Chief Crazy Horse 1955

HE HURLED THE LANCE THAT SMASHED CUSTER THAT HISTORIC DAY AT LITTLE BIG HORN!

5.6 / 10   23 vote(s)
NR
Western

When young Crazy Horse, of whom great things were predicted, wins his bride, rival Little Big Man goes to villainous traders with evidence of gold in the sacred Lakota burial ground. Of course, a new gold rush starts despite all treaties, and Crazy Horse becomes military leader of his people. Initial Indian victories lead to the inevitable result. Uniquely, all is told from the Indian perspective.

Release Date 1955-04-01
Runtime 1h 26m
Directors George Sherman, Marshall Green, Harold Lipstein
Producers William Alland, Leonard Goldstein
Writers Franklin Coen, Gerald Drayson Adams, Gerald Drayson Adams

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, though 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 one's time, 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), yet ultimately I came away thinking that we could still do with a rousing epic to fully capture this man's biography.

It's a story well worth telling and a story worth telling with grace and elegance, sadly this is not the real deal. 5/10

John Chard