Young Jimmy Aherne’s family is heading West in a wagon train when the Crow Indians attack.
He’s the lone survivor, and he survives only because a Sioux war band happens by and chases off the Crow.
Jimmy is taken in by Chief Yellow Eagle and raised as a Sioux warrior. And while he’s determined to take revenge on the Crows for the death of his white family, many members of his new tribe wonder if he’ll fight should war break out with the whites.
They might have the opportunity to find out. Rumors reach the Sioux village that the whites have discovered gold and broken yet another treaty.
Some elders call for war. Calmer voices prevail. First, the Sioux will discover whether there’s truth to the rumor by sending War Bonnet – as Aherne is known among the Sioux – to live with the whites for two months.
He encounters both good and bad while spending time at Fort Duane. There’s the Indian-hating Capt. Vaugant, for instance. But he also finds friends among the cavalrymen, like Cpl. Martin (Milburn Stone) and Lt. Hathersall.
Oh, and Hathersall has a very attractive sister named Tally (Susan Morrow) who will further divide Aherne’s loyalty between the Sioux and the whites.
Back in the Sioux village, his “sister” Luta dreams of a future with War Bonnet.
Charlton Heston as Jim Aherne, aka War Bonnet, vowing his loyalty to the SIoux people who raised him in The Savage (1952)
Richard Robert as the Indian hating Capt. Arnold Vaugant, suggesting harsh treatment of the SIoux in The Savage (1952)
Review:
Too contrived to be very successful. For all his wisdom and heroics, Aherne seems to change loyalties with the wind.
When Luta is first kidnapped, then shot by soldiers, Aherne vows he never wants to be known as a white man again and agrees to lead a cavalry troop into an ambush.
When he realizes the Sioux intend to kill everyone – including women and children – he has second thoughts and warns of the ambush in the nick of time.
Aherne is consistent in his hatred of the Crow Indians. In one of the film’s best scenes, he guides the cavalry to an attack on an unsuspecting Crow village. The commanding officer is surprised, too. He thought he was attacking a Sioux camp.
Milburn Stone might have the best role as a cavalry officer who befriends Aherne, stands by him through thick and thin, but is nagged by suspicions about how he knew about the aforementioned ambush.
This was the only Western outing for Susan Morrow, though the following year she would star in a serial called “Canadian Mounties vs. Atomic Invaders.”
Ian McDonald as Chief Yellow Eagle, Ahern’s adoptive father, questioned about his white son’s loyalty in The Savage (1952)
Angela Clarke as Pehangi, War Bonnet’s adoptive mother, wondering what will happen to the son who’s suspected of betraying his people in The Savage (1952)
Directed by:
George Marshall
Cast:
Charlton Heston … Jim Aherne Jr. /War Bonnet
Susan Morrow … Tally Hathersall
Peter Hansen … Lt. Weston Hathersall
Joan Taylor … Luta
Richard Rober … Capt. Arnold Vaugant
Don Porter … Running Dog
Ted de Corsia … Iron Breast
Ian McDonald … Chief Yellow Eagle
Milburn Stone … Cpl. Martin
Angela Clarke … Pehangi
Orley Lindgren … Jim as a boy
Michael Tolan … Long Mane
Howard Negley … Col. Robert Ellis
Frank Richards … Sgt. Norris
Runtime: 95 min.
Charlton Heston (right) as Jim Aherne, remembering back to his upbringing with Lt. Hathersall (Peter Hansen) and his sister Talley (Susan Morrow) in The Savage (1952)
Joan Taylor as Luta, upset that her adopted brother War Bonnet isn’t more attracted to her in The Savage (1952)
Memorable lines:
Indian brave: “If the council says war, will you fight against the white men, War Bonnet?”
War Bonnet: “Only women ask foolish questions. Am I not Yellow Eagle’s son?”
Siioux at war council: “He speaks with the smoothness of the white man.”
War Bonnet: “But I fight with the courage of the Sioux.”
Capt. Arnold Vaugant: “Civilized people don’t listen in on private conversations, Mr. Ahern.”
Jim Ahern: “Savages speak their insults to a man’s face.”
War Bonnet, after Luta’s death: “From this day forward, let no man call me white.”
War Bonnet’s mother: “Oh husband of little faith, if you love him, you must not doubt him.”
Charlton Heston as Jim Aherne with Lt. Weston Hathershall, the officer he rescues from a Crow ambush in The Savage (1952)
Milburn Stone as Corp. Martin, the veteran cavalry officer who befriends Jim Aherne in The Savage (1952)
Susan Morrow as Tally Hathersall with the doctor (Jim Hayward) as he works on a wounded Jim Aherne in The Savage (1952)
Orley Lindgren as young Jim Aherne, prepared to defend himself with a Crow lance if necessary in The Savage (1952)
Ted de Corsia as Iron Breast, one of the SIoux leaders who questions whether War Bonnet will be able to turn against the whites in The Savage (1952)
Peter Hansen as Lt. Weston Hathersall and Richard Rober as Capt. Arnold Vaughant, relying on Jim Aherne to lead an attack on an Indian camp in The Savage (1952)
){kind=link}