Iron Eyes Cody Movies
While maintaining his whole life that he was part Cree and part Cherokee, actor Iron Eyes Cody was in fact born Espera DeCorti, a second generation Italian-American. He started out as a Wild-West-show performer, like his father before him. His earliest recognizable film appearances date back to 1919's Back to God's Country. While his choice of film roles was rather limited in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, Cody made himself a valuable Hollywood commodity by offering his services as a technical advisor on Indian lore, customs, costuming and sign language. In between his TV work and personal appearances with the Ringling Bros. Circus and other such touring concerns, Iron Eyes continued accepting supporting roles in Hollywood westerns of the 1950s; he played Chief Crazy Horse twice, in Sitting Bull (1954) and The Great Sioux Massacre (1965). Far more erudite and well-read than most of his screen characters, Iron Eyes has in recent years become a popular interview subject and a fixture at western-movie conventions and film festivals. His famous appearance as the tear-shedding Indian in the "Keep America Beautiful" TV campaign of the 1970s recently enjoyed a "revival" on cable television. In 1982, Cody wrote his enjoyably candid autobiography, in which several high-profile movie stars were given the "emperor has no clothes" treatment. As well as being an actor, Cody owns an enormous collection of Indian artifacts, costumes, books and artwork; has written several books with Indian themes; is a member of the board of directors of the Los Angeles Indian Center, the Southwest Museum and the Los Angeles Library Association; is vice-president of the Little Big Horn Indian Association; is a member of the Verdugo Council of the Boy Scouts of America; and has participated as Grand Marshal of Native American pow-wows throughout the U.S. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Making great fun of the '70s, this lively sci-fi comedy centers on a trio of time travellers who go into the past in hopes of retrieving the Constitution to celebrate America's 300th birthday. Unfortunately, the travelers end up in 1976 not 1776. The trouble is, they don't realize it. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Cassidy, Olivia D'Abo, (more)
Ernest (Jim Varney) gets a job as a fix-it man at a summer camp for troubled boys, but what he really wants to be is a counselor. This juvenile comedy, filled with potty humor and slapstick, chronicles his campaign to get a promotion. A consummate bungler, he ends up causing all kinds of comical chaos. Fortunately, he also ends up helping many of the campers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jim Varney, Victoria Racimo, (more)
- 1986
This week, the A-Team shows up at the Mission of Peace, a historic Texas tourist attraction maintained by a group of feisty senior citizens. The oldsters are being forced off the Mission by a greedy rancher named Ashton (Ric Mancini), compelling the unofficial head of the seniors, a guy named Rudy (David White), to ask for the Team's assistance. The plot thickens when Rudy turns out to have a secret--and that the "legend" of the Mission of Peace may be just a lot of hot air. As for the Team's perennial nemesis Gen. Fullbright (Jack Ging), he takes an unexpected trip to Australia--by crate! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
- PG
Grayeagle is a barely disguised reworking of John Ford's The Searchers, with Ford stock company alumnus Ben Johnson essaying the John Wayne role, and Lana Wood playing a character not unlike the one portrayed by her sister Natalie in the earlier film. The major difference is that Grayeagle is told largely from the Indians' point of view. Johnson plays John Colter, who devotes his life to tracking down Cheyenne brave Grayeagle (Alex Cord), the kidnapper of his daughter Beth (Lana Wood). One of the new plot wrinkles is the revelation that Cheyenne Chief Running Wolf (Paul Fix), and not Colter, is Beth's real father, so who's rescuing whom from what? Other veteran performers participating in Grayeagle are Jack Elam and Iron Eyes Cody, while producer-director-writer Charles Pierce also shows up in a small role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Johnson, Iron Eyes Cody, (more)
The Longest Drive is the syndication title for the network TV movie The Quest, which first aired May 13, 1976. Evidently inspired by John Ford's The Searchers, this western concerns the search by two brothers, Quentin and Morgan Baudine (Tim Matheson, Kurt Russell), for their sister, who as an infant was kidnaped by Indians. Morgan himself had spent time as an "adopted" Cheyenne tribesman; his Indian name was, appropriately enough, Two Persons. Breaking up the main storyline is a subplot involving desert rat Brian Keith and a race between a horse and a camel! Written by Tracy Keenan Wynn (Tribes), The Longest Drive served as the pilot for the subsequent Quest weekly series, which ran from September 22 to December 29, 1976. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1971
