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Rating:  -
White Feather takes us back to 1877 Wyoming for the signing of a Peace Treaty. On the one side, we have the Sioux, Arapaho, Crow, Blackfeet, and Cheyenne Indians. On the other, we have the US Government. In the middle, we have Chief Broken Hand, the leader of the Cheyenne, and a complement of the US Calvary commanded by Colonel Lindsay, a man of considerable integrity and remarkable wisdom.
Josh Tanner, played by a young and handsome Robert Wagner, a topographical engineer dispatched by a group of wealthy individuals with interests in land development, also finds himself immediately implicated in the rapid movement of events.
Two young Cheyenne braves, Little Dog and American Horse, played by Jeffrey Hunter and Hugh O'Brian, add their hot blood to the escalation of rivalries.
In a role particularly suited to her undeniable charm and winsome beauty, we find Debra Paget playing the part of Appearing Day. She is sister to Little Dog and the daughter of Chief Broken Hand.
And let us not forget Virginia Leith. Her role is small as Ann Magruder, a lovely young woman with a vivid scar in her past, yet she is quite memorable. With the figure of a dancer and the face of a siren, she harbors a great deal of compassion.
"Sitting on a powder keg," as Colonel Lindsay described the conditions to Josh Tanner, leaves us in a position to extol the civilized behavior encountered multiple times during the intersection of peoples on opposite sides of a contest for land and life. Josh Tanner treats us to a most unusual and unexpectedly original solution to a brush with death, filling us with admiration and regard. It is no wonder that Appearing Day is moved in a magic moment to love and to cherish him. Debra Paget manages to embody these emotions and feelings in the unmistakable language of the heart, with unspoken words expressed so sincerely in her manner of adoration and devotion. Recognizing just how few minutes she had to accomplish this feat of communication is to applaud her performance and purity. Over and over.
Little Dog, son of Chief Broken Hand, is also drawn to Josh Tanner, a reflection of his respect for bravery and courage. He may also like his new comb (smile). It is his invitation to Josh Tanner to come to the Cheyenne village for a welcome feast that permits Josh a brief moment alone with Appearing Day. It is also here where Josh again proffers gifts, unknowingly encouraging Little Dog and American Horse to seek once again to reply in kind. And thus a friendship develops, fragile and delicate under the circumstances, but worthy of some trust. We watch as this trust is tested and find that both sides have their strengths and weaknesses. In this film, an assessment of those characteristics is left to the audience. It is directed with a fair hand and a commendably civil tongue.
Surprisingly, from beginning to end, we are confronted with only five deaths, just three of which are witnessed first hand. The last two signal an end to hostilities and place us on a path towards peace and enlightenment. If only it were true.
White Feather shares some attributes with an earlier film titled Broken Arrow, starring James Stewart and Jeff Chandler. While Debra Paget is the only person to appear in both, the two movies present similar conflicts in similar contexts. In Broken Arrow, Debra Paget is five years younger, approaching seventeen years of age, and equally enchanting. The cinematography of Broken Arrow manages to catch her in the most dazzling light. She fairly glows. Clearly, for me, Debra Paget is the major attraction in both of these films even if the scripts tend to provide little time with her.
Rating:  -
This is a classic 50's Western that only recently came out on DVD and could only be seen for years on AMC. Stars a very young Robert Wagner, Debra Paget, and Jeff Hunter, Debra and Jeff playing Native Americans. Good story, somewhat hokey acting, but overall still very entertaining.
Rating: -
As one would expect from a Hollywood feature film from the fifties ('55 to be exact) `White Feather' suffers from the usual maladies: stiff and somewhat unrealistic dialogue, a lot of dramatic posturing for effect purposes and the always disconcerting visual of white actors playing the role of Native Americans. However that is an unchangeable sign of that generation and if you're a fan of early films you've learned to accept the stylist difference and enjoy the many other aspects of a good film.
`White Feather' doesn't contain the numerous sequences that usually accompany a film categorized within the Western genre. The film is by in large a tale (according to the narration in the prologue and epilogue a factual story) of romance between two people from different cultures, one white (Robert Wagner as Josh Tanner) and one Native American (Debra Paget as Appearing Day). The backdrop of this love story concerns the impending signing of a peace treaty between the Cheyenne and the white usurpers that would displace the Native Americans from their rightful homeland and requires them to move south to less than greener pastures.
What this film lacks in fast paced action is more than made up for in overall strong performances by the entire cast and a surprisingly sensitive and poignant depiction of the plight of the Native American and the code of honor that the warrior lives by.
With all that said let me also admit that I've had a crush on Debra Paget as long as I can remember so any film she appears in will more likely than not get a higher rating then it would have otherwise. However in this case I think I would have recommended this one even in her absence.
Rating: -
This movie is excellent entertainment for its time and also for today, however, it is not excellent history. But what the movie attemps to show deserves some sympathetic historical consideration.
Robert Wagner mentions the date 1877 at movie's beginning, only a few months after the Custer fight of June, 1876, at the Little Big Horn. After that fight, the Lakota as well as Northern Cheyenne were later tracked and attacked by General Ranald Mackenzie's troops either to die in battle or suffer much in way of starvation and death during the winter of 1876. Were driven after the battle to accept charity from Crazy Horse's Oglala people to live through the winter of '76. The old, normal life of the Northern Cheyenne had ceased to exit.
We are to assume the spring of 1877, for that is when the Northern Cheyenne were compelled to sign a treaty which would take them south away from their traditional home to Oklahoma then known as Indian Territory. The Northern Cheyenne walked every mile, close to 1500 miles, from the Powder River country to their new home near Fort Reno at the Darlington Agency. The journey on foot had taken several months from spring to fall, 1877. From that fall, 1877, until following spring, 1878, they remained in Oklahoma, but found conditions there so impossible they were forced into a choice of facing death at Darlington or death on the trail back to Montana. They chose to return to the Powder River country. That subject too Hollywood also put on film in 1964 as CHEYENNE AUTUMN.
Many may not enjoy this film, taking exception to major or minor elements, but for the attempt made to offer some pictorial history of this 1877 turbulent time, the movie does deserve several stars. The acting is very good, the filming is also good, but the story it attempts to tell is even better. Whether Hollywood or viewers were aware, it was a brave venture, none-the-less even today. The Northern Cheyenne did finally receive some tribute for both their bravery and suffering.
Though I see glaring historical errors in this film, it is still one of the more intelligent films made in the 1950s on the Northern plains Lakota tribes. Many may not feel that way, but then many do not read the real history of those long ago times. And though the movie has its inaccuracies, in the main it is a story well told. The shadows of both Little Wolf (Little Coyote) and Dull Knife (Morning Star) under examination continue to stand tall, though both died pretty much forgotten even to their own people.
Semper Fi.
Rating: -
Most of the young stars here perform very well in a high production western that is'nt quite as good as the sum of it's parts. Wagner is'nt bad, Debra Paget is good as always but Jeff Hunter is slightly miscast, though he works quite hard. I liked the feel of time and place this film has and it still retains a sweep and grandour which must have looked great on its original cinema outing.What else can I say. I thoroughly enjoyed it even with its shortcommings and can recommend it even on repeated viewings though widescreen works best for the full-bodied western vistas.
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