MovieChat Forums > The Indian Fighter (1956) Discussion > The two women in the frontier life of Jo...

The two women in the frontier life of Johnny Hawks (Kirk Douglas)

posted 3 years ago by Wuchak (8106)
6 replies | jump to latest

This was the first film produced by Kirk and he allowed his ex-wife, Diana Douglas (the mother of Michael Douglas), to play the settler woman from the wagon train who clearly wants him for a husband (obviously an inside joke). This shows that Kirk and Diana had a good relationship despite their divorce in 1951.

Meanwhile tall Italian Elsa Martinelli plays the native girl that Johnny aggressively woos, the aforementioned Onahti. Make no mistake, Onahti was attracted to Johnny and he knew it; thus he goes after what he wants.

[–] ecarle (14979) 2 years ago

In modern-day interviews while his father Kirk was still alive, Michael Douglas occasionally said: "You always ask about my father. How about my MOTHER? You know, she was an actress."

But on the basis of her work in The Indian Fighter, she was perhaps too "journeywoman" an actress to make much of a name for herself. Still, it is nice to see Michael's "handsome and pleasant faced" mother. And a nice bit of Hollywood inclusiveness that Kirk Douglas cast his Ex-wife here.

Ah, but that Kirk could be a devilish fellow. His SECOND wife, Anne, did the casting on The Indian Fighter, and though the ex wife would be good casting. And Elsa Martinelli was cast as the "Indian Maiden" by Anne.

And as it turned out -- Douglas' ex-wife ended up with the role of the woman who DOES NOT win Kirk Douglas as a husband(it looks like she's gonna take Alan Hale Jr -- Skipper on Gilligan's Island instead) and loses Kirk to the sultry Indian Maiden.

More arrogantly yet, evidently Douglas entered into a passionate affair for REAL with "the Indian maiden" (Martinelli) even as his ex-wife was in the movie and his current wife was still married to him.

Hollywood. Hollywood MEN. They take what they want. (Of course, Hollywood women give it to them.)

Cornered about his many affairs by Phil Donahue on the latter's talk show one time, Kirk Douglas said of wife Anne, "Well, Phil, you have to remember that my wife Anne is European" -- Douglas pronounced it as "Euro-PEEEN" in his clenched voice -- "and European wives accept the affairs of their husbands." (And vice versa?)

This must have been the case, because Anne stayed with Kirk til the 101 year day he died. And she is still alive today (2022.)

[–] Wuchak (8106) 2 years ago

Kirk was great, of course, but he once said in an interview that he didn't believe men can be monogamous. Aduh, that's what the marriage vows are for. Faithfulness is one of the most important qualities to look for in a mate; that is, if you want a successful marriage (and I don't just mean one that lasts). Which explains the Hebrew proverb: "Many a man proclaims his own steadfast love, but a faithful man who can find?"

[–] ecarle (14979) 2 years ago

Good points. I agree with them.

And out here in the real world, monogamy and fidelity are much more required -- divorce can follow otherwise.

But movie stars -- then and now -- seem to think they have separate rules. And they do. The wives of male movie stars seem to have decided that they would be like "the Queen" and allow the husband to have "playmates." The wives had the marriage license, often the kids to raise, the household. The husbands got to...play around.

I have read the autobios of Marlon Brando, Kirk Douglas, and Tony Curtis and -- to a man -- they all spoke of constant easy-to-get affairs with all sorts of willing women as "a perk of stardom." All while married. No shame. Bragging about it. Well -- Kirk Douglas' wife never left. "A Euro-PEEN marriage."

That said...Douglas evidently wrote his old friend Burt Lancaster when both were in their 50's and noted; "The young girls don't look at me anymore."

So it must have hurt some of these old guys to be less desirable eventually. Though I do believe old male movie stars can STILL get women.

[–] Wuchak (8106) 2 years ago

Good stuff. I read Brando's autobiography and the bio by his best friend, the director of "The Ugly American," and they were both entertaining, insightful and hard to put down, especially Marlon's account.

[–] ecarle (14979) 2 years ago

Thanks. I read Brando's autobio, not the other one, and Brando wrote something kind of funny about one of HIS affairs:

He talked about cheating with a male friend's wife.

The male friend came to BRANDO, crying, seeking solace about "somebody having an affair with my wife."

In Brando's OWN WORDS, he wrote "I had to comfort my friend, even though I was the one cheating, so I put on my Hertz rent-a-face and commiserated with him."

Hertz rent-a-face. I love it. And its terrible and its mean what Brando did to his friend with the friend's wife, but I suppose the friend got to keep his wife, and Brando...moved on.

Aside from the sex stuff, Brando's autobio was like the man himself: elusive and unwilling to talk much about the movie business and the movies he made, but allowing just ENOUGH such information to fulfill his publishing contract. While also talking his political issues, of course.

[–] Wuchak (8106) 2 years ago

Brando's detailing of his numerous adulteries/fornications with Hollywood wives & so forth are often amusing, admittedly, but they actually made me lose respect for him. Thankfully, the man is intelligent, frank, transparent, fun, humorous, philosophical and brooding appropriate to the myriad topics addressed and sometimes all-rolled-into-one. He also isn’t bitter and never berates his critics. He gives people the right to make false or ignorant judgments about him.

The biography I mentioned is “The Way It's Never Been Done Before: My Friendship with Marlon Brando” by George Englund. He's balanced with his insights on Brando, honestly chronicling warts & roses, and is sometimes very amusing; for instance, his laugh-out-loud commentary on their outing at an Italian restaurant, particularly regarding Marlon morphing from a Tibetan ascetic to Henry VIII. When I read that story I realized I had stumbled upon greatness.

Other compelling stories include George & Mar’s experiences in Asia while doing research for “The Ugly American,” like their competitive spontaneous football game; Christian Brando’s curious murder of Cheyenne’s formidable Polynesian boyfriend, Dag, at the Brando homestead while Mar was watching TV; Cheyenne’s befuddling hysterics, ultimate suicide and Mar’s corresponding struggle; George & Mar’s fascinating outing with Jackie Kennedy just a few weeks after her husband was assassinated in Dallas (it was her first social excursion after the tragedy and it successfully pulled her out of the grieving doldrums); and George’s involvement with Mar’s $5 million book deal for his autobiography.

I especially appreciated the insights on Christian’s murder (officially “manslaughter”) and Cheyenne’s issues since Marlon understandably refused to discuss his kids in his autobiography. Needless to say, Englund's bio makes for a great companion piece. While both books are great, I definitely give the edge to Mar’s due to the detail and his charisma in storytelling.