''Sitting Bull'' is a 1954 American-Mexican

Eastmancolor Eastmancolor is a trade name used by Eastman Kodak for a number of related film and processing technologies associated with color motion picture production and referring to George Eastman, founder of Kodak. Eastmancolor, introduced in 1950, was on ...

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film directed by

Sidney Salkow Sidney Salkow (June 16, 1911 – October 18, 2000) was an American film director (more than 50 motion pictures), screenwriter, and television director. Salkow was educated at the City College of New York, Columbia University and Harvard Law Schoo ...

and René Cardona that was filmed in Mexico in CinemaScope. In a greatly fictionalised form, it depicts the war between Sitting Bull and the American forces, leading up to the

Battle of the Little Bighorn The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota and other Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, and also commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota Sioux, Nor ...

and Custer's Last Stand. It was the first independent production to be filmed in the CinemaScope process. Featuring sympathetic portrayals of Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' called it a " Crazy Horse

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

Plot

Major Robert Parrish (

Dale Robertson Dayle Lymoine Robertson (July 14, 1923February 27, 2013) was an American actor best known for his starring roles on television. He played the roving investigator Jim Hardie in the television series ''Tales of Wells Fargo'' and railroad owner Ben ...

) of the 7th Cavalry is considered by some to be his own worst enemy because he's not a " team player". Formerly one of the youngest

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

s in the Union Army during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

, he is now a

company commander A company commander is the commanding officer of a company, a military unit which typically consists of 100 to 250 soldiers, often organized into three or four smaller units called platoons. The exact organization of a company varies by countr ...

under Lt. Colonel (formerly Brevet Major General during the Civil War)

George Armstrong Custer George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Custer graduated from West Point in 1861 at the bottom of his class, b ...

( Douglas Kennedy). His fiancée Kathy ( Mary Murphy), daughter of Parrish's commanding general, breaks off their engagement because he has not risen in rank. Parrish gains no friends amongst the civilian community when he chastises them and threatens to "break heads" when they violate Sioux lands. Custer and Parrish's exasperated General and once prospective father-in-law reassigns Parrish and his company to the Bureau of Indian Affairs where Parrish is outraged at the treatment of the Indians and refuses to carry out the orders of the Indian Agent to shoot his escaping charges. Parrish is court martialed and visits his former commanding general—now President of the United States--

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

—who demotes him to Captain. Parrish convinces the President to come to the Western frontier to meet Sitting Bull and prevent a war. Back in the West, now Captain Parrish meets Kathy who has announced her engagement with Charles Wentworth (

William Hopper William DeWolf Hopper Jr. (January 26, 1915 – March 6, 1970) was an American stage, film, and television actor. The only child of actor DeWolf Hopper and actress and Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper, he appeared in predominantly minor r ...

), a former major and now a war correspondent. Using captured Indians, including Sam, a former slave now a Sioux, Parrish meets with Sitting Bull ( J. Carrol Naish) who agrees to meet the President in a secret meeting. Further conflicts with the Sioux lead Custer to lead his Regiment out assigning Parrish to guard supplies. Following the

that eliminates Custer, most of his men, and his romantic rival Wentworth, Parrish tries to befriend Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse (

Iron Eyes Cody Iron Eyes Cody (born Espera Oscar de Corti, April 3, 1904 – January 4, 1999) was an American actor of Italian descent who portrayed Native Americans in Hollywood films, famously as ''Chief Iron Eyes'' in Bob Hope's '' The Paleface'' (1948) ...

). As Parrish knows the US Army's plan of attack, he leads the Sioux to safety in the North. Parrish is court-martialed again, stripped of his rank, and sentenced to death by firing squad for

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

. As the execution is about to take place, Sitting Bull comes to the fort to speak with President Grant. Parrish had told him "the Great Chief will understand," believing he would show mercy to him because his only intention was to prevent more killing. Sitting Bull's pleads with Grant to spare his life. Grant then commutes his sentence.

Cast

as Major Robert 'Bob' Parrish * Mary Murphy as Kathy Howell * J. Carrol Naish as Sitting Bull *

John Litel John Beach Litel (December 30, 1892 – February 3, 1972) was an American film and television actor. Early life Litel was born in Albany, Wisconsin. During World War I, he enlisted in the French Army and was twice decorated for bravery. Ba ...

as Gen. Wilford Howell *

Joel Fluellen Joel Fluellen (December 1, 1907 – February 2, 1990) was an actor and an activist for the rights of African Americans. He appeared in the films ''The Jackie Robinson Story'', '' Perils of the Jungle'', '' Duffy of San Quentin'', '' Sitting Bul ...

as Sam *

as Crazy Horse (credited as "Famous T.V. Star" and technical adviser) * John Hamilton as President

* Douglas Kennedy as Col.

* William Tannen as O'Connor *

as Charles Wentworth

Production

It was first announced that

Boris Karloff William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), better known by his stage name Boris Karloff (), was an English actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film '' Frankenstein'' (1931) (his 82nd film) established ...

would play the title role, but J. Carrol Naish ended up repeating his role from '' Annie Get Your Gun''. Credited in the film as "Famous T.V. Star" and

technical advisor In film production, a technical advisor is someone who advises the director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a ...

played the role of Crazy Horse. Though sympathetic to the Native Americans, Minnesota producer Wilfred R. Frank irritated the Sioux by not filming his epic at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. One of the first Westerns made in CinemaScope, Frank filmed in Mexico (using Mexican extras) due to cheaper costs. However, according to Cody,

Estudios Churubusco Estudios Churubusco is one of the oldest and largest movie studios in Mexico. It is located in the Churubusco neighborhood of Mexico City. History It was inaugurated in 1945 after a 1943 agreement between RKO and Emilio Azcárraga Vidaurreta ( ...

overcharged Frank's production by several hundred thousand dollars. Soon after the filming Dale Robertson and Mary Murphy married each other, but the marriage was annulled after six months because Robertson did not want any children.

Quotes

''When the white man wins, you call it a victory; when the Indian wins, you call it a massacre'' - Sitting Bull

Legacy

Salkow and Cody later reteamed for the 1965 film '' The Great Sioux Massacre'' for

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

that used stock footage from ''Sitting Bull''.

Notes

External links

* * * * {{Sidney Salkow 1954 films 1954 Western (genre) films American Western (genre) films CinemaScope films Cultural depictions of Crazy Horse Cultural depictions of George Armstrong Custer Cultural depictions of Sitting Bull Cultural depictions of Ulysses S. Grant Films about Native Americans Films directed by Sidney Salkow Films scored by Raoul Kraushaar Films shot in Mexico Mexican Western (genre) films Film United Artists films Western (genre) cavalry films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films 1950s Mexican films