Throughout the 1950's. The Hollywood studio system employed hundreds of contract players who were "white." Most of the Westerns made in this decade had these contract players, portray Indian Warriors and Maidens. They were played up as evil stereotypes within the whole western film genre.
"Vulture" has named their favorite top 50 western movies (2021). The number #1 pick is John Ford's, "The Searchers" (1956). It is one of the few westerns that portrayed Indians as "sympathetic" characters. John Wayne's role is seen as a man who is worse than the "savage warriors" with whom he tracks.
"Broken Arrow" (1950) lands in at number #44 with James Stewart. He plays an ex-army scout who makes friends with a chief named "Cochise." That chief is played by a "white" actor, Jeff Chandler. All of the lead Indian roles were also portrayed by "white" contract players. It is one of the first westerns to tackle Indians as sympathetic people.
"Stagecoach" (1939) hits number #3. It was also directed by John Ford and made a movie star out of John Wayne. The question is, "Are the white people inside this stage-coach more evil than the Indian warriors outside of it?"
"Little Big Man" (1970) is at number #42. It stars Dustin Hoffman and is one of the best westerns to portray Indians as "good" people. It had taken 20 years for filmmakers to actually show Indians in a different light.
"Dances With Wolves" (1990) is not on this list which is a crime. It was the first big feature film to show the "white" soldiers as evil and the "Indian" tribe as good.
Click photos below for VULTURE and their favorite westerns.
(1956 Movie Poster)
(1956 Movie Poster).
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