Les rôdeurs de la plaine

Basically, Elvis does not sing much in this one. It is a dramatic role in which he plays a half-breed youth, raised in his father's white world, but now caught in the midst of an Indian war.

This film is a sad statement of what might have been. Here we glimpse the natural dramatic talent that was never allowed to blossom. There would be no "From Here to Eternity" for Elvis as there was for Sinatra. Contracts later forced him in to the musical-comedy roles that he grew to hate. He was told you will do these movies with this starlet or that starlet, sing this bad music with ducks or cows in the background, play the race car driver, the speed boat driver, the motorcycle racer, or you won't work at all.

The truly sad thing is that if this part of Elvis' talent had been cultivated, if his musical career had been kept separate from a dramatic acting career, perhaps his life would have traveled a very different road. It is a horrible thing to know that you have talent & to want to be able to use that talent, but be forced to waste it. IMHO, it was something that gnawed at him and played no small part in his own self-destruction.

Elvis stars as a half-Indian in this exciting Don Siegel-helmed Western with a ton of action and a meanstreak. Elvis's character is surprisingly tough and hard-assed, plus the songs are kept to a minimum (he sings the title song and does a little hoe-down at the beginning...that's it). Anyway, Indians are massacring farmers in an attempt to take back their land, and Elvis is torn between the Indians and the racist white folk. Elvis gives a great, understated performance...he seems aware that this is a Siegel film, not an Elvis film. All in all it's the King's best foray into filmland.

I had never seen the entire edition of Flaming Star, but I've got to say Elvis did a pretty good job!. I caught the very beginning with the song session in the house and I thought, just another Elvis singing vehicle.

The real surprise came for me with the plot and the action sequences. Wow!. If Elvis could have chosen some better parts, I think he could have transitioned himself into a decent actor.

Too bad this type of performance is far and few between.

Clair Huffaker was a master story teller. His westerns are still read by true western aficionados. "Flaming Star" was Elvis's opportunity to act and to prove to the world that he could. Unfortunately the Colonel didn't want the world to know. This is one of Hollywood's best kept secrets. Maybe the fact that Elvis knew that he had actual talent for acting broke his heart, and those stupid Hall Wallis "sillies" must have driven Elvis crazy! Huffaker writes a good story of an interracial family harassed by prejudice and bigotry of the small western town. It is the struggle of two brothers in love with the same woman. It shows the love of a husband to his Indian wife. This film has enduring story.

Elvis Presley really stretched his acting talents to the limit in Flaming Star. Though the singing King is kept to a minimum, Flaming Star is one of his finest acted films. And musically the title song which Elvis sings over the opening credits is a great one for him.

The only other musical number is right at the beginning of the film where Elvis sings a country hoedown during a party. Right after that the world of Elvis's character Pacer Burton falls apart. He's the son of John McIntire and his wife Dolores Del Rio who is a Kiowa Indian. The rest of the family consists of older brother Steve Forrest. The Kiowas with their new chief Rudolfo Acosta go on the warpath and when their formerly friendly neighbors turn on them the Burtons are all alone on their Texas frontier spread.

Being of mixed race Presley feels the conflict from within. Elvis under the direction of Don Siegel gives a wonderful performance with pain registering from every pore every minute he's on screen when the Kiowa War starts.

Flaming Star is the most negative film Elvis Presley ever did in his career. It's a stinging indictment of racial prejudice, one of the best ever put on screen. Elvis rarely stretched his talents on the screen like this and Flaming Star is one of his films that's quite a bit more than a showcase for his music.