MovieChat Forums > Taza, Son of Cochise (1954) Discussion > Tongue-in-Cheek?

Tongue-in-Cheek?

posted 9 years ago by diane0444
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I have seen this description attributed to both Rock Hudson (Taza) and the producer, Ross Hunter. It made me curious, so I looked it up in the dictionary. One of the meanings is *not to be taken seriously*, which certainly seems to apply.

1) It's filmed in 3-D so you see some odd things, such as spears, rocks, arrows. etc. coming directly at the camera.

2) None of the actors playing the main characters, particularly the Apache, could be described as *Native Americans*. Rock Hudson, Barbara Rush, Jeff Chandler, etc.

3) Very little of the story is true, although Taza, Cochise, Naiche, and Geronimo were real people. Taza did succeed Cochise and Geronimo and Naiche did continue to fight the U.S. Army. Other events happened to the Apache, such as the tribal police and the defeated Geronimo and his men being shipped away from their tribal lands.

All in all, according to Barbara Rush, they seem to have had a good time filming the movie.

[–] MAGolding (1098) 6 years ago

2) It was normal and usual for Indian characters to be portrayed by white actors in 1950s movies, though there were some Indian actors.

3) Taza (c.1843-1876), Cochise (c. 1805-1874), Naiche (c.1857-1919), and Geronimo (1829?-1909) were not the only real people in the movie. Other real people included General George Crook (1828-1890), Chato (1854?-13 August 1934) who was not Taza's right hand man, and Skinya (c. 1825-1876).