Run of the Arrow

Run of the Arrow is a 1957 western film written, directed and produced by Samuel Fuller and starring Rod Steiger, Sara Montiel, Brian Keith, Ralph Meeker, Jay C. Flippen and a young Charles Bronson. Set at the end of the American Civil War, the movie was filmed in Technicolor.

Run of the Arrow
Directed bySamuel Fuller
Produced bySamuel Fuller
Written bySamuel Fuller
StarringRod Steiger
Sara Montiel
Brian Keith
Charles Bronson
Music byVictor Young
CinematographyJoseph Biroc
Edited byGene Fowler Jr.
Production
company
RKO Radio Pictures
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
  • July 25, 1957 (1957-07-25) (Premiere-Los Angeles)[1]
Running time
86 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

Confederate veteran O'Meara (Steiger) refuses to accept defeat following the surrender of General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox. He renounces his family and the United States, travels west and joins the Native American Sioux tribe, and takes a wife (Sara Montiel).

When the US Army builds a fort on Sioux lands and fighting breaks out between the Army and the Sioux, O'Meara must make a difficult decision.

Production notes

Run of the Arrow was one of the first films to use blood squibs to simulate realistic bullet impacts. The movie was filmed at Snow Canyon and Pine Valley Lake in St. George, Utah which is far from actual Sioux territory.[2]

Originally produced by RKO Radio Pictures, the studio ended its distribution activities before the movie was released. Universal Pictures handled the distribution.

Sara Montiel's voice is dubbed by Angie Dickinson.

At the time of its release, critics commented favorably on director Samuel Fuller's decision to concentrate on feet in the "run of the arrow" scene rather than showing the actors in full. Fuller later explained that Steiger had badly sprained his ankle just before the scene was to be shot and was unable to walk, so he had one of the Indian extras run in Steiger's place.

The movie is currently available through the Warner Archive Collection.

After Dances With Wolves was released in 1990, several knowledgeable critics, including Jeremy Arnold in the Los Angeles Times and Angela Aleiss in her essay for the Library of Congress' National Film Registry, noted that the plot was almost identical to this picture.

References
  1. "Run of the Arrow: Detail View". American Film Institute. Retrieved June 2, 2014.
  2. D'Arc, James V. (2010). When Hollywood came to town: a history of moviemaking in Utah (1st ed.). Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith. ISBN 9781423605874.
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