White Feather

1955 "Beyond Any Indian Adventure Ever Filmed!"
6.4| 1h42m| NR| en
Details

The story of the peace mission from the US cavalry to the Cheyenne Indians in Wyoming during the 1870s. The mission is threatened when a civilian surveyor befriends the chief's son and falls for the chief's daughter.

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Reviews

UnowPriceless hyped garbage
CommentsXp Best movie ever!
InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.
Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.
classicsoncall The opening narration states that the events in the picture really happened, but I'll take that with a few grains of salt. One thing I can attest to is that I would never have recognized any of the actors portraying the principal characters here. Robert Wagner at twenty five years old looked impossibly young and he'd already appeared in a dozen films. When the opening credits rolled I saw the names of Jeffrey Hunter and Hugh O'Brian, but when the story got going I forgot about that and it never occurred to me they had the roles of Little Dog and American Horse. I would have lost a bet on O'Brian ever playing an Indian in a picture. I'll just have to go back and check it out once again.The story throws a bit of a curve ball at the viewer with respect to Josh Tanner's (Wagner) romantic prospects. What looks like a relationship developing between him and Ann Magruder (Virginia Leith) is suddenly turned upside down when Cheyenne squaw Appearing Day (Debra Paget) comes on the scene. I thought she was quite attractive but that whole business about being worth two hundred ponies seemed like a bit of a stretch to me. Fortunately, her father Broken Hand (Eduard Franz) didn't hold Tanner to it.It turns out that the title of the picture refers to a Cheyenne challenge against honoring the treaty Broken Hand has signed with the Cavalry. Little Dog and American Horse take up the fight but it's a short lived one as they are both dispatched summarily, 'Horse' by his own Chief Broken Hand who saw fit to watch his son die fighting the white man. The picture closes stating that Tanner and Appearing Day married, with Broken Hand living long enough to witness their grown son attend the military academy at West Point. I tried looking it up, but I think a few more grains of salt were sprinkled on this tale as it ended.
David Grothier I am not that bothered by historical facts when all I need is a good Western to relax with. And this fits the bill perfectly. If I wanted historical accuracy I would go over to the History Channel and then I Would have to think and not be able to relax.Perfect scenery, magnificently depicted Indian camp, great horse riding, good acting all round, even the self critical Mr Lund was perfect for his role.Westerns of today just do not have the old magic.Just as an incidental rider: when as a boy in the Saturday matinée Our gang would always cheer the Calvary, now I have grown up the Indians have my cheers and sympathy. What was done to them will forever be a massive blot on the history of the USA.
rhklwk-1 As a "Western movie" buff, I am surprised that this film is not more familiar to aficionados of the genre. It is a near epic, classical film.Of course, it suffers from the usual defect common to Westerns made in this era: The Native American leads are played by white actors and there isn't adequate time to fully develop all of the characters.Still, it is a magnificent film. It has elements of Shane, which was made several years before, and of The Searchers, which was made a year after.The sweep and the grandeur are very reminiscent of John Ford films. No expense was spared in cinematography, locations, and the number of extras that were employed. Hundreds of Native Americans were employed, including women and children of all ages. The number of mounted cavalry approximate the size of a cavalry regiment. There weren't that many mounted soldiers in John Ford's cavalry trilogy. And, it was all achieved without the aid of computer graphics.The dialog is realistic and the story, itself, is based on a true incident. A young Robert Wagner is very believable and likable in his solid, understated role.This film is enormously enjoyable. I remember seeing it in the 1950s at a drive-in theater, and if only I could do so again!
bsmith5552 "White Feather" was one of the first westerns to make good use of the wide screen Cinemascope panorama. Director Robert D. Webb uses all of the screen, filling it with bright vibrant color and plenty of action.The story centers around the efforts of the US Army in 1877 to negotiate treaties with the Indian Tribes to relocate them following the Indian wars which included Little Big Horn a year earlier. All have agreed except for the Cheyenne.Into all of this rides surveyor Josh Tanner (Robert Wagner) who is supposed to map out a site for a future town. There's gold in them thar hills, you see. Along the way, he finds the body of a miner. He reports to Colonel Lindsay (John Lund) and learns of the problems in getting the Cheyenne to agree to move. Tanner finds a room at Magruder's Store. He meets Ann Magruder (Virginia Leith) an an attraction forms. Tanner is told to stay away from her by her bigoted father (Emile Meyer).When riding with Ann, Tanner meets two young Cheyenne warriors, Little Dog (Jeffrey Hunter) and American Horse (Hugh O'Brian). Tanner earns the Indian's respect and is invited to their camp. There Tanner meets Little Dog's sister, Appearing Day (Debra Paget) and a romance develops. American Dog's father the Grand Chief Broken Hand (Eduard Franz) returns to the village and announces that the Cheyenne will sign the treaty and move south with the other tribes.Little Dog and American Horse defy the chief and decide to remain on their land and fight the Army alone. Meanwhile, Appearing Day, who had been promised to American Horse leaves the village and goes to be with Tanner. American Dog attacks Tanner but is subdued and jailed. Little Dog breaks him out killing two soldiers in the act. As the fort's entire compliment and the Cheyenne watch, Little Dog and American Horse launch their attack and.......................................The acting is uniformly good. The boyish Wagner carries off the lead role well, although he never manages to conduct that survey. Hunter and O'Brian are excellent as the two renegade Cheyenne. Lund has little to do as the Cavalry Colonel. Franz makes an authoritative Chief who puts the welfare of his own people above all else, including that of his family.Also in the cast are Noah Beery Jr. as Lt. Ferguson, Milburn Stone as the Indian Commissioner and Iron Eyes Cody as a Cheyenne Chief.You have to see this one in the wide screen format.