This western concerning a conflict during the war of 1812 is enjoyable for the story, but not exactly a great history lesson. It's also black and white as far as the bad and good characters are concerned, resulting in pure evil vs. Pure goodness, sinister men against completely noble men, both the white man and the natives presented in this manner. It also indicates that even the good white men felt that the native tribes could only prevail if they adapted to the white way of living.
Ruggedly handsome Jon Hall considers Shawnee native Tecumseh (Jay Silverheels, a real life native of Canadian origin) to be his brother, and would like nothing more than peace from the Shawnee tribe. But he finds resistance in Tecumseh's real brother, Tenskwatawa (Michael Ansara) who objects to peace between white men and the Indians. This causes Ansara to be ejected by his own tribe, increasing hostilities and having brothers on opposite sides, with Ansara joining forces with the British and Silverheels along side Hall.
Then there's the fact that Tecumseh loves a white woman, Christine Larson, who hopes to marry Hall. The nobleness of Silverheels makes him too good to be true, and in real life, was not on the white man's side. So it's a mixture of 90% fiction and 10% basic facts, and has to be viewed through the lense of movie makers messing with history simply for story telling purposes. I wouldn't be showing this in a class on American history without that warning, and would follow it up with a discussion of what was truthfully told and what was a tall tale.
Ruggedly handsome Jon Hall considers Shawnee native Tecumseh (Jay Silverheels, a real life native of Canadian origin) to be his brother, and would like nothing more than peace from the Shawnee tribe. But he finds resistance in Tecumseh's real brother, Tenskwatawa (Michael Ansara) who objects to peace between white men and the Indians. This causes Ansara to be ejected by his own tribe, increasing hostilities and having brothers on opposite sides, with Ansara joining forces with the British and Silverheels along side Hall.
Then there's the fact that Tecumseh loves a white woman, Christine Larson, who hopes to marry Hall. The nobleness of Silverheels makes him too good to be true, and in real life, was not on the white man's side. So it's a mixture of 90% fiction and 10% basic facts, and has to be viewed through the lense of movie makers messing with history simply for story telling purposes. I wouldn't be showing this in a class on American history without that warning, and would follow it up with a discussion of what was truthfully told and what was a tall tale.