Tonight's Movie: Tomahawk (1951) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

The Universal Pictures Western TOMAHAWK (1951) was recently released on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber.

TOMAHAWK is a very likeable Western which I first saw back in 2011. It features a strong cast in a somewhat different film; the movie doesn't have conventional romantic leads, and it also notably treats Indians with respect, following the trend of the previous year's BROKEN ARROW (1950) .

Van Heflin plays Jim Bridger, a scout attempting to resolve a land dispute between the U.S. Cavalry and the Sioux, led by Chief Red Cloud (John War Eagle).

Yvonne De Carlo and Jack Oakie play entertainers who find themselves in the middle of the conflict, taking refuge at a fort commanded by Colonel Carrington (Preston Foster).

Carrington and his wife (Ann Doran) are good people who