Steve Ihnat guest-stars as a self-proclaimed journalist named Gans, who shows up with his entourage in Virginia City to cover the signing of a treaty between the Paiute Indians and the Army. In truth, however, the rabidly racist Gans plans to kill everyone at the ceremony with his Gatling Gun. It is up to Joe Cartwright to rescue one and all from Gans and his fanatical followers-and he has less than one hour to do so. Written and directed by series star Michael Landon, "Terror at 2:00" originally aired on March 7, 1971. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, (more)
- 1970
Charley (Dan Blocker) is the kindly but simple-minded blacksmith who sends a year's earnings back East for a mail-order bride. When he and the town turn out for the woman's arrival at the train station, he is embarrassed when she never appears. The saddened giant plans to leave town. The townspeople recruit the new saloon-girl Sadie (Nanette Fabray) to pose as the bride-to-be so the residents will retain the services of the blacksmith. Jim Backus is the sheriff who runs for mayor. Wally Cox plays Mr. Bester, the henpecked husband of his harridan wife (Marge Champion). Mickey Rooney, Stubby Kaye, Iron Eyes Cody and Jack Cassidy also appear in this western comedy. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dan Blocker, Nanette Fabray, (more)
- 1970
- R
Jim Brown and Lee Van Cleef team up for this western set on the Mexican border. Brown is Luke, who escapes from a chain gang after learning that a fortune in gold is hidden in the Mexican fortress of El Condor. He joins up with the snake-eyed crook Jaroo (Lee Van Cleef) and together they round up a tribe of Apaches, headed by Santana (Iron Eyes Cody), to attack the fort -- convincing the Indian renegades that the fort houses food and guns greatly needed by the Apaches. During their first crack at taking the fort, Luke and Jaroo are captured by the fort's commandant, Chavez (Patrick O'Neal). Claudine (Marianna Hall), the wife of the commandant, falls in love with Luke and she aids them in their escape from the fort. Later on, she is instrumental in getting Luke and Jaroo's band into the fort -- diverting the gaze of the fort's defenders by disrobing in front of a well-lit bedroom window. Chavez escapes, but Santana is shot by Jaroo after discovering that Jaroo deceived him. With Santana shot, the Apaches leave the fort, carrying the food and ammunition. Now the only ones left to defend the defenseless fort are Luke, Claudine, and Jaroo. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Florencio Amarilla, Per Barclay, (more)
A Man Called Horse stars Richard Harris as Lord John Morgan, an English peer cast somewhat adrift in the American West. Captured by Sioux Indians, Lord Morgan is at first targeted for quick extinction, but the tribesmen sense that he is worthy of survival. The Englishman passes many of the necessary tests that will permit him to become a member of the tribe, the most grueling of which (and the one used most extensively in the film's advertising) is the Sun Vow Initiation. That's where his lordship is hung from the roof of a huge teepee with hooks through his pectoral muscles. Much of the dialogue is spoken in the Sioux language, though the film's much-vaunted "historical accuracy" is not altogether consistent, as witness the casting of British stage luminary Judith Anderson as Sioux woman Buffalo Cow Head. A Man Called Horse spawned warrant two sequels. Originally rated "GP" in 1970, it has since been re-rated R by the MPAA. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Harris, Judith Anderson, (more)
- 1968
Dan Blocker made his first non-Bonanza appearance in nine years in the 1968 TV movie Something for a Lonely Man. Blocker plays a blacksmith, John Killibrew, who leads several Easterners to a boomtown in the High Sierras -- only to discover that the town is slated for extinction because the railroad has decided to bypass the community. Now the laughing stock of his comrades, Killibrew determines to save the town by turning it into an industrial center. To do this, he "borrows" a derailed steam engine from the railroad and drags it into town. When things look the darkest for Killibrew, he takes comfort in the works of Ralph Waldo Emerson -- and the affections of pretty Mary Duren (Susan Clark). Widely regarded in 1968 as one of the best TV movies to date, Something for a Lonely Man retains its low-key appeal a quarter of a century later. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1968
Ben Cartwright hires a new horse trainer named Will Holt (Michael Murphy), who brings with him an Indian bride named Moon (Dawn Wells, fresh from her stint on Gilligan's Island). When the neighbors express vicious bigotry towards the interracial couple, the Cartwrights try to smooth over the problem. Meanwhile, Moon forms a strong bond with little Bridger Green (Bobby Riha), himself a victim of persecution at the hands of his cruel stepfather Aaron Gore (played by Victor French, long before he and Bonanza star Michael Landon appeared together in Little House on the Prairie and Highway to Heaven). Written by William H. Wright and Carol Saraceno, "The Burning Sky" was originally telecast on January 28, 1968. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, (more)
- 1968
