Children of the Dust (1995) (TV)

Director:

David Greene

Writers (WGA):

Clancy Carlile (novel)
Joyce Eliason (teleplay)

Release Date:

26 February 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Plot:

Gypsy Smith, is a gunfighter and a bounty hunter. When he leads the US army into a Cheyenne camp to capture a suspected Indian renegade...

Plot Keywords:

Based On Novel

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Primetime Emmys. Another 4 nominations

Cast

Sidney Poitier	...	Gypsy Smith
Michael Moriarty	...	John Maxwell
Joanna Going	...	Rachel
Hart Bochner	...	Shelby Hornbeck
Regina Taylor	...	Drusilla
Billy Wirth	...	Corby / White Wolf
Shirley Knight	...	Aunt Bertha
Grace Zabriskie	...	Rose
Basil Wallace
James Caviezel	...	Dexter
Robert Guillaume	...	Mossburger
Farrah Fawcett	...	Nora Maxwell
John Pyper-Ferguson	...	Sonny Boy
Byron Chief-Moon	...	Chief Walks-The-Clouds
Kevin McNulty	...	Sheriff Harriman

Also Known As:

A Good Day to Die (USA) (video title)

MPAA:

Rated R for areas of violence and some sexuality.

Runtime:

175 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

USA:R

Filming Locations:

Alberta, Canada

Company:

The Königsberg Company

Quotes:

Gypsy Smith: We're all bits and pieces handed down to us from the ones before us; bits and pieces we pass on to the ones after. I don't know where anybody fits. I do know that your father is a great man, Little Raven. No matter where you go in this life, no matter what happens, you remember where you came from... and be proud to be his son.

Great movie, with lots of inacccuracies

I have given this movie a six because of the power of the story. I would have given it a higher mark but for the historical inaccuracies of the story. Its strong point was the fact that it showed black people in the west where they surely were, but in this movie present the first of the inacfcuracies. It would not have been abnormal at all for black people to have been in Oklahoma territory in the latter part of the 19th century. They had been there since the trail of tears. Some of the transplanted Natives were slave holders and simply brought their slaves with them. Second, a black Marshall in that territory would not have been strange at all. Gypsy Smith could have easily been modeled after Bass Reeves who was one of several Black US Marshalls who patrolled Okla territory. While there has always been problems between black and white Americans, it did not really occur in Oklahoma until it became a state. Thirdly, I can't believe that the light bulb which was only invented in 1879 would have been used in a barn in Oklahoma. Great idea for a movie, but could have been more accurate.