Film Review: A Man Called Horse (1970)

The early 1970s saw a wave of revisionist Westerns attempting to recalibrate historical narratives by centring perspectives marginalised during America’s westward expansion. While films like Soldier Blue (1970) became infamous for pairing progressive intentions with gratuitous violence and exploitation, Elliott Silverstein’s A Man Called Horse (1970) offered a more nuanced – if imperfect – exploration of Sioux culture through the lens of a captured English aristocrat. Anchored by Richard Harris’s physically committed performance, the film find its way between anthropological curiosity and commercial sensationalism, emerging as a flawed yet fascinating artefact of its era.

Dorothy M. Johnson’s 1950 short story provided the blueprint, continuing her track record of Western narratives adapted into classics like The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962). Prior to Silverstein’s film, Johnson’s tale had already been reworked for a 1958 Wagon Train episode, reflecting its durable premise of cultural immersion. The story’s focus on a white protagonist’s gradual assimilation into Native society allowed filmmakers to balance exoticism with empathy – a duality that would define both the strengths and contradictions of the 1970 adaptation.

Set in 1825 – decades before the traditional “Wild West” era – the plot follows John Morgan (Harris), an English nobleman captured by Sioux warriors during a hunting expedition. Stripped of status and dignity, Morgan’s journey from abused captive to tribal leader unfolds through brutal initiations and cross-cultural negotiations. The film distinguishes itself through its commitment to Sioux language (80% of dialogue remains untranslated) and rituals, plunging audiences into Morgan’s disorienting perspective. This linguistic authenticity, overseen by Sioux historian Clyde Dollar, creates immersive verisimilitude despite later compromises.

Silverstein’s approach blended genuine innovation with Hollywood pragmatism. While employing Sioux consultants and extras lent credibility to ceremonial sequences, casting decisions undermined this realism. Greek model Corinna Tsopei (Miss Universe 1964) as Morgan’s love interest Running Deer, Fijian actor Manu Tupou as Chief Yellow Hand, and Dame Judith Anderson’s scenery-chewing turn as Buffalo Cow Head created a mosaic of ethnic ambiguity. Most controversially, Italian-American Iron Eyes Cody – famous for “Keep America Beautiful” PSAs – played the tribe’s medicine man, his career-long masquerade as Native American epitomising the era’s problematic casting practices.

The film’s most infamous sequence – Morgan’s initiation via chest piercings and suspension in the “Sun Vow” ritual – became both narrative linchpin and marketing centrepiece. Despite claims of anthropological accuracy, this ritual was wholly fictionalised, engineered for visceral impact rather than cultural fidelity. Producer Sandy Howard’s decision to foreground this spectacle in promotional materials drew accusations of exploitation from Native activists, particularly the American Indian Movement (AIM), who protested the film’s premiere. The scene’s lingering focus on Harris’s agony (reportedly genuine, with the actor refusing stunt doubles) exemplifies the film’s conflicted ethos – simultaneously critiquing and commodifying Indigenous practices.

A Man Called Horse straddles the line between prestige project and grindhouse fare. Harris’s full-frontal nude scenes (a rarity for A-list stars then) and the Sun Vow’s sadistic imagery catered to the era’s relaxed censorship while advancing the actor’s reinvention as an action-oriented leading man. This physicality foreshadowed his subsequent roles in 1970s, marking a deliberate pivot from the Shakespearean gravitas of his 1960s work.

Silverstein’s direction balances ethnographic detail with operatic flourishes, though production conflicts left their mark. Disputes between Harris (who demanded heroic prominence) and Sioux advisors over historical accuracy created tensions, while reshoots and recuts after poor test screenings resulted in a disjointed final act. The abrupt conclusion – Morgan inexplicably abandoning his hard-won tribal status to return to England – feels narratively unearned, suggesting studio interference to soften the protagonist’s cultural transgression.

Despite flaws, the film’s $6 million gross (substantial for 1970) spawned two sequels: The Return of a Man Called Horse (1976) and Triumphs of a Man Called Horse (1983). While Kevin Costner’s Dances With Wolves (1990) later refined the “white saviour” template with greater sensitivity, Silverstein’s work remains noteworthy for its early challenge to dehumanising Western tropes. The decision to withhold subtitles for Sioux dialogue forced audiences to engage empathetically rather than ethnocentrically – a radical formal choice for mainstream cinema.

Modern viewers must grapple with the film’s dual legacy: a sincere attempt to humanise Sioux culture undercut by sensationalism and cultural appropriation. The Sun Vow’s fictionalised cruelty and Harris’s ultimate narrative dominance perpetuate colonialist frameworks even as the plot ostensibly champions Indigenous values. Yet within these contradictions lies historical value – a time capsule of Hollywood’s awkward transition from mythologising to interrogating America’s frontier past. For better and worse, A Man Called Horse exemplifies the growing pains of 1970s cinematic revisionism, its ambitions outstripping its execution but paving the way for more nuanced treatments of Native American narratives.

RATING: 5/10 (++)

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