The must-be-seen-to-be-believed Fastest Guitar Alive offers singer Roy Orbison in his one and only movie starring role. Orbison plays Johnny Banner, a Confederate Spy who keeps a rifle hidden in his guitar. While on an espionage mission with partner Steve (Sammy Jackson), Johnny discovers that the war is over, and that now he and Steve are considered outlaws. Their many subsequent adventures include their involvement with dance-hall gals Flo (Maggie Pierce, co-star of the infamous TVer My Mother the Car) and Sue (Joan Freeman). Indicative of the general tone of seriousness in this film is the presence of veteran comedian Ben Lessy as a most urban-looking Indian. Though silly in the extreme, Fastest Guitar Alive is at least superficially better than most of the youth-oriented Sam Katzman productions of the period. And besides, you wouldn't want to pass up an opportunity to see Roy Orbison in his performing prime. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roy Orbison, Sammy Jackson, (more)
- 1965
The Great Sioux Massacre is an entertaining pack of lies about Custer's Last Stand. General Custer (Philip Carey) is herein depicted as a bastion of tolerance, whose efforts to secure fair treatment for the Indians lead to several confrontations with corrupt government officials. Custer is forced to retire, but is soon approached by a machiavellian senator (Don Haggerty) who convinces the General that he is presidential material. The best way to attain the White House, Custer reasons, is to wrest control of the upcoming Little Big Horn campaign from the officer in charge (Frank Ferguson). This, alas, proves to be "Yellow Hair's" undoing. The Great Sioux Massacre costars Joseph Cotten and Darren McGavin as Custer's fellow officers Reno and Benton. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joseph Cotten, Darren McGavin, (more)
- 1965
Approaching a ghost town in answer to a job offer, Jason McCord (Chuck Connors) finds he has walked into a trap. The only residents of the town are religious fanatic Joshua Murdock (John Dehner) and his deranged sons Micah (Paul Brent) and Malachi (a pre-Dallas Jim Davis). Convinced that McCord's "cowardice" at Bitter Creek has caused the town's ruin, Murdock prepares to exact a revenge of Biblical proportions. Featured as Grey Eagle is prolific Native American actor Iron Eyes Cody, best remembered as the "weeping Indian" in a famous series of anti-littering public service announcements. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1965
Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) receives a frantic call from Joe Cloud (Alejandro Rey), an Apache Indian who served under Erskine in Korea. Having returned to his reservation to find a man trying to rape his wife, Cloud has killed the attacker and taken it on the lam. Since the murder occurred on Federal property, Erskine has no choice but to hunt down and capture Cloud--all the while taking extraordinary precautions to make certain that the fugitive does no further harm, either to others or himself. Robert Blake makes his first of several F.B.I. guest appearances as Joe Cloud's brother Pete. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1963
A group of wildcatting oil drillers battle an Oklahoma oil baron for the rights of a potentially high yield field. The roughnecks fight on the job and in the saloons while hoping for the big gusher that will make them all rich. A catastrophic accident threatens to wipe out the hard work of the speculators. Their progress is monitored by the local oil magnate who waits for the right time to step in and take credit for the potentially big discovery. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Philip Carey, Diane McBain, (more)
The talents of the cast and director George Cukor (A Star Is Born, My Fair Lady), combine to bring off this otherwise routine Western based on a Louis L'Amour novel. Sophia Loren is Angela Rossini, a woman who seems to create the situations she gets into, and Anthony Quinn is the strong, silent but soft-hearted Tom Healy. Rather than playing it straight, Cukor opts for satire and effective comedy in taking "The Great Healy Dramatic and Concert Co.," with its two-wagon loads of thespians and their gear, and turning it into a fun romp. As the troupe carries on with their performances heading through Wyoming, they are fighting for their economic survival and, as often as not, running like the devil from the law. There is a likeable villain in the piece, Mabry (Steve Forrest), a zany woman who has "sacrificed" her own dubious stage career for that of her daughter (Eileen Heckart), a so-called Shakespearean actor (Edmund Love), a banker with menacing undertones (Ramon Novarro), and a really hysterical Indian attack. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sophia Loren, Anthony Quinn, (more)
- 1959
This is Maverick's celebrated spoof of Gunsmoke, emulating its more serious "role model" right down to the pre-credits showdown--with Bret Maverick (James Garner) at the wrong end of the six-shooter. The story is narrated by Marshal Mort Dooley (Ben Gage), who in is never-ending efforts to keep the peace in the Kansas town of Elwood--and to protect his 37 1/2-percent ownership of the Weeping Willow Saloon--vows to rid the town of all its disreputable characters. Innocently falling into this category is our man Bret, who has arrived in Elwood in search of a buried Confederate treasure. Thoughout the proceedings, Bret proves to bit a bit too clever for the dogged Dooley, but somehow the Marshal manages to emerge triumphant as a Legend In His Own Mind. Among the episode's many highlights are the performances of Walker Edmiston as the "Chester" clone and Kathleen O'Malley as the "Kitty" counterpart--who repeatedly utters her one-and-only line, "Be careful, Mort." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1959
