''War Arrow'' is a 1954 American

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...

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 George Sherman and starring Maureen O'Hara,

Jeff Chandler Jeff Chandler (born Ira Grossel; yi, יראַ גראָססעל; December 15, 1918 – June 17, 1961) was an American actor, film producer, and singer, best remembered for playing Cochise in '' Broken Arrow'' (1950), for which he was no ...

and

John McIntire John Herrick McIntire (June 27, 1907 – January 30, 1991) was an American character actor who appeared in 65 theatrical films and many television series. McIntire is well known for having replaced Ward Bond, upon Bond's sudden death in Novem ...

. Filmed by

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

and based on the Seminole Scouts, the film was shot in

Agoura, California Agoura () is an unincorporated community of Los Angeles County, which is located southeast of the city of Agoura Hills, California, adjacent to the city of Calabasas in Los Angeles County. Agoura was the historical name of the area, before much ...

Plot

Major Howell Brady (

), a cavalry officer, is sent from Washington, D.C. to

Fort Clark, Texas Fort Clark was a frontier fort located just off U.S. Route 90 near Brackettville, in Kinney County, Texas, United States. It later became the headquarters for the 2nd Cavalry Division. The Fort Clark Historic District was added to the National ...

, to subdue a

Kiowa Kiowa () people are a Native American tribe and an indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in the 17th and 18th centuries,Pritzker 326 and e ...

uprising that has been raiding both white settlements and villages on

Seminole The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, ...

reservations. Brady requests that the post commander Colonel Meade (

) send his troops out in fast moving small units to engage the Kiowa but the Colonel fears his men would be slaughtered in piecemeal actions and only feels the Kiowa are impressed by large numbers of troops. Together with his two sergeants, Brady enlists the help of the Seminole chief, Maygro ( Henry Brandon), by giving him $500 and promising his people food and land. The three of them arm 25 Seminoles with state of the art Henry repeating rifles and train them as counter guerrillas; luring the Kiowa in then ambushing them. Col. Meade and his officers resent Brady's interference and mistrust the Seminoles. At Fort Clark, Brady meets and falls in love with Elaine Corwin ( Maureen O'Hara), the widow of a cavalry officer. However, when "Brady's Bunch" of Seminoles successfully repel a Kiowa attack, Brady spots a white man with the Kiowa. Although he does not get a good look at him, he recovers his

sabre A sabre ( French: �sabʁ or saber in American English) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the early modern and Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such as th ...

. The engraved sabre turns out to belong to Captain R. G. Corwin, the supposedly deceased husband of Elaine. The Seminoles confirm Corwin is still alive through torturing a Kiowa prisoner. Meanwhile, Meade fails to deliver promised food to the Seminole so Maygro leads his people from the fort. Brady steals the food from the fort and delivers it himself to Maygro, for which Meade jails Brady. Brady is freed by Elaine and some of the Seminoles. Brady discovers the Kiowa are preparing to attack the fort that is defended by only 20 men due to Meade's forces being away pursuing the elusive Kiowa. He returns to warn Meade, but he ignores him. He is about to throw Brady back in jail when a cavalry patrol returns with the same news that the Kiowa are preparing to attack. A fierce battle ensues and the Kiowa are defeated. Amongst the dead is the traitor R. G. Corwin, whom it turns out has been collaborating with a group of Mexicans to incite war.

Cast

* Maureen O'Hara as Elaine Corwin *

as Maj. Howell Brady *

as Col. Jackson Meade * Suzan Ball as Avis * Noah Beery Jr. as Sgt. Augustus Wilks (as Noah Beery) * Charles Drake as 1st Sgt. Luke Schermerhom * Henry Brandon as Chief Maygro *

Dennis Weaver William Dennis Weaver (June 4, 1924 – February 24, 2006) was an American actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild, best known for his work in television and films from the early 1950s until just before his death in 2006. Weave ...

as Pino *

Jay Silverheels Jay Silverheels (born Harold Jay Smith; May 26, 1912 – March 5, 1980) was an Indigenous Canadian actor and athlete. He was well known for his role as Tonto, the Native American companion of the Lone Ranger in the American Western television s ...

as Santanta *

Jim Bannon James Shorttel Bannon (April 9, 1911 – July 28, 1984) was an American actor and radio announcer known for his work on the ''I Love a Mystery'' and ''Red Ryder'' series during the 1940s and 1950s. Early life Born in 1911 in Kansas City, Misso ...

as Capt. Roger G. Corwin (as James Bannon) * Stephen Wyman as Captain Neil (as Steve Wyman) * Bradford Jackson as Lieutenant (as Brad Jackson)

Production

The film was known as ''Brady's Bunch''.

John Michael Hayes John Michael Hayes (11 May 1919 – 19 November 2008) was an American screenwriter, who scripted four of Alfred Hitchcock's films in the 1950s. Early life Hayes was born in Worcester, Massachusetts to John Michael Hayes Sr. and Ellen Mabel Hayes ...

wrote the original story and there was reported interest from the studios about turning it into a vehicle for Burt Lancaster,

Errol Flynn Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn (20 June 1909 – 14 October 1959) was an Australian-American actor who achieved worldwide fame during the Golden Age of Hollywood. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles, frequent partnerships with Olivia ...

and

Tyrone Power Tyrone Edmund Power III (May 5, 1914 – November 15, 1958) was an American actor. From the 1930s to the 1950s, Power appeared in dozens of films, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads. His better-known films include ''Jesse James'', ' ...

before it was bought by Universal for Jeff Chandler. Filming started 2 March 1953. O'Hara said that "Jeff Chandler was a nice man but a bad actor." John Michael Hayes later said his script was based on a true story of Seminole Indians being moved from Florida to Arizona because they were rebellious and being used as scouts to subdue the Kiowa. "The director, George Sherman, took out four action scenes and replaced them with four talk scenes, which talked about the action but didn't show it. The studio heads at Universal later said, "We know what happened: It's not your fault"."

References

External links

* * * * * * * Vista Record
Review of the film
{{George Sherman 1953 films Universal Pictures films Films directed by George Sherman 1953 Western (genre) films American Western (genre) films Western (genre) cavalry films American Indian Wars films Films set in Texas Revisionist Western (genre) films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films

Plot

Cast

Production

See also

References

External links