Tomahawk

When the US breaks a treaty with the Sioux in order to access gold on Indian land, the specter of war looms.

Wow!—this may be the biggest big sky movie of all time. Those blue and white expanses almost swallow up the viewer in their awesome majesty. This is a really underrated Western that I expect got lost in Universal's crowd of Technicolor oaters of the time. But it's got a superior script that dares to put Indian rights on the same level as the settlers', plus outstanding photography and first-rate performances from Heflin and Foster. Then too, DeCarlo really looks good in Technicolor. Also, I detected only one exterior set—the Heflin- DeCarlo conflab in the forest. Pretty good for lower-budget Universal.

I'm especially glad they used real Indians in close-ups instead of the usual Hollywood types made-up to look evil. That way, the 'original Americans' are humanized, and we become more aware of the real costs involved in Winning the West. But notice, those good intentions don't extend to all the Sioux. Hollywood reverts to form by dressing up a comely white girl (Cabot) as the Indian maiden, instead of using a real Indian girl. At the same time, Monahseetah has few lines so a professional actress wasn't really needed. So draw your own conclusions.

The action is pretty much standard, except for the massed attack on the equipment wagons. There, the script makes clear that it's the white man's technology that triumphs and not his superior fighting skills. However, I wondered why the Sioux didn't attack in steady waves instead of in intervals that give the soldiers time to re-load. And catch that final scene in the fort. That's certainly no cliché.

I don't know how much of the story is based on fact, but however much, it at least makes you think. Anyway, this is a grandly scenic, gutsy Western, definitely underrated, and deserving of more than just a few scattered showings.

Battle of Powder River (AKA: Tomahawk) is directed by George Sherman and adapted for the screen by Sylvia Richards & Maurice Geraghty from a story by Daniel Jarrett. It stars Van Heflin, Yvonne de Carlo, Alex Nicol, Preston Foster, Jack Oakie, Tom Tully, John War Eagle and Susan Cabot. It's a Technicolor production filmed on location in the Black Hills of Dakota, with music by Hans J. Salter and photography by Charles P. Boyle.

"This is the Laramie Conference. A powder keg that may explode at any moment. It would take little to light the fuse. There are important and powerful men here. On one side the leaders of the Sioux nation-on the other representatives of the United States. But on this day it will take a great man to see both sides-Jim Bridger: pioneer, trapper and scout, is such a man."

Coming a year after Delmer Daves' excellent and similarly themed Broken Arrow, Battle of Powder River appears to have been lost in the mix of Westerns sympathetic to the Indians. Much like Broken Arrow, and for that matter Devil's Doorway (1950) as well, this is propelled by a magnetic and strong central lead performance. Van Heflin as Jim Bridger gives the film a believability factor, important for a film that's based around historical events in Montana Territory 1876/7. Thankfully the film built around Heflin isn't too bad either. The plot essentially involves Bridger, a man who married a Cheyenne woman, caught in the middle of an impending war between the Indians and the American military. The army are ordered to build a road and fort on land previously ceded to the Sioux by a previous treaty. This they want to do because of gold having been discovered in the Dakota's. Bridger sets about trying to keep peace but is undermined by personal conflicts and violent bigots like Lieut. Rob Dancy (and effective rascal turn by Alex Nicol).

Naturally for a film of this type, budget, era and running time, it's not an actual history lesson, so folk should not expect as such. But the makers are thoughtful as regards the events of the time and neatly tell their story via the fluctuating perspectives of the characters standing either side of the brewing conflict. It's also nicely shot by Sherman (The Battle at Apache Pass/Comanche) and Boyle (Horizon's West/Gunsmoke), the location work integral to the plot so as to understand what these people were ultimately fighting for. While Salter scores it in standard Cavalry Vs Indians style. The minor problems come with de Carlo's character and the shortness of the action. The former, admittedly lovely in Technicolor, serves only as romantic surplus who does a real dumb thing, and the latter is annoying since Sherman was more than capable of crafting exciting action (for example see the finale of The Battle at Apache Pass). Here the final battle of the title is swift and basically a compilation of charge and be felled sequences, while a buffalo scene is all too brief and only hints at what excitement could have been garnered from that passage of play. Annoyances for sure, but not enough to drag the piece down to B movie fodder territory.

Although it's trumped by two, thematically similar and better movies the previous year, the story, Heflin and the scenery make this a must see for the Western fan. 7.5/10

George Sherman and Universal studios were used to this kind of western, colourful and action packed. Remember BATTLE AT APACHE PASS, WAR ARROW, COMANCHE TERRITORY. And here Van heflin and Yvonne De Carlo's presence help a lot in the powerful quality of this film where character depiction is also important. It is definitely a pro Indian film, in the line of BROKEN ARROW, and there will be many of those pro Indian westerns, shot in superb locations and settings. Alex Nicol is an exquisite rotten cavalry officer and Preston Foster is also excellent. I highly advise it to western buffs. Made in 1951.

Interesting western in that for a 1951 film, the white men for the major part are cast as the villains of the piece, continually ignoring earlier treaties with the Sioux and initiating aggressions that we understand will cause the Sioux to react aggressively themselves. The script also introduces a number of historical figures and incidents into the storyline, though plenty of liberties are taken with this "timeline" to ensure a smooth and dramatic narrative. Van Heflin was a good choice to play mountain man Jim Bridger, a real life character (who pops up in The Revenant) although he is roughly 20 years younger in the film's set time period, than he actually would have been. Engaging too, to note his character doesn't wear a gun and I'm pretty sure doesn't fire a weapon throughout this film. I feel the movie had one or two sub-plots too many, though I would have appreciated seeing more made of the somewhat enigmatic Monahseetah character who accompanies Bridger in a supposedly platonic relationship. Pleasing to see a number of native Americans playing indians, (though not in Monahseetah's case). A final word is needed to reassure potential viewers that the film looks a treat in colour, even though apparently its budget wasn't large by any means.

It's a spiffy little Universal 'shaky A' western, starring Van Heflin as Jim Bridger, and Jack Oakie as his sidekick: scouts, traders, and bridges between the Amerindians of the Old Northwest and the Washington government. Here's it's the Black Hills of Dakota, shot on site with some dazzling skies, thanks to cinematographer Charles Boyle. Preston Foster, as the local colonel, wants his fort and roads in peace, John War Eagle wants peace, and only renegade lieutenant Alex Nicol wants to wipe 'em out, and creates incidents; it's the sort of role that Heflin would have taken ten years earlier. With Yvonne de Carlo, Rock Hudson, and Susan Cabot.