Another freakin movie with a very white man portraying an Indian. In 1962! Then again I guess we should be glad they tried to tell any Indians side of any story at all. Will darker skinned people wear powder and try to represent white people in a story of their demise one day? lol
shareIf they could ACT they would be hired..
shareCome on; the movie was made in 1962! There were capable Native American actors back then, but the studios felt--probably correctly--that to cast one in the lead role would be box office poison. That's certainly hasn't been the case for the last 30 years or so, as since then, I can't think of a white actor being cast as a Native in a major role. That was then, this is now, and we'd all be better off understanding that.
By the way, at first I was appalled to see the blue-eyed Chuck Connors playing Geronimo, but then I realized that they actually bore a *very* slight resemblance to each other, so it may not have been a totally random choice. (You have to imagine Geronimo many years younger than any of his photographs show him, and discount their very different skin tones, but it is there!)
Wow, you're absolutely right! Chuck Connors bears a striking resemblance to Geronimo, its not just slight, the bone structure of their faces is very similar.
shareKamala Devi is a REAL Indian. Read her biography.
shareThe High Chaparral was the first Hollywood production that made a serious effort to hire First Nations people to play First Nations people, and Latinos to play Latinos. Before that, the emphasis was on getting a star a role, not on cultural accuracy.
But you can make the same complaint to this day - why don't they hire deaf actors to play deaf people? Blind actors to play blind people? Gay actors to play gay people? Southerners to play Southerners?
Yes, there's more of that done now than there used to be, but still precious little of that type of casting.
why don't they hire deaf actors to play deaf people? Blind actors to play blind people? Gay actors to play gay people?That's not the same thing, for reasons too ridiculously obvious to even need explanation.
Yes only from India, fine looking lady, I forget she married Chuck in real life.
There used to be a show on in the afternoon sort of a early ET, where she was interviewed. Her English accent slipped out a few times during the film.
Apparently when the producers told the staff that they were shooting a move about Indians, the first thing that entered thier minds was Bombay.
shareI just ran across this movie on tv...I was surprised to see Chuck Connors as Geronimo but that kinda made sense,being a star & all & it's 1962. But I flipped...is that good ol' Ross Martin playing a jovial injun?? Look him up! He was a very talented Polish jew.
shareHelp! I'm dressed as an Indian and the Political Correctness Police are after me! Jeez....lighten the *beep* up.
shareThank god we're not back there anymore. And now we have greats like Johnny Depp stealing the screen. Nice...
shareAt least Johnny Depp actually has some Native American ancestry. The 1960's still weren't all that enlightened or progressive when it came to casting. I mean, Mickey Rooney was playing Asian in Breakfast at Tiffanys. We think of today's films and how that would be reviled, but 50 years ago it was pretty much business as usual.
shareThe 1960's still weren't all that enlightened or progressive when it came to casting.Too true! I'm sure the producers intentions were honourable, but looking at the film 54 years later, the casting does tend to distract from the intended message.🐭 share