The Yellow Tomahawk

Plot synopsis:
Scout and tracker Adam Reed is handed a yellow tomahawk by Cheyenne warrior Fire Knife to deliver to a U.S. Army fort commanded by Major Ives as a proclamation of war, a warning to evacuate women and children before the attack.
Ives is known as "the butcher" for having given Cheyenne women and children no such warning during previous bloodshed. Ives scoffs at the tomahawk and Adam decides the major's superior officers at another fort must be notified of his actions.
The only woman who heeds Adam's warning to leave is Kate Bohlen, sweetheart of Lt. Bascom, who misses her native Boston. An attack is mounted before Kate can safely get away. Adam is knocked unconscious, but Fire Knife makes sure his life is spared. Bascom and many others are killed.
Extending the bow as a gesture of peace, Adam appeals to Fire Knife to let the major's fate be left up to the Army's justice. Fire Knife's thirst for vengeance is too great, so he prepares to kill Ives, who in desperation reveals that he is actually of Cheyenne descent himself. Adam cannot allow Ives to be killed in cold blood, so he kills his Indian friend.
Riding off toward the next fort to report what has happened, Adam leaves with Kate as a humiliated Ives pleads with him not to reveal his secret.

Tags: revenge

Review:
Another western sleeper from the 1950s with good plot, acting, characters of some depth , and violent action.
Major Ives (Warner Anderson), one of the commanding officers of the infamous Sand Creek Massacre ( an actual event) is building a fort in Cheyenne territory.
Fireknife(Lee Van Cleef) , tells his friend Adam Reed (Rory Calhoun) to warn the soldiers that they must go or be killed.
Reed and Fireknife may actually have been blood brothers as they refer to each other as brothers and Reed tells Catherine (Peggy Castle) "the Indians are as much my people as you are." The arrogant Ives won't listen, the Indians attack and the action is unusually violent for it's time.
(When Catherine tries to find her former fiancé she says, with a look of horror " I can't tell if it's him") The survivors are forced to go through Cheyenne territory to another fort to reach safety, and this sets up a confrontation between friend Reed and Fireknife.This is another example of a modestly budgeted western with a superior script, very good acting and characters of some depth.
Reed tells Catherine " It might surprise you but Indians love their children and are loyal to their friends." And Fireknife does save his life There is also a very interesting twist in the end which I do not believe has been done before or since.
Definitely worth seeing.The film was originally shot in color but only black and white prints were every released on television.
Twenty-seven year old Castle fills out her tight-fitting shirt and jeans and makes her presence known as she breaks her engagement with an army officer and falls for Calhoun--who, as a scout, rescues her and the commander after the raid.
But the rescue is only temporarily as, on their way to the nearest fort, they are attacked again by Indians led by Lee Van Cleef.
It was there, in history, that the Federal army slaughtered Indian women and children without giving them a chance to surrender.
Calhoun wants to keep him alive and take him to the fort for court-martial so to help stop future slaughter of Indians.It's a typical 50's Western but one of the good ones--perhaps because of Rory Calhoun (who was always good) or Peggy Castle who made cowboys glad they were men.
Calhoun spends much of his time in this film, warning the builders and settlers of a new army outpost, that they will be wiped out by the hostiles.
The 1950s was the decade of the message western, and this is a low budget version of the genre.
This story about a bloody confrontation that is the direct result of a barbarous US general's attempt to occupy Indian lands is surprisingly brutal, sympathetic to the native Americans, and much more cynical about the inherent decency of those in power than one would expect from a movie from this era.
Rory Calhoun and Rita Moreno are the recognizable stars here -- and they are playing types, rather than roles.
Rita Moreno has an obnoxious role as the cute native American who has attached herself to Rory's Mexican sidekick).
This looks like a film in bad need of restoration, particularly as much of it was shot against sagebrush that was actually in bloom..
As rugged Indian scout Adam Reed (Rory Calhoun) rides in the open country of Utah towards a US Cavalry outpost, he is stopped by his close friend, Cheyenne warrior Fire Knife (Lee Van Cleef).
Fire Knife gives Reed a yellow tomahawk to give to the outpost commandant, Major Ives whom he and Chief Red Cloud call a "butcher" and hold mainly responsible for the Massacre at Sand Creek.
