when it first came out. Well known Chicago film critic Roger Ebert gave this movie three stars! I definitely don't agree with all of Roger's reviews. In fact, I've disagreed very strongly more often than not. But his review of Winterhawk was glowing! I suggest you read it!

Movies / Roger Ebert / October 8, 1975

"Winterhawk" is a traditional Western, simply and well told, almost old-fashioned in the clarity of its narrative. An hour or so into it, there's a scene where a group of mountain men are gathered around a campfire, drinking coffee and huddling beneath their blankets for warmth, and something about the look and sound of them reminded me of the classic Westerns of John Ford. This could, indeed, almost be a Western from 20 or 30 years ago, if it weren't for its sympathetic and evenhanded treatment of Indians. The movie takes place very early in the 19th Century, when most of the West was known only to its Indian inhabitants and a few white trappers and traders and mountain men: Neither the farmers nor the cowmen had arrived to start their disagreements. There's a good attempt to be halfway authentic in terms of the period (although the movie's women apparently have found a supply of eyeliner out there in the wilderness), and the characters aren't burdened with all the heavy symbolism, of latter-day Westerns. The story involves a Blackfoot chief, Winterhawk, who takes furs to trade with the white man in exchange for medicine to fight a smallpox epidemic that's decimating his tribe. He's double-crossed, his furs are stolen and, in revenge, he kidnaps a white woman and her young brother and disappears back into the mountains. Their trek leads them past all sorts of glorious scenery, accompanied by appropriately heroic music. The movie's great to look at. A pursuit party sets off to find Winterhawk and "rescue" the woman and boy (who increasingly don't seem to need rescuing), and the filmmaker, Charles Pierce populates the party and the stops along with way with a gallery of great Western character actors. You may not know them all by name - but, believe me, you've seen them in the forts and stagecoaches and saloons and jails of countless Westerns: Denver Pyle, Lief Erickson, Woody Strode, Elisha Cook Jr., L. Q. Jones, Arthur Hunnicutt - the only ones missing are Strother Martin and good old Dub Taylor. Winterhawk is played by Michael Dante, who uses the strong-and-silent routine for all it's worth: It may be a cliché of a performance, but it works, and it's interesting for once to find a movie Indian who speaks in an Indian language that has to be translated for the other characters. He and the girl, Dawn Wells, exchange many meaningful glances and mutual silences before the movie's ending (which is a happy one, the exception in these cases). There's a love interest, but it's underplayed and allowed to develop convincingly, so we don't mind too much. The movie works directly and doesn't attempt to sneak allegories and messages past us. That makes it all the more convincing after the lugubrious "The Master Gunfighter," which turns up dubious "historical facts," works them into a plot lifted from a samurai drama and has the gall to pass itself off as a meaningful statement. Sometimes the best stories are the ones most simply told. -------

So there you have it!

Rita Raffanti

This movie is an attempt to reconcile the tragedies of the 1800's, when White Europeans clashed with the Indians of the Western United States. The Blackfeet Indians are portrayed as peaceful, one-with-nature people whose idyllic lifestyle was destroyed by the mass influx of the White race. That may be politically correct, but it is not entirely true.

Lead character "Winterhawk" (actor Michael Dante) gets very few lines. He spends most of the movie meditating, staring at the sky, or holding tree leaves in his hand. The directors/writers should have invested more time in character development.

Several cast members are easily recognized television stars, including "Mary Ann" of Gilligan's Island (actress Dawn Wells), and "Uncle Jesse" from the Dukes of Hazzard (actor Denver Pyle). Unfortunately, most of the acting is very poor, on the parts of all the players. Either they didn't get the script in time, or they didn't rehearse their lines. And the comic relief scenes, particularly the one where the mountaineers are bathing in the river, just don't fit in with this otherwise very somber movie.

I fast-forwarded through much of the movie. It is just too tedious, too much drudging through the snow, and way too much mood music. Based upon the scenery, I rate "Winterhawk" 6 stars.

I had to watch this, thing (thats a good name for it) at school. It was just plan bad. To keep me from falling a sleep during this movie, I was making jokes just like on Mystery Science Theater 3000, to myself. Even the teacher agreed with us that is was a very bad movie. The only thing good about this movie is the ending credits. The reason is because it was the end of this awful movie. I think MST3k could have some fun with this movie. Could Charles B. Pierce be the next Ed Woods, or even the next Rick Sloane (Hobgoblins)? That is a good chance. In my opinion, DON'T SEE IT!

While I do admire independent filmmaker Charles B. Pierce for making a western when the western genre was all but dead in American cinema, and I admire him for making a western where a Native American is the central figure - a rarity in westerns - I couldn't come up with much enthusiasm for the finished results, despite the fact that I love westerns and I can be very forgiving of shortcomings in them. For one thing, the character of Winterhawk, as well as the two white youths that he kidnaps and takes on a long journey, are not constructed well. Winterhawk hardly says a thing, and you frequently wonder what he's thinking or feeling. The two white youths don't get much more to say. Actually, the female white youth does have some dialogue, though most of it is done by her narration (cheaper and easier to dub over footage than to shoot live dialogue). Also, the wilderness doesn't look very spectacular, even during the winter shots. While far from the worst western ever made, I think even western fans will feel cheated by the time the end credits roll.

