Friday, July 31, 2015

Run of the Arrow (1957)

I've been wanting to see this movie for years.  It wasn't available until just recently, but it is finally out on DVD, so I finally got me a copy, which arrived yesterday, just in time to add in one more review to the Legends of Western Cinema blog party.  (Look at me go... radio silence for ages, and then all these posts again... you'd think I love Westerns or something.)

**SPOILERS!**


This movie is about an Army Lieutenant named Driscoll.  At the beginning of the movie, it's the end of the civil war, and he's shot off his horse by a Confederate soldier, who at least has the courtesy to take him to the surgeon's tent, and not let him bleed to death.  He recovers and heads West with his regiment to fight Indians... only to be stymied in his violent ambitions by generals and peace treaties.  The nerve!  He's sent as escort (wet nurse, in his opinion) to a troop of Army engineers who will be building an Army fort in a place agreed upon by the Army and the Indians.  Driscoll immediately recognizes this spot is all wrong and has no military value.  But will anyone listen to him?  No!  However, a renegade Indian kills his commanding officer, and he finally gets to take over and do things his way.  Peace treaty?  P'fah.  He scouts out a new, completely unsanctioned (but an actually useful) location for the fort, one with a great view, and one that can only be approached/attacked from one direction.  Work gets underway, but his new fort location and direct violation of the agreement has angered the Indians. They attack en force.  With barely half a wall built, it doesn't matter that there's only one direction from which the Indians can attack the new fort.  They easily overrun Driscoll's camp, massacre the soldiers, and take Driscoll prisoner.  Because he interfered earlier in a Sioux form of justice, the "run of the arrow," the penalty is death... by being skinned alive.  Poor Driscoll.  It isn't a pretty way to go.  Fortunately for him, the confederate soldier who shot him in the beginning of the movie, has been living with the Sioux, and is on hand to shoot him again to put him out of his misery. Which nicely brings things full circle.

What?  That's not the movie's plot?  Of course it is!  From the point of view of a Ralph Meeker fan, that is.  Cuz Meeker's why I was watching the movie, naturally.


The plot everyone else is watching apparently concerns the Confederate soldier, O'Meara, played by Rod Steiger. He's so angry and bitter and full of hatred that the South surrendered, that he heads West, survives the run of the arrow himself and becomes a Sioux.  He might be full of identity issues, about himself, about the new United States, about which side he's on.  He might become the designated scout the Sioux lend to the army to help them get to the designated spot to build their fort.  He might try to keep the peace and convince the soldiers to surrender.  He might decide he's more American than Sioux, and return with the army.  The movie might actually be his story.

It's always interesting how many "movies" there are within one movie, isn't it?  LOL!

(the other guy the movie may be about)

Lt. Driscoll could almost turn into Roy Anderson, the dishonorably discharged, morally unstable lieutenant from The Naked Spur, if Driscoll hadn't been killed at the end of Run of the Arrow.  Driscoll's far more callous and self-aggrandizing than Anderson, but they're close cousins.  Which means Meeker is perfect for playing Driscoll and is clearly having fun chewing scenery.  He's rather delightful, as he usually is.  All cigar-chomping, chafing at being told "no" every other minute.  His smug grin when he finally takes over command shows no compassion whatsoever for the poor captain who's just been killed and shines with pure Meeker smirkiness.


The captain is played by Brian Keith.  He's lovely in the role, nice (too nice to survive this world), honorable, steadfast, honest, and rule-following.  He puts Driscoll in his place a few times (as Driscoll's resentment grows).  He also has some nice pointed conversations with that other guy, O'Meara.  His death was very sad, everything he worked for lost in a heartbeat.


Charles Bronson plays Blue Buffalo.  He doesn't get much to do other than show off his fine physique.  It is mighty fine.


H.M. Wynant plays Crazy Wolf, the Indian equivalent of Driscoll.  The one who passionately hates the other side, who won't obey orders, and causes no end of trouble for everyone.  If someone had just let those two hot-heads fight each other to the death, it would have saved everyone else a lot of pain and suffering. Those two really mess all the hard-earned peace everyone else is trying to preserve.

This was a surprisingly short movie, less than 90 minutes, and it feels too short to me.  I wanted more time with the characters.  However, the short running time keeps it fairly tight and ALL extraneous stuff is cut out.  That's not necessarily a bad thing.  It shows the Native Americans in a fair light.  There are good and bad people on both sides.  Some strive for peace, some for war.  Some live on hate, some live on love.

There's lots of action, including the titular Run of the Arrow.  It consists of giving a barefoot person a head start, and letting them run for their life across the desert while the tribe chases them down.  No one has ever survived it, until O'Meara does, with the help of Yellow Moccasin (Sarita Montiel).  Surviving the run of the arrow is what cements his place in Sioux life.