That site is a real historical event (1864) where the US Cavalry killed over 100 Indians, most of whom were women and children.
The yellow tomahawk is a warning – more than the Cavalry gave earlier to the Indian – for the soldiers to clear out of the planned future fort or face the consequences.
The soldiers will be allowed to depart peacefully.On his way to the military encampment, Reed spots blonde and nubile Kate Bolden (Peggy Castle) bathing and swimming in a pond.
At the post, arrogant commander Ives (Warner Anderson) is adamant: he has no intention of leaving, even though the encampment is in Cheyenne territory.
No lover of the Indian, Ives believes that the red men are dangerous to civilization.
When the violence ends there are only nine survivors: the major, a corporal, a private, a Mexican Indian scout Tonio (Reed's friend, Noah Beery Jr.), Tonio's Indian girlfriend Honey Bear (a lovely Rita Moreno), an army engineer/surveyor, a slimy prospector (Peter Graves) who has murdered his two partners for gold, blonde Kate, and Reed.
Reed wants to keep the major alive at all costs so that he can stand trial (court martial) for provoking an Indian war.
When Reed and Fire Knife have a parlay, the latter says he will let the dwindling survivors leave peacefully, except for Ives.
The western was shot in Technicolor but released to television in black and white..
The film is about the conflict between a scout (Rory Calhoun) and a Major (Warner Anderson), where the scout understands the Indians and feels for them, who were victims of a massacre (the Major was responsible) whereas the Major thinks they are barbarians who will destroy civilization and must be eliminated.
The screenplay by Richard Alan Simmons (Three Hours To Kill, The Incredible Shrinking Man, among many others) from a story by Harold Jack Bloom (The Naked Spur) shows this was not intended to be a routine western.
Also two interesting actresses, the charismatic and pretty Peggie Castle and Rita Moreno, wasted in a very caricatural role.
Although color would have been nice for this western shot on location in Kanab, Utah, The Yellow Tomahawk is no frills, brutal, and bloody western about some survivors of a massacre trying to make it home to safety.
The Cheyennes however are only retaliating for the infamous Sand Creek Massacre in which the commanding officer had a big part.
The commander is Major Warner Anderson who has some real issues of his own.Rory Calhoun and Noah Beery, Jr. play a couple of scouts who see the problem, but are helpless with Anderson's intransigence and stupidity.
Anderson even after Sand Creek is now building an army fort on Cheyenne land and the Cheyenne don't take kindly to that.
They send the army warning signal of The Yellow Tomahawk which is their way of saying clear out.
The scenes of the massacre of the cavalry and some civilians including women is not for the squeamish.Peggie Castle and Rita Moreno play the women paired with Calhoun and Beery.
You won't believe why he ordered the Sand Creek massacre, but it's actually curiously relevant to issues coming before the Supreme Court to be rendered as I write this..
The Yellow Tomahawk is directed by Lesley Selander and written by Harold Jack Bloom and Richard Alan Simmons.
It stars Rory Calhoun, Peggie Castle, Noah Beery Jr., Warner Anderson, Peter Graves, Lee Van Cleef and Rita Moreno.
Music is by Les Baxter and cinematography by Gordon Avil.Scout and tracker Adam Reed (Calhoun) is handed a yellow tomahawk by Cheyenne warrior Fire Knife (Cleef).
It is to be given to Major Ives (Anderson) as a proclamation of war, a heed to get women and children out the way prior to attack.
Ives stubbornly rejects the threat...Another splendid 1950s Oater begging to be sought out by fans of the genre, and another reason to laud Calhoun as underrated in his time.
Story wise there are familiar tropes, but it's always nice to see a screenplay sympathetic to the Native Americans, where here led by *ahem* Van Cleef they are fed up of encroachment and seek to defend their tribal lands.
There is honour in the actions, which in turn solidifies a believable friendship between Fire Knife and Reed.It's also in parts sexy, which gets its first marker during Reed and Katherine's (Castle) first meeting, god bless water!
Filmed in Colour but released to TV in black and white, a Western fan can't help lament this fact.
Sometimes, it is "advertising" for products, such as tobacco companies, soda companies, or what have you.Here, either Director Selander, or writers Simmons and Boone, looked to want to add their own flavor to a fairly routine cavalry Western.Like most Westerns of the day, the Indians are depicted as semi good guys with evil white men upsetting the apple cart.The overkill of the evil white men has always been very politically correct, and especially was in the decades that followed this movie.However, the real sidebar here is what happens with the evil corrupt cavalry officer who causes at least two massacres, quite knowingly, quite viciously.Also, a few red herrings come into play here.
