Broken Arrow in 35mm

Broken Arrow in 35mm

A master of the genre, director Delmer Daves crafted a sweeping drama centering on the plight of Native Americans under Manifest Destiny’s shadow. Considered one of the first post–World War II Westerns to take a decidedly sympathetic portrayal of this land’s Indigenous people, the film follows Tom Jeffords (James Stewart) as he is pulled into the Apache Wars and finds himself joining the tribe’s fight against the encroaching advances of the United States Army. Nominated for its screenplay, cinematography, and Jeff Chandler’s supporting performance, Daves’s work not only raises critiques of the legacy of American imperialism but also reexamines coexistence over conquest of the landscape.

DIRECTED BY: Delmer Daves. WRITTEN BY: Albert Maltz. WITH: James Stewart, Jeff Chandler, Debra Paget, Basil Ruysdael. 1950. 93 min. USA. Technicolor. English. 35mm.

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