Le Jugement des flèches

Itself influenced by "the most dangerous game" (Cooper/Schoedsack,1932) "run for the arrow" inspired in part both Cornell Wilde 's overlooked "naked prey" (1966) and Gibson's overrated "Apocalypto" .All these films ,including Fuller's display a lot of sadism.

A confederate ,after a war he just lost ,sick and tired of his compatriots, wants to live among the Indians.Is it crazier that the journalist who gets admitted to an insane asylum to unmask a murderer? ("shock corridor")or the GI who after the war wants to marry a German and unmask the "werevolves" these youngsters who want to carry on with Hitler's "work"?("Verboten" )or the prostitute in search of respectability who wants to help disabled children and believes that songs can cure them?("naked kiss")

Sam Fuller's westerns are something different ;"Forty guns" and "run of the arrow" cannot be compared to the classics of the era (Ford,Mann,Daves ,etc)just as "shock corridor" is a thriller of its own kind or as "pick up on South street " is a spy thriller with no connection with those of Hitchcock and Lang.The hero portrayed by Rod Steiger thinks he has found a place and a new home in a new people ;but when war breaks out between his former compatriots and the Indians ,he does not know where he stands anymore .The frontier between the two worlds is frail .You can say the same for most of Fuller's movies

Confederate soldier Rod O'Meara (Rod Steiger) is bitter following Lee's surrender at Appomattox. He almost takes a shot at Grant. He travels west to escape the Union. He is befriended by a Sioux named Walking Coyote who is returning to his tribe after working for the Americans. The two are captured by Crazy Wolf who leads a band of young warriors. Walking Coyote demands a Run of the Arrow. Crazy Wolf is forced to oblige and O'Meara manages to survive with help from Yellow Moccasin. He is the first man to survive the trial. He joins the tribe and marries Yellow Moccasin. He is assigned to scout for the Americans as they built a new fort. Conflict soon arises and O'Meara is forced to choose a side.

Filmmaker Samuel Fuller is known for low budget B-movies which sometimes gained critical praise. O'Meara may not be an appealing protagonist but he has a point to make. It is a look at the world through the loser's side, both the Confederates and the Sioux. Both groups are in the last days of independence. It's a conflicted film about a conflicted world with conflicted characters. The movie is trying to say something but like O'Meara, the movie is unsure of its own point of view. This is interesting but it leaves me conflicted.

This is the story of an ex-confederate Army soldier , circa 1865 , it begins in Palm Sunday , April 9, 1865 Appomatox , Virginia , the last day of the war between the States . During surrender General Lee to the North commanded by General Ulyses S Grant at the end of the Civil War an ex-confederate soldier(Rod Steiger) does his choice , to see the Union killed his brothers , as he changes his life . He flees , meets , understands , joins and eventually becomes a member of a Sioux tribe , engaged in war against the white man . Meanwhile he befriends an Indian scout ex-soldier (J.C.Flippen) , marries an Indian woman (Sara Montiel) and adopts a kid . At the final of the movie is told a particular phrase : ¨The end of this story can only be written by you ¨.

It's an interesting and competent story with images tremendously exciting and tense and powerfully rough-edge moments . It depicts a thought-provoking perspective on the plight of native Americans and with scenes of epic proportions as the manhunt . The intriguing premise fails to satisfy completely but gets breathtaking moments as the human chase and Indian customs . This sometimes too objective film lacks a sense of definitive character undermining its important message . Overacting and distracting performance by Rod Steiger ; boasting a most restrained playing from Brian Keith, Sara Montiel , Charles Bronson and Ralph Meeker . Lively musical score by the classic Victor Young and colorful cinematography by Joseph Biroc who reflects splendidly the gorgeous scenarios.

In this picture Samuel Fuller proved his talent of vision and intelligence . Fuller made various Western as ¨I shot Jesse James(49)¨, ¨The baron of Arizona(50)¨, ¨Forty guns(58)¨, and ¨The meanest men in the West (76)¨ , but his most fluid and strongest work lies in his war films as ¨Steel helmet(51)¨ , ¨Fixed bayonets(52)¨, ¨Hell and high water (55)¨, ¨China gate (57)¨ , ¨Merrill's Marauders (62)¨ and ¨The Big Red One (80)¨. Rating : Better than average . Worthwhile watching .

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.

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.