The only highlight of the movie was watching tender young Rita Moreno, (23 years old), playing a teenage Indian squaw in love with an older man in his 50's.
It's too bad that the censorship board back when this movie was released didn't permit more of an expansion of a character such as Rita Moreno's.
I was a fan of Rory Calhoun back in the late Fifties when he appeared in the Western TV series lead role of "The Texan".
There was no reason to believe that he wouldn't fall for Peggie Castle's character, especially after she broke off her engagement with cavalry Lieutenant Bascomb (Patrick Sexton).
In addition to Calhoun and Castle, the other interesting casting decision made here was Lee Van Cleef in the role of Cheyenne warrior Fire Knife.
You also had Peter Graves in the role of a renegade gold prospector who killed his partners for their dig, eventually proving to be a thorn in the side of Indian scout Adam Reed (Calhoun).
But it doesn't end there - Noah Beery's on hand as a cavalry hand named Tonio Perez, and he finds himself fending off the advances of Nez Perce maiden Honey Bear.
Rita Moreno is not quite convincing as the fawning young squaw infatuated with a grizzled old goat twice her age, and I kept wondering if Reed might cast an eye in her direction.
Maybe he would have if she opened the picture swimming in the buff instead of Castle.The story itself gets downright brutal in a number of scenes, particularly the attack on Major Ives' (Warner Anderson) new fort under construction.
The finale is a bit of a twist, as Reed holds to his own principles just as dearly; the chief should have accepted the gift bow back when it was offered.If you're paying attention to the opening credits, you'll wonder as I did why 'Color by Color Corporation of America' heralds the start of a black and white picture.
I guess I've seen enough films to not be surprised by such a minor detail, but it would have been cool to actually see the yellow tomahawk..
The ever popular Rory Calhoun plays Adam Reed, a Wyoming Indian scout, who has a strong bond with Fireknife(Lee Van Cleef), a Cheyenne warrior.
Against a treaty with the Indians, the army decides to build a fort on their land.
The fetching Peggie Castle plays Calhoun's love interest.
On the lighter side Noah Berry Jr. plays a Mexican that scouts for the army and falls in love with a beautiful Indian girl Honey Bear(Rita Moreno).This almost forgotten B western features a star-studded supporting cast: Peter Graves, Warner Anderson, James Best, Ned Glass and Robert Bray.
The theme of "an eye for an eye" revenge is carried to the extreme with the brutal massacre sequence where soldiers, women and children alike are slaughtered without mercy.The film opens with army scout Adam Reed (Rory Calhoun) being brought to Cheyenne Chief Fire Knife (Lee Van Cleef).
The chief warns of an impending Cheyenne attack on an army encampment in retaliation to one led by commanding officer Major Ives (Warner Anderson) who has been branded as "The Butcher" by the Indians for his slaughter of women and children.Reed brings a yellow tomahawk to Ives as a warning from the Cheyenne.
Reed meets Katherine Bohlen (Peggie Castle) skinny dipping and sparks fly.
At the same time, Tonio is being pursued by the young Indian squaw named , now get this, Honey Bear (a very young Rita Moreno).Into the camp comes prospector Walt Sawyer (Peter Graves) and his wounded partner.
Subsequent events reveal that Sawyer has a hidden agenda of his own.Then the Cheyenne attack and savagely "kill all white eyes" except for Major Ives who was away obtaining buried ammunition, Tonio who had been escorting a wagon load of wives escaping the attack, Sawyer and Reed.
The survivors which also include Cpl. Maddock (Adam Williams) and Private Bliss (James Best) then try to reach the distant fort while being pursued by Fire Knife and his braves and.......................................................................................Although the massacre sequence is not as graphic as one would see today, it is nonetheless brutal and totally unexpected.
Calhoun is a stalwart hero who had been appearing in a number of low budget westerns at this time.
Lee Van Cleef is also excellent as the Indian Chief.
Walter Reed, Dan Riss and Robert Bray round out the cast.A quirky unexpected ending round out this opus ably directed by veteran director Lesley Selander..
