RUN OF THE ARROW

US, 1957, 86 minutes, Colour.
Rod Steiger, Sarita Montiel, Brian Keith, Ralph Meeker, Jay C. Flippen, Charles Bronson.
Directed by Sam Fuller.

Run of the Arrow is one of many films, brief in running time but direct in action, written and directed by Sam Fuller in the 1950s. He was to continue with this direct kind of film-making in the 1960s. However, he fell on hard times during the 1970s, making fewer films. However, he achieved his masterpiece in 1980 with his war memoir, The Big Red One.

This film was made in the atmosphere of Hollywood’s change of attitude towards the presentation of Indians. This merged in the late 40s, early 50s with such films as The Devil’s Doorway and Broken Arrow.

Rod Steiger (with a terrible Irish accent) plays a Confederate soldier who shoots the last bullet in the Civil War. However, he takes the wounded man to be treated by a doctor. The lieutenant, played by Ralph Meeker, encounters him later and there is a confrontation. After the war, O’Meara? decides to join the Sioux and marries a wife there (Sarita Montiel, the Spanish actress whose career spans fifty years). Brian Keith is the sympathetic captain, Jay C. Flippen the sympathetic Sioux whom he encounters. Charles Bronson is the Indian chief.

One of the significant features of the film comes from the title, The Run of the Arrow, where the Indians shoot arrows and the survivor has to outrun the arrow shot. This is quite vividly portrayed with O’Meara? outrunning the arrow while Walking Coyote dies.

The film offers a perspective on the Civil War, the clash between North and South, the inability of many of the Confederate soldiers to accept the end of the war. It also highlights interrelationships between whites and Indians in the context of the 19th century and the aftermath of the Civil War and the opening up of the West.

1.The impact of the film? Its themes? Relevant in later decades?

2.The western settings, Appomattox, the desert, Sioux territory? The Indian landscapes? Colour photography? Editing and pace? Musical score?

3.The cast, Rod Steiger and the Irish accent, Charles Bronson as an Indian chief? The Spanish actress playing Yellow Moccasin?

4.The title, the feat of endurance, Walking Coyote and the explanations, Blue Buffalo and the shooting of the arrows? Walking Coyote failing? O’ Meara and his running, his bare feet, the collapse? His being rescued and hidden by Yellow Moccasin and her son?

5.O’ Meara and the Civil War, the Irish background, the glimpse of his mother after the war? His firing at Driscoll, wounding him, the last shot? Witnessing Lee surrendering to Grant? His refusal to surrender? Not feeling an American? His going into the West, the encounter with Walking Coyote, the encounter with the Sioux? His taking a wife? His surviving the run of the arrow? The military against the Sioux? His loyalties, acting as a scout? The friendship with Captain Clark? The antagonism with Driscoll? The conflicts, the battles? His final stances and decisions? The background of his love for his wife, his son?

6.Walking Coyote, his friendship with O’ Meara, explaining the role of the Indians, in the land? Running, dying?

7.The Indians, Blue Buffalo as chief? The members of the tribe? Yellow Moccasin and her place, concealing O’ Meara? Her son? The marriage? The scenes of domestic life? Her understanding when he went off to be a scout?

8.Captain Clark, the genial and kindly commander? The contrast with Driscoll, surviving, his ambitions, his antagonism towards the Indians? The confrontation with O’ Meara?

9.Popular western ingredients – for psychological portrayals, conflicts? Racial issues with the Indians?