Brave Warrior

The Brave Warrior in this title refers to the Shawnee chief Tecumseh who made a valiant effort to unite Indian tribes against encroaching Americans going over the Appalachians and settling in Indiana Territory. Jay Silverheels plays Tecumseh and his one-eyed brother The Prophet is played by Michael Ansara. But if you're expecting to see the real story of the Battle Of Tippecanoe than skip this one by. I would recommend a made for TV film about Tecumseh that stars Jesse Borrego that came out in the Nineties.

The white hero of this film is the fictional Steve Ruddell played by Jon Hall. Hall is a confidential agent sent by President Madison to find out about British agents stirring up the various tribes. Not that there wasn't enough stirring in the other direction from a group of young Turk Southern and Western Congressmen, among them Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun. But that's real history.

According to this Hall is the one in charge not Governor William Henry Harrison and he's giving James Seay who plays Harrison orders. Harrison is also not in uniform which is one of the many inaccuracies about Brave Warrior. Harrison in fact was a military man and was most definitely in charge.

It's B film from Columbia so do not expect any high standards. The whole thing is shot on a western set and looks nothing like Indiana in the early 19th century.

Skip this trip to Tippecanoe.

The dialogue might be wooden and condescending, veering on patronising, but there's some fair action and decent man-to-man fighting among the Shawnee Native American tribes, back in Indiana, at the turn of the 19th century.

The story's supposedly set around ousting out the British from the frontier-land, as the emerging U.S claim the land for themselves. The idea here, is that which ever side wins over these Indian tribes will score, strategically. When these white dignitaries hold 'discussions' in meeting rooms, these are dry and boring and where the worst script atrocities occur, especially when there is a Shawnee Chief present to (mildly) offend.

Looking, however at its positive aspects and maybe its key audience on release - young boys wanting a cowboy and Indian film, it fares a lot better, with the aforementioned action and stirring rough and tumble. The film looks quite good, too, at least when it's outside in the big old West, rather than the stuffy studio sets. I saw it on a UK commercial TV channel.

Veteran action director Spencer Gordon Bennet's first Technicolor film is a well-mounted western set early in the Madison presidency when war with Britain was imminent.

Leading lady Christine Larson is a feisty young colleen with enormous red hair (requiring Harry Cording to adopt an Irish brogue as her father); while like John Carradine in 'Drums Along the Mohawk', Michael Ansara as the malcontent fanning anti-English feeling among the Indians sports an eye-patch.

At least one Native American had a starring role in this typical western programmer. Michael Ansara (who has played American Indians many times) is very capable as Silverheel's contentious one-eyed brother.

There's some manipulation of the historical facts (the story takes place as the War of 1812 is about to start), but I've seen much greater historical distortions in many, many films (like in "Gone With the Wind"...).

Overall, this was pretty enjoyable, but not a film I would bother viewing more than once. The dialog was dull. The scenery was nice. The Technicolor was fantastic.

I rated it "4", just for the chance to see Jay Silverheels in something other than "The Lone Ranger".

Jay Silverheels is Tecumseh, persuasively arguing that this is Indiana, after all, as Jon Hall tries to keep the peace, even as one-eyed Michael Ansara tries to make trouble. This causes the Blackhawk War. No, Abraham Lincoln doesn't show up, but you do have James Seay as William Harry Harrison.

William Skall shoots the Battle of Tippicanoe in Technicolor very nicely if all too briefly, but this wouldn't be a Sam Katzman production with the incompetent Spencer Gordon Bennett directing if there wasn't something odious about the production, and here's it's performances, with most of the performers speaking like they've never used words before.