Story was good also. I would rate it higher but some of the acting was sub par at times. And they could of used a actual Native American for the lead instead of an Italian actor. Still worth watching though.

Smallpox killed half of the Blackfoot nation in the summer of 1840. Some years later, Clayanna (Dawn Wells) narrates about her life with Blackfoot chief Winterhawk (Michael Dante). He's seeking medicine for the smallpox epidemic, but white people recoil in fear. His men are killed and he gets robbed by bandits. In retaliation, he kidnaps Clayanna and her little brother Cotton.

The locations are grand. I can do without the bad music. Some of the music is comedic which fits none of this movie. I can see a good film somewhere in here except the execution lets this down. This really should be all about Clayanna and Winterhawk, but it spends too much time with the bad guys. I don't care about any of the pursuers. I barely care about Clayanna and Winterhawk. This does have nice scenery, but everything else is lacking.

It's 1845 in Montana. The Blackfoot Indians have an outbreak of smallpox, and chief Michael Dante tries to get medicine from nearby White settlers. They respond by killing two of his companions, so he kidnaps Dawn Wells and her brother, Chuck Pierce Jr., planning to trade them for medicine. A party of rescuers goes in pursuit.

There are lots of oldtime players here for the movie fan to enjoy, including Leif Erickson, Woody Strode, L. Q. Jones, Elisha Cook Jr., and Arthur Hunnicutt. The outdoor photography by James W. Robertson is magnificent, but writer/director Charles Pierce falls into several traps, including wooden performances by the actors playing Indians, lack of actual Indian actors (with the dubious exception of Sacheen Littlefeather), and insisting on Miss Wells doing a narration to inform us what's going on instead of showing us.

It certainly would have helped if the title character had been played by an actual Native American. Having his face painted seems more an attempt at concealing his European features than at achieving authenticity. That and his great big fluffy wig are supposed to make him non-white for the camera. Okay. And come ON, when that manly chorus came on singing "Winterhawk" I couldn't help giggling-- it seemed like a parody of here's-the-epic-hero themes. Reminded me of the old "Robin Hood, Robin Hood, riding through the glen..." Or even Frankie Laine doing "Blazing Saddles".

I suppose it was all an earnest effort, but so many things just come across as fake. For one thing, perky Dawn Wells looks and sounds like she belongs in a modern sitcom, and surprise! She was Mary Ann on Gilligan's Island, in case anyone hadn't recognized her. With her makeup miraculously perfect and hair clean and freshly styled during what purports to be a grueling journey into the wilderness, her presence helps to dispel any lingering credibility. Little brother Cotton's blond mop stays clean and well-groomed too... Well I could go on and on. There are just so many holes in the thing that it's not worth picking it apart.

So what the heck? If you can, apply that 'willing suspension of disbelief' and watch Winterhawk on its own terms. Any motion picture involves a lot of work, so why waste it?

i just loved the movie..... I'm keen on western movies and this one is just amazing. Indians are so proud and sentimental..wish there are some of them still living like that....the greatest thing of all is the look of the winter hawk.......they could not chose better actor for this movie...but something is not clear to me...if the Indians s good people...how come that winter hawk has left the guy, who killed other Indians, to froze himself to death.... I think it is not logical but anyway the ending has disturbed viewers attention from that point... but that is nothing in compare with the Honor that Indians have in this movie....this is one of the greatest stories about Indians...and one of the ones which are telling how white men are trash....

I think that Winterhawk is wonderful movie for all ages, I have just one request, I have been searching for the Original Version of this movie for a long time, there have been some recent re-mastered version of Winterhawk, but somehow the original music score was replaced my a haunting and boring piano music, which I don't like. I'm looking to purchase this movie if I can locate the original version, please help me I would most greatly appreciate it, my family used to own the original one, but we somehow manage to lose it somewhere, and one of the network I thinks it is American Movie Classic, used to air the original version during the winter months, and always watch it when it was aired, I never get tired of watching it over and over again, the same with the other classic movie which is GrayEagle.

I saw it years ago when I was a graduate student. The scenery was magnificent, and the theme song stuck in my head. It gave much better acknowledgement of the plight of the Indian.

Worth seeing

This is no ordinary western but actually a magnificent cinematic poem of the amazing wilderness of the north with spectacular cinematography all the way, enhanced by a very romantic story. The story is simple: The Blackfoots of 1845 are afflicted with smallpox, and there is no other way they could have attracted it except by the white man. So the Blackfoot chief goes to the white man to trade for some medicine, but instead of delivering any medicine some white scoundrels entice the Blackfoot chief into an ambush, killing all his retinue, which hardly pleases the chief Winterhawk. He will insist on trading though to save his people, so he kidnaps a young mother and her kid brother to use them for trade. Naturally a team is gathered to persecute them, but they will have to follow them all the way into the winter and Canada. Finally there is a settlement, but there are many dramas in between.

All the actors are superb, Michael Dante impressively majestic enough as the chief and Leif Erickson with an Indian wife on the warpath of the scoundrels. He gets one of them, but the other even the Indians regard as not worthy of being honoured by being killed. The beauty of the film is its dominating character, and I don't see how anyone could do anything but love it.