I liked this one, though didn't love it, and will watch it again when I need some smirky Ralph Meeker looking mighty fine in his uniform while he causes trouble and gets innocent people killed.


14 comments:

Melissa Amateis said...

Oh! Charles Bronson looks so good! *wolf whistles* I've never seen this film. Wonder if it is on Netflix? Probably not...but maybe it will show up on TCM someday soon!

DKoren said...

Hee. Yes, he does. I have never seen it listed on Netflix, but I do believe TCM does show it every now and then.

Hamlette (Rachel) said...

Um, wow. Bronson had abs before abs had ever been heard of. And I don't even find abs attractive (I like smooth stomachs, thanks anyway), but I'm impressed.

Also, I find your double-recap of the two stories told here to be hilarious, because it so much reminds me of me. I watched this new western, "Slow West," the other day, and as far as I'm concerned, it's about an angry, misanthropic loner learning what it means to trust people without letting go of the skills that have kept him alive so long. I think i's actually supposed to be about this dumb Scottish kid looking for his lost love, though. But I watched it for Michael Fassbender on a horse and in a cowboy hat, and it's very much his movie from the get-go, so... I'll stick to my version.

DKoren said...

Haha! That is so funny about you doing the same thing with "Slow West." Totally get that, obviously. Your version sounds much more interesting than the Scottish kid's lost love search. (I remember reading about that one not that long ago. Was it any good?)

Hamlette (Rachel) said...

It was good enough I want to watch it again while it's free on Amazon Prime, to see if I actually liked it or if I just liked Fassbender on a horse. (Not that there's anything wrong with that...) It did have wandering problems (several segments seem to have nothing to do with the actual plot or character growth), and of course it was an indie film so stuff was kinda off-kilter in many ways. It's filmed mostly in New Zealand, though, so that was kinda fun.

Rebecca said...

I love old movies! I'll have to suggest this next time we have movie night. My brothers are crazy about westerns. :)

DKoren said...

Old movies are so much fun! This one was very interesting.

Jack said...

You women are just terrible!

Hamlette (Rachel) said...

Oh my word, do you see this comment from me about the first time I watched Slow West? I was totally right! It IS about an angry, misanthropic loner learning what it means to trust people!

castinmeadows said...

is is hilarious. I love it. And the amazing Ralph Meeker, who really chews it up here. Am a total Meeker fan. As I'm sure you know and admire, and before Ho'wood typecast him, his range was phenomenal. Even today, I'm hard pressed to think of an actor with Meeker's heft. One of the elite best, but who put his focus on the work, not on himself. Integrity, and thus, of his best, brilliant portrayals. Anyway, I'm going to read this again because, as I said, it's damn hilarious. Cheers. Long live Ralph Meeeeeeeeeeeeekerrrrrrrr!!!!

castinmeadows said...

Just snooped around your blog a bit. You are one heckuva funny gal. I'm of a firm belief that your wit has a duty to expand beyond the confines of a blog, however terrific it is. But, then, that's just my lazy a** opinion. Now I'm going to have to 'skin' some time to read oodles of your blog entries. Darn you.

castinmeadows said...

And, oh, yeah, let's hear it for Ralph Meeeeeeker!!! Again. For, as you know, one can never sound out the man's name and talent enough.

castinmeadows said...

Just saw that you write novels, among other forms, in the sci-fi/fantasy vein. Well, at the time of this comment, I hope you still do. I looked up a couple of your mentioned titles, on Amazon.com, but nothing came up. In any case, keep writing. One of the greatest highs in life. And please pardon me for my lack of social-media fluency. I'm old. And a semi-Luddite by nature. But, really, given the age of many of your postings, I don't know if my comments are considered ridiculously outdated, and a waste of pestering the ether. I'd say probably to both. Nevertheless, whether you bother to read recent comments or not, I'm glad I bumped into your blog. Because, hey, it's chuckle-inducing. And, most importantly, you're a Ralph Meeker fan. And that's the sh*t. Be well, keep writing, take care. Cheers.

DKoren said...

Well hello there, castinmeadows! I am delighted to meet another Meeker fan!! Most people I run into have absolutely no idea who he even is, so to find someone who not only knows him but loves him too makes me happy. I'm still here, still reading comments, still writing stories, but completely failing on writing any new blog entries or reviewing movies. I need to remedy that. Sigh.

Anyway, I'm glad you enjoyed reading this review. I'm due for a re-watch of this film. There's never enough smirky Ralph Meeker in my life.

As for writing, I haven't had anything published in awhile except a couple of flash fiction stories. One is on Amazon and is in a free anthology called It Happened in a Flash. My story there was written under the name Dana Fischer. The other isn't in a book, it was part of a Halloween podcast.

Anyway, thanks for stopping by. Your comments made me smile. Here's to Mr. Meeker!! Take care!