Director Lesley Selander's thoroughly routine outdoor yarn "The Yellow Tomahawk" (1954) pits the Cheyenne against the U.S. Cavalry with leathery tough Rory Calhoun in the middle as the seasoned, buckskin-clad Indian scout who has to lead the survivors to safety.
This United Artists western was lensed in color but the TV print that Turner Classic Movies aired was inexplicably in black & white.The action opens with Adam Reed (Rory Calhoun of "Black Spurs") eluding several Indians and riding up to palaver with his old friend and Cheyenne chief, Fire Knife (Lee Van Cleef of "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly"), who has killing on his mind.
Fire Knife warns Adam that his Cheyenne braves are poised to wipe out a nearby cavalry fort under construction because it violates a treaty that the Indians made with the government.
On his way to inform stuck-up camp commandant, Major Ives (Warner Anderson of "Objective, Burma!"),about the impending Indian attack, Adam discovers a beautiful wood nymph seductively treading water in a lake.
Katherine 'Kate' Bolden (Peggy Castle of "I, Jury") is another of those silly women in westerns that bathe nude in the middle of Indian country without a care in the world.
Castle appears to be genuinely nude in her bathing scenes, too, perhaps the most memorable scene of all in this otherwise predictable western.
Naturally, Major Ives dismisses Adam's warning from Fire Knife until the commander realizes that somebody has raided his ammunition dump far outside the fort.
No sooner have they made this discovery than the Indians attack, knock out of hero, and leave him as the only survivor.
Before this attack, a pair of white prospectors rides into the fort.
While Adam is getting hot water to help in removing the arrow, the greedy Sawyer grinds the shaft in deeper and kills his helpless partner.
Noah Beery, Jr., plays a aimable Mexican scout pursued by a sexy Indian damsel appropriately named Honey Bear (Oscar-winning actress Rita Moreno of "West Side Story") and Robert Bray of "Lassie" fame is on hand briefly as the ill-fated cavalry officer that Kate had planned to marry.
The biggest surprise in this unremarkable western shot on location in Kanab, Utah, is that the evil cavalry officer Ives, who slaughtered Indian men, women, and children at the infamous Sand Creek Massacre, has been keeping a secret that he is a Native American, too!
Ironically, the taut bow that Fire Knife gives out of friendship to Adam at the outset of the hostilities is what our heroic scout uses to kill the stalwart Cheyenne warrior after he has run out of bullets.
The survivors reach another outpost, Fort Ellis, where Adam and Ives furnish their respective reports about the issue to an army general, but we never learn the outcome of this meeting.
Ultimately, "The Yellow Tomahawk" is one of many pro-Indian westerns that appeared in the aftermath of "Broken Arrow" (1950) where the Native American is viewed as a noble savage unjustly treated by some but not all whites.
Calhoun stands out of an above-average cast as the always serviceable leading man, and good looking Castle is worth watching for her feminine charms.
One of several films I'm familiar with that relates to the infamous massacre of peaceful Cheyenne, mostly women and children, at Sand Creek, CO.
The historic Chivington, who led this slaughter, is renamed Major Ives(Warner Anderson).
...The basic story is that Major Ives plans on building an army fort on Cheyenne land, besides his duty of escorting immigrants through Cheyenne territory, on their way to Oregon.
This raises the ire of Red Cloud(whom we never see), and one of his lieutenants: Fire Knife, who uses the presence of his soldiers on their land as an excuse to attack the temporary camp of Ives, which includes some women and other civilians.
Most of the soldiers and civilians are killed, but, inexplicably, Ives survives, and journeys with the rest to the nearest fort.....Vagabond scout Adam Reed(Roy Calhoun) happens upon Bostonian Kathrine(Peggy Castle) swimming in the nude in a small lake.
After her boyfriend is killed in the Indian attack, she soon latches onto Reed as the man most likely to insure her survival.
Given Reed's preferred wandering lifestyle, I'm not sure they have a future together, in which case, Kathren probably will return to the civilization of Boston....A more convincing developing couple consist of Mexican Tonio Perez(Noah Berry) and Nez Pierce maiden Honey Bear(Rita Moreno).
Rita provides a beautiful impish presence, being more charismatic than blond Peggy Castle.
Besides Major Ives, there is another villain on the European side in Peter Graves, as Sawyer.