Past Issues
The Indian Hero in SerialsNot Just a Stereotype
by Mike Newton
In the early days of film history, American Indians were often cast as villains whose savagery and cruelty were dramatized by their war paint and ferocity. Atrocities against settlers were emphasized, while atrocities against Indians were downplayed.
Yet, the famous 1950 James Stewart-Jeff Chandler film, Broken Arrow, was not the first film to show the Indian in a more humane light. Pro-Indian films form a sub-genre whose history begins well before World War II. The Richard Dix film, Man of Conquest (1939) is a good example of a film whose white hero admires Indians and is cynical about white civilization. This positive view of Indian life was not really rare. For hundreds of years, people have doubted, or at least questioned, the value of civilization while looking back nostalgically to a simpler and more primitive way of life.
Long before Broken Arrow, early serials had established some precedents. In his serial, White Eagle (Columbia, 1941), Buck Jones played a hero of part-Indian ancestry who fought renegade gun runners threatening the peace between Indians and whites. Robert Scott played an Indian hero in Columbiaās Black Arrow (1944), with Adele Jergens, who ordinarily did not do westerns, as the leading lady. But it was The Phantom Rider (Republic, 1946) and The Scarlet Horseman (Universal, 1946) that gave Saturday afternoon audiences an Indian hero to cheer.
Universal released The Scarlet Horseman on January 22, 1946, in 13 chapters. Four days later, Republic released The Phantom Rider in 12 chapters. Both featured a mysterious Indian hero, attired in a colorful costume and mask, and both heroes had a dual identity played by a white man.
This coincidence has no apparent reason, although many of the production staff involved in the Universal serial once worked at Republic. Morgan G. Cox, the producer, had been a Republic scriptwriter prior to WW II. Ray Taylor, one of the directors of Scarlet Horseman, had directed Republic serials. One wonders if a script idea was revealed over a casual drink between Republic and Universal scriptwriters.
The Scarlet Horseman co-starred Peter Cookson, a new face in westerns who usually appeared in low budget features, and Paul Guilfoyle. Guilfoyle, usually a gangster type, masqueraded as the Scarlet Horseman when he wasnāt posing as a crippled gunsmith. This role in the script was a good cover for his actual role as a Texas undercover agent. Cookson played his partner, although appearing to be at odds with Guilfoyle.
The chief menace of the serial was a half-breed maid in a wealthy Texas household played by Victoria Horne, daughter of Columbia serial director James Horne.
Dressed in a Klan-like robe, which left the face to be covered by a crimson eye mask, the Scarlet Horseman announced his arrival by blowing on a kazoo whistle. While a novel touch, the whistle became tiresome after one heard it numerous times within a single chapter.
As one of the last serials produced by Universal, it did not enjoy a revival in second run houses or television as its successor, The Phantom Rider did.
Republic released The Phantom Rider, January 26, four days after The Scarlet Horseman. The plot dealt with the establishment of an Indian police force on a reservation where outlaws were taking refuge from the law. A white doctor posing as the Rider, a tribal legend come to life, assists his friend, the son of the tribeās chief. Robert Kent played the dual role of Dr. James Sterling and the Rider; George J. Lewis, usually a Republic serial villain, played Blue Feather, his Indian friend; and Republicās perennial heroine, Peggy Stewart played Doris Shannon, the school teacher.
The Riderās costume consisted of the traditional beaded jacket, full feathered headdress, and a distinctive Indian face mask. Recalling the serial at a western film convention, Peggy Stewart recalled the time her young co-star in the Red Ryder films, Bobby Blake who played Little Beaver, visited the set and was fascinated by the mask, and tried it on.
Republic had used the name of the Rider to describe the mysterious Indian heroine who rode a pinto horse and shot whistling arrows to warn the white settlers of impending danger in Hoot Gibsonās wagon train in The Painted Stallion. Julia Thayer, also billed as Jean Carmen, created a stunning impression in her long, flowing, feathered headdress and beaded, and rather brief, costume.
The Phantom Rider was reissued to theaters in 1954 as Ghost Riders of the West. Spencer G. Bennett shared directorial duties with Fred Brannon and later went over to Columbia to direct the studioās final serials, including Blazing the Overland Trail.
The bad Indian stereotype was broken on radio by Howard Culver. Culver played Straight Arrow, the Comanche chief who posed as rancher Steve Adams of the Broken Bow Ranch. In Brace Beemerās Lone Ranger radio program, John Todd, an English radio actor, played the faithful Indian Tonto, proving to young listeners that Indians could also be friends. The Tonto role became even more famous when Jay Silverheels brought it to TV in the long running series, 1949-1957, that became one of the great classics of early childrenās television. Then, from 1956 to 1960, Michael Ansara played Indian chief Cochise on the ABC TV series Broken Arrow. The series focused on Cochiseās partnering with a government Indian agent to battle renegade Indians and white criminals who try to prey on honest Indians. Clearly, all Indians in pre-1960s popular culture were not depicted as badmen. It would behoove us to remember that fairness is not a new concept, and our popular entertainment was sometimes more complex than we remember.
(This article is dedicated to the memory of the late Robert Malcomson, veteran serial collector and publisher of Those Enduring Matinee Idols. Bob provided the author with the rare photo of The Scarlet Horseman for this article, in addition to general research.)