White Feather (1955)

the leading man is my tpye

The film was still a fun one that will make you laugh and have you leaving the theater feeling like you just stole something valuable and got away with it.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

As much as there are a lot of Indian characters. Some of them are even friendly. Sure they are not all savages anymore. But sadly, most if not all of the speaking parts are played by white actors speaking in broken Indianese. Maybe they got the non-speaking parts.Some will call it progressive, taking 2 steps forward and 1 step back. But it's very distracting. Not only is the speaking style distracting, but the acting style, the sets, the mannerisms. Everything is old timey Hollywood Indian acting.The story itself doesn't flow. It meanders as they argue about peace, 'play games', and get sidetracked by a love story. There is no flow to the story. It's not like there's a mission or a job that drives the story to its climax.It's all very annoying to me. The melodramatic music, the over-acting, the stale directions, the rambling story, and Robert Wagner is just a little better than a pretty face.

This movie is one of those weird "remake" movies they used to do ala "Rio Bravo"/"El Dorado", or "Support Your Local Sheriff/Support Your Local Gunfighter". In this case, "White Feather" is a loose remake of 1950's "Broken Arrow". Delmer Daves, who directed BA, wrote this screenplay and Debra Paget reprises her role as the most European looking Indian maiden of all time.Here's what I liked:This movie had a big budget and it shows in the recreation of the Indian villages. I have never seen such large representations of tribal villages. They are almost small cities. Unfortunately, they also seem phony and sterile.For once a Western leading man is having romantic relationships with women his own age!Positive Indian point of view theme is OK.That's it for positives.Hard to know where to start for negatives:As mentioned, a blatant remake of "Broken Arrow".Robert Wagner gives one of the worst leading man performances I've seen in a Western. And that hair style. Looks like he just walked off the set of "Jailhouse Rock". I finally understand why they had to use old guys like Wayne, Stewart, Randolph Scott, Gary Cooper etc. for leading men in the '50's. None of the young guys could act!!There's no heavy. This drains almost all the dramatic tension out of the story.All the other acting jobs are terrible. I didn't buy Jeffery Hunter for a second as an Indian warrior. It was hard to buy any of the Indians because they were all played by obviously Causcasian actors.Very little attempt at comic relief.Fundamental relationships of friendship between Little Dog and Josh and especially Appearing Day and Josh seemed awkward and implausible.Not one decent supporting acting job to salvage this mess.

In 1877 Wyoming, a government worker helps the United States Calvary in their quest to move the Cheyenne Indian tribe from the north-end of the state to the south; the Indian Chief--concerned about being on the losing end of an impending battle--agrees, but two young warriors oppose the move. Dusty western with a passive, sensitive side. The performances are variable, with Robert Wagner looking constipated (as usual), but Jeffrey Hunter doing a surprisingly forceful job as mercurial Little Dog (Hunter's scene amiably tossing knives with Wagner has a spirit that the rest of the film lacks); elsewhere, Debra Paget plays a lovestruck squaw (she's the palest-skinned Cheyenne ever to grace the screen!) and John Lund is a block of wood as a Colonel. The events depicted are allegedly based on fact, though one guesses this tenuous screenplay by Delmer Daves (of all people) and Leo Townsend runs far smoother than actual history might suggest. The "white feather" is the Indian's challenge to the white man, but it seems to me the horses involved get a far rougher treatment than either. ** from ****

From the era of wide screen CinemaScope comes this fine western about dealing with the Cheyenne Indians in Wyoming in 1870.The film benefits from having a good script that keeps things tense, good acting, and excellent cinematography (which was far superior 50 years ago compared to today's movies).There's no sense retelling the plot, but female viewers ought to love Robert Wagner in this role, as well as Jeffrey Hunter (showing lots of tan skin) in his Indian makeup. Speaking of skin, the lovely and usually clothed neck to toe Debra Paget gets to show some neck, shoulders and back -- however briefly.But the main thing is the tense story. Without much gunfire the film provides almost no opportunity for a snack bar break. Please take the other low ratings with a grain of salt. Liberals and their intrusive and annoying PC mantra will no doubt be annoyed by the frequent use of the word "Indian" as well as having whites cast as Indians. Oh the shame! This despite the positive view of Indians reflected in the film; herein they even have a healthy sense of humor. Humor, that's just not liberal. At least nobody smokes a cigarette.