The Indian Fighter (1955)

A scout leading a wagon train through hostile Indian country unwittingly gets involved with a Sioux chief's daughter.

Director:

André De Toth (as Andre de Toth)

Writers:

Robert L. Richards (story) (as Ben Kadish), Frank Davis (screenplay)

Stars:

Kirk Douglas, Elsa Martinelli, Walter Matthau

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Kirk Douglas	...	Johnny Hawks
Elsa Martinelli	...	Onahti
Walter Matthau	...	Wes Todd
Diana Douglas	...	Susan Rogers
Walter Abel	...	Captain Trask
Lon Chaney Jr.	...	Chivington (as Lon Chaney)
Eduard Franz	...	Red Cloud
Alan Hale Jr.	...	Will Crabtree (as Alan Hale)
Elisha Cook Jr.	...	Briggs (as Elisha Cook)
Ray Teal	...	Morgan
Frank Cady	...	Trader Joe
Michael Winkelman	...	Tommy Rogers
William Phipps	...	Lt. Blake
Harry Landers	...	Grey Wolf / Captain Trask Attaché
Hank Worden	...	Crazy Bear / Guardhouse Keeper

Storyline

Johnny Hawks, a former Indian fighter, returns to the West after the Civil War. He reacquaints himself with the Indian band led by Red Cloud. Red Cloud's beautiful daughter has now grown into womanhood... Unscrupulous whisky traders are after the gold on Indian land. Hawks averts serious bloodshed by convincing Red Cloud to make a treaty... Hawks leads an Oregon-bound wagon train through Indian territory. When he slips away to see the chief's daughter, trouble between braves and whisky traders flares up anew, putting the wagon train and the nearby fort in peril...

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Plot Keywords:

u.s. cavalry officer | red cloud's war | native american | romantic triangle | bare chested male | 

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Taglines:

The Indian Fighter and the Girl...a love as fierce as a fire arrow!

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Genres:

Western

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Average Shot Length (ASL) = 6.8 seconds, fast for an early CinemaScope film.

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Goofs

Right before the Indians tie Todd to the tree with the intention of burning him, he's having a conversation with Johnny. During this conversation, Johnny's left arm repeatedly changes positions, from being stretched out against the tree, to holding his hat in front of him and back to stretched out against the tree.

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Quotes

Briggs: Look at that scenery!
Johnny Hawks: What's the matter with it?
Briggs: Needs photographing
Johnny Hawks: I like it the way it is.

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Connections

Referenced in Kirk Douglas: Before I Forget (2009)

User Reviews

A Very Odd Hero

I've always enjoyed Kirk Douglas films in general and he's usually very good in westerns. But The Indian Fighter quite frankly is a pumped up B western.

Kirk produced this one as well and was able to get a good cast of familiar faces in westerns. He even got his ex-wife, Diana Douglas to appear as a widow traveling west on a wagon train with her son.

Kirk Douglas is Johnny Hawks who is a scout guiding a wagon train west to Oregon. The film opens with him checking out the naked Elsa Martinelli taking a bath in a creek. Pleasure before business and he continues on to the village where he finds out Elsa is the daughter of Chief Eduard Franz.

And that sets the tone for the film. When Douglas should be concerned about the safety of the people he's working for, he's off trying to court Elsa. His preoccupation with her almost causes disaster to the train.

Action there is though, including a nicely staged Indian attack on an army post. And the whole film was shot in Oregon on location quite nicely. I believe some of this same area was used in Kirk Douglas's later western The Way West.

Kirk Douglas's heroes are usually flawed and quite three dimensional. But this film has a hero I could not really get a rooting interest for.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1956 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Indian Fighter

Filming Locations:

Bend, Oregon, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$2,450,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bryna Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1