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source: Tomahawk

Moviecut—Tomahawk

Tomahawk

This is an adventure Western that looked to be written by storyboard artists. It has great visuals, and at times, even looks like a group of storyboard sketches pieced together. It makes me think I'm reading a comic book while I'm watching. An entertaining comic book, though. Van heflin is a great actor, but there isn't much here. The story tries so hard to be a visual, that the drama is missing. There is a story. The cavalry and the local natives try to get along, while one upstart, in this case Alex Nicol, tries to "not get along". Nicol is a great villain, but the villain is hardly three dimensional, which should make the modern movie goers happy. He's very close to a personification of evil. It'll keep you interested, especially the guys, since the film has women much more gorgeous than you even see in most films, and there is lots of action. This is a "guy movie", make no mistake.

It is good to see the films when they are dealing with historical facts, but not forgetting that usually history is written by the winners and is not always true what they are writing. The historical accuracy of the film is doubtful, no one can believe that war is restarted due to the action of an irresponsible officer always looking for Indians' extermination. One person may influence but not decide. It is also naive to believe that the superior of this officer will commit something wrong, which costs lifes to many soldiers, only because he was encouraged to go fighting at the last moment. It is better to understand that both officers were racists, and encouragement was just an excuse. In the final battle the Sioux stopped after many of them being killed. Again there must be something non logic in this behavior. Difficult to see and assimilate the number of Indians killed in the last scenes of the film.

In "Tomahawk", the colors don't jump out from the screen like they do in many other Technicolor Westerns of its era; the film is more notable for its use of nature's wide open spaces, and for its unusually even-handed approach on the topic of "the red man vs. the white man" conflict. Van Heflin is solid as the man caught in the middle of the conflict, while Alex Nicol's character (almost disturbingly well played), with his psychopathic thirst for the slaughtering of Indians, draws parallels with the Nazis' "ethnic cleansing". Yvonne De Carlo has a rather insignificant part, but Susan Cabot is cute and expressive as a young Cheyenne "squaw". Not much action, but what there is is well done (if bloodless). **1/2 out of 4.

A sympathetic examination of the poor treatment of the Sioux in the 1860s is more historically accurate than most Westerns from this era, but is fairly tepid when it comes to dramatic content. Van Heflin lacks presence, and shares an inconsequential romance with Yvonne De Carlo, who serves no purpose other than to look improbably glamorous. The ending is something of an anti-climax, but the film, shot in Technicolor, looks terrific

It's a spiffy little Universal 'shaky A' western, starring Van Heflin as Jim Bridger, and Jack Oakie as his sidekick: scouts, traders, and bridges between the Amerindians of the Old Northwest and the Washington government. Here's it's the Black Hills of Dakota, shot on site with some dazzling skies, thanks to cinematographer Charles Boyle. Preston Foster, as the local colonel, wants his fort and roads in peace, John War Eagle wants peace, and only renegade lieutenant Alex Nicol wants to wipe 'em out, and creates incidents; it's the sort of role that Heflin would have taken ten years earlier. With Yvonne de Carlo, Rock Hudson, and Susan Cabot.

Universal's western is an entertaining cavalry-Indian affair that details the frontier adventure from the point of view of famed scout Jim Bridger. The film recounts the usual treaty-breaking by whites that despoils the Indians' hunting grounds, the conflicts of which lead to war between the Sioux tribes and the troopers. Two major battles, the Fetterman engagement and the Wagon-Box Fight are touched on as well as tensions caused by an Indian-hating lieutenant. The lush, beautiful country and wild buffalo herds lend authenticity to the story and keep the film moving at a good clip. Van Heflin is sincere as the scout who knows Indians and understands their grievances. Yvonne De Carlo is striking as Bridger's love interest although an Indian girl complicates matters a bit. The cast is good, especially John War Eagle as Red Cloud. Hans Salter contributes a nice traditional western music score.