Chief Crazy Horse (1955)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

George Sherman

Writers:

Gerald Drayson Adams (screenplay)
Gerald Drayson Adams (story)

Release Date:

April 1955 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Western

Tagline:

GREAT SAGA OF THE FIGHTING SIOUX... (original ad - all caps)

Plot:

This biography of the famous Lakota Sioux war chief is told entirely from the Indian viewpoint.

Plot Keywords:

Sioux Wars | Treaty | Tribe | General | Native American

Cast

Victor Mature	...	Chief Crazy Horse
Suzan Ball	...	Black Shawl (Little Fawn)
John Lund	...	Major Twist
Ray Danton	...	Little Big Man
Keith Larsen	...	Flying Hawk
Paul Guilfoyle	...	Worm
David Janssen	...	Lieutenant Colin Cartwright
Robert Warwick	...	Spotted Tail
James Millican	...	Gen. George Crook
Morris Ankrum	...	Red Cloud / Conquering Bear
Donald Randolph	...	Aaron Cartwright
Robert F. Simon	...	Jeff Mantz
James Westerfield	...	Caleb Mantz
Stuart Randall	...	Old Man Afraid
Pat Hogan	...	Dull Knife

Also Known As:

Valley of Fury (UK)

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Badlands National Park, Interior, South Dakota, USA

Company:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Quotes:

Gen. Crook: Why hunt buffalo? We're giving your people what they need.
Chief Crazy Horse: But with my people, the buffalo hunt isn't the same as that with white. We don't hang the buffalo's head on a pole in the lodge and boast of our hunting skill. By eating his flesh, our flesh becomes strong. His skin makes our clothing, his bones our arrows, his hair makes the ropes for our horses. Even the covering on our feet comes from him. The buffalo is truly our friend... sent to give us life. Take this hunt from us and we are no longer Lakotas. We're no longer men. We're nameless and dead.

Safe, interesting enough, but worthy of repeat viewings?

This is the story of Crazy Horse, who from a very young age was expected to go onto great things for his people. Taking in his youth and finally onto his accent as military leader, Chief Crazy Horse tells things from the Indian point of view.

This is a good and reliable Western picture, sadly not using Indian actors to ram home the fact it's telling things from the Indian side of the vista, it's none the less unharmed by Victor Mature {Crazy Horse} and the rest of the white man cast. It's difficult for myself to personally gauge just what the makers were aiming for, was it honest portrayals? or did they hope to make a stirring picture about a man proclaimed as a true great American General?, because they really don't achieve either of those things. But as i have said in my heading, this film doesn't waste ones time because it is a very interesting story, and technically it has its treats {filming in the actual Black Hills location a definite bonus for the story}, but ultimately i came away thinking that we could still do with a rousing epic to fully capture this mans biography, because for sure it's a story well worth telling. 5/10