NR | 1h 33m | Drama, Romance, Western | 1950
“Broken Arrow” is a dramatized account of a real-life historical figure—ex-U.S. Army scout Tom Jeffords (Stewart), who sought peace between Native Americans and American settlers in Arizona. It was part of a new wave of American cinema that depicted Native Americans in a more sympathetic light.
The film begins in 1870, at the height of the Apache Wars (1849—1886). We see Jeffords riding his horse across an Arizonan desert as Stewart narrates a bit about the character’s background. Fresh out of the Union Army, Jeffords has turned his sights to prospecting for gold, a fine match for him since it utilizes his military skills as a former scout.
He suddenly spies a multitude of buzzards circling above “something or somebody” in the distance. When he travels to the location in question, he comes across an injured Apache youth. Jeffords realizes that the teen has been shot in the back with a shotgun, and he proceeds to remove the pieces of buckshot embedded there.
After the youth has healed enough to return home, he tells Jeffords that he’s the last child in his family and that he knows his mother is crying for him back home, since he’s been gone for so long. Before departing, the youth gives Jeffords his necklace as a thank-you gift for saving his life. These factors have a profound effect on Jeffords in humanizing the people he once considered to be the enemy.
However, the two have been watched the entire time by Apache warriors, who aggressively approach Jeffords. The teen, whose life Jeffords saved, convinces the warriors to spare the Army veteran’s life. But when a group of gold prospectors is sighted, the warriors decide to bind and gag Jeffords so that he can’t warn the gold seekers of the impending ambush.
After successfully ambushing the prospectors, the warriors torture the remaining survivors and threaten that the same fate will befall Jeffords if he shows his face around the area again.
After his stressful ordeal, Jeffords travels to the burgeoning town of Tucson since he has heard that an Army officer is looking for him. While dining at the Scatfly Hotel, he encounters one of the men who survived the earlier Apache ambush, as well as Ben Slade (Will Geer), a local rancher whose wife was killed when Apaches burned his house down. When Jeffords reveals that he was set free by the Apache ambushers, Slade accuses the ex-soldier of being in cahoots with the tribe.
Col. Bernall (Raymond Bramley), the officer who wants to meet Jeffords, tries to enlist him to use his scouting skills against the Apaches. But Jeffords has grown tired of all the death and destruction wrought by both Apaches and whites and turns the colonel down.
Instead, Jeffords hatches a plan that will hopefully facilitate the first steps toward peace between the two sides. Since Apaches have been killing most of the mail couriers, who have been trying to transport mail into Tucson, he tells his good friend Milt Duffield (Arthur Hunnicutt) that he intends to ride out alone to meet with the Apache leader Cochise (Jeff Chandler), in the hopes of brokering a ceasefire on the couriers.
Although everyone in town doubts that Jeffords will return from his risky trip, the crafty ex-soldier successfully meets with Cochise and gains the leader’s respect. Jeffords returns to Tucson, and the couriers begin to travel unharmed in the subsequent days. But some of the townsfolk, including Slade, still regard Jeffords with suspicion.
Jeffords eventually meets Gen. Oliver Howard (Basil Ruysdael), a Union Army man who served under Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. Grant, now president of the United States, has sent Howard on a mission to initiate peace talks with Cochise. Known as the “Christian General,” Howard seems to share Jeffords’s more humanitarian perspective, saying: “The Bible I read preaches brotherhood for all of God’s children, regardless of the pigmentation of their skin.” Howard enlists Jeffords to escort him out to meet with Cochise, and the latter tells him (before departing to prepare for their trip): “Read your Bible for me too. … I like the way you read it.”
But with bigotry and resentment brewing on both sides of the blood-soaked conflict, will the men of peace be able to get cooler heads to prevail, instead of losing their scalps?
This is not your typical shoot ‘em up-style Western, where guns do more talking than the men wielding them. Rather, the suspense comes through the dialogue as we see ignorance and hatred clearly manifested on both sides of the Apache-settler conflict. Most of the gradual buildup of tension comes from any number of nail-biting scenes that seem peaceful at first but have some sort of danger that steadily builds up in the background.
For example, when Jeffords first rides out to meet with Cochise, he seems relatively safe during the beginning of his trip. But as his journey continues, we see Apache scouts begin to appear on rocky outcrops as he nears Cochise’s stronghold. Another matter that had me tensed up was wondering whether or not the mail couriers would continue to arrive in Tucson unmolested after Jeffords risked his life to appeal for their safe passage, and his reputation depended on their safe passage.
The acting on display is on point all around, with Stewart cast perfectly as an Army veteran who has grown weary of violence, and is optimistic about seeking peace and understanding in a heated frontier conflict. Also entertaining to watch is Jeff Chandler as Cochise, as well as a young Debra Paget as the Apache maiden Sonseeahray, who falls in love with Stewart’s character. Their star-crossed lovers’ tale is convincing and adds some additional warmth to the picture.
Another thing I appreciated was the film’s overall positive message of peace and goodwill between people, regardless of cultural differences or skin color. In these caustic and divided times, “Broken Arrow” is an inspiring movie that hopes for a better future beyond the divisive powers that be.
