Geronimo (1962)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Arnold Laven

Writers:

Pat Fielder (story) and
Arnold Laven (story) ...

Release Date:

1 May 1962 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Biography | History | Western

Tagline:

No bullet could kill him. No army could capture him.

Plot:

An Apache warrior who defies U.S. attempts to bring the Indians under control grapples with an array of U.S...

Plot Keywords:

Apache | Indian | Geronimo | Injustice | Education

Cast

Chuck Connors	...	Geronimo
Kamala Devi	...	Teela
Pat Conway	...	Capt. William Maynard
Armando Silvestre	...	Natchez
Adam West	...	Lt. John Delahay
Lawrence Dobkin	...	Gen. George A. Crook
John Anderson	...	Jeremiah Burns
Enid Jaynes	...	Huera
Ross Martin	...	Mangus
Denver Pyle	...	Senator Conrad
Nancy Rodman	...	Mrs. Marsh (as Nancy Roldán)
Amanda Ames	...	Mrs. Burns
Eduardo Noriega	...	Col. Morales
Claudio Brook
Joe Higgins	...	Kincaide

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

UK:PG | Finland:K-16 | West Germany:12 | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Durango, Mexico

Company:

Bedford Pictures Inc.

Trivia:

Average Shot Length = ~5.4 seconds. Median Shot Length = ~5.3 seconds.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Geronimo takes the wagons in the river, the book he finds behind the seat has a faded red cover. Later when he gives it to Kamala Devi the cover is black.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Transformers: The Movie (1986)

Weren't Contact Lenses In The Budget?

Possibly because The Rifleman series that Levy-Gardner-Laven produced on television was shot in black and white was the reason that no one apparently noticed that Chuck Connors had blue eyes. In any event when they produced this B film about the last great Indian warrior chief Geronimo since they had Chuck Connors under contract for The Rifleman they figured to get him dirt cheap for this film. I'm sure Connors was also looking towards a big screen career as well.

If you can get over how ridiculous Connors looks as a blue eyed Indian, the film Geronimo is not a bad one given the fact it is a B film. It takes the Indian point of view dispassionately, just letting facts speak for themselves.

Geronimo in fact had surrendered and was sent to live on the San Carlos Reservation, but ill treatment by corrupt politicians and self righteous do-gooders as exemplified by John Anderson in this film, sent Geronimo packing along with some of his best warriors. They bedeviled the Arizona territory and the Mexican authorities for several years.

Geronimo took one thing he liked from San Carlos along with him, beautiful Indian maid Kamala Devi. Ironically enough Kamala Devi is an actual Indian Indian, but she's drop dead gorgeous in any culture. Chuck Connors thought so too because he left his first wife for her during the making of Geronimo.

With certain reservations, no pun intended, Geronimo is not a bad telling of the tale of the last campaign against the American Indians. But I can't believe that the team of Levy-Gardner-Laven couldn't afford some contact lenses for Chuck Connors in the budget.