Bob Hope plays a 19th-century insurance agent whose miserable sales record prompts his boss to send him out West, where he can (supposedly) do little harm. Hope manages to sell a $100,000 life insurance policy--to outlaw Jesse James (Wendell Corey), one of the worst "risks" in history! In his efforts to get the policy back, Hope finds himself being mistaken for Jesse, which is all part of the outlaw's plan to get Hope killed and thereby collect the policy money himself. But with the help of beauteous Rhonda Fleming (the essentially honest beneficiary to Jesse's policy), Hope gains a reputation as a lightning-fast gunslinger. In the inevitable shoot-out with the James gang, Hope is helped out by several famous Westerners, including Gary Cooper, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, James "Maverick" Garner, and even Tonto (Jay Silverheels). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Hope, Rhonda Fleming, (more)
- 1958
Mark Stevens doubles as star and director of the compact western Gun Fever. Lucas (Stevens) and his partner Simon (John Lupton) set about to capture the renegade white man who caused the deaths of Lucas' parents in an Indian raid. The villain turns out to be Simon's own father Trench (Aaron Saxon), setting the stage for reams of quasi-Freudian dialogue. Larry Storch does a nice semicomic turn as a laconic Mexican, while Jana Davi supplies the love interest. The European prints of Gun Fever were augmented with several steamy sex scenes, with Jana Davi displaying far more than her acting skills. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Stevens, John Lupton, (more)
- 1958
In this 4th episode of Walt Disney's six-part miniseries The Saga of Andy Burnett, Andy (Jerome Courtland) and the Mountain Men have struck out for the New Mexico outpost of Taos. While making their way through the unmapped Rocky Mountains, Andy and his pals Joe (Jeff York), Jack (Andrew Duggan) and Old Bill (Slim Pickens) decide to do a little fur-trapping. Alas, before long the foursome have been captured by the Snake Indians. "Land of Enemies" originally aired on the Disneyland anthology series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1958
In the final episode of Walt Disney's six-part miniseries The Saga of Andy Burnett, Andy (Jerome Courtland and his friends are still the "guests" of Kiasak (Abel Fernandez), Chief of the Blackfeet Indians. Kiasak like Andy, but refuses to let him go until he has competed in a series of grueling tests. Meanwhile, jealous medicine man Mad Wolf (Iron Eyes Cody) hopes to use the upcoming tribal council to kill off the white men, topple Kiasak from power, and become Chief himself. "The Big Council" originally aired on the Disneyland anthology series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1958
In the fifth episode of Walt Disney's six-part miniseries The Saga of Andy Burnett, Andy (Jerome Courtland and his fellow Mountain Men have been captured by the Blackfeet Indians. Through careful manipulation of his telescope, Andy convinces his captors that he is a friend of the Sun God. Chief Kiasak (Abel Fernandez) agrees to spare the lives of Andy his pals--but they're not out of the woods yet, thanks to jealous medicine man Mad Wolf (Iron Eyes Cody). "The White Man's Medicine" originally aired on the Disneyland anthology series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1957
Having inherited a huge cattle ranch from his late father, Will Keough (Fred MacMurray) wants nothing more than to tend to his work and live in peace, but this is made impossible by the tense situation in his own household. Will's two younger brothers, Bless (Jeffrey Hunter) and Hade (Dean Stockwell), are as different as night and day: Convinced that he was responsible for the death of his father, Bless refuses to use a gun, and is thus branded a coward; conversely, Hade is wild and reckless, literally an accident waiting to happen. Exacerbating the situation is the brothers' grim and merciless mother (Josephine Hutchinson), who has instilled most of Bless' guilt feelings, and Will's sweetheart Aud Niven (Janice Rule), who finds herself drawn to the sensitive Bless. Ultimately, there will have to be a showdown...but who among the Keogh siblings will survive? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred MacMurray, Jeffrey Hunter, (more)
- 1956
The fraternal filmmaking team of produced Sigmund Neufeld and director Sam Newfield once again joined forces on The Wild Dakotas. Made some two years after the "official" demise of the "B" western, the film attempts to revive the genre with a new cowboy star, one Will Williams. In keeping with the "adult western" trend of the period, the so-called hero, a wagonmaster, is something of a psychotic. He attempts to foment a war between the settlers and the local Indian tribe. A surprise is in store for the wagonmaster-and the audience. The veteran cast includes Coleen Gray, Jim Davis, John Litel, John Miljan and the indestructible Iron Eyes Cody. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
