Run of the Arrow

Rod Steiger, Brian Keith, and Charles Bronson join 150 Navajo tribespeople in this innovative revisionist Western about a bitter Confederate veteran who joins a Sioux tribe to keep his war against the Union going. Making complex statements about the nature of race, identity, and loyalty, this is a key film in the oeuvre of renegade director Samuel Fuller, who bucks the Hollywood trend at the time to present a sympathetic portrayal of American Indians. Steiger stars as the former soldier O'Meara, who survives a ritual rite of passage called the Run of the Arrow and is accepted into the tribe. The true test of O'Meara's fidelity to the Sioux comes when his adopted people come into conflict with a Cavalry troop. Film historians acknowledge that the 1990 Oscar winner Dances With Wolves was most likely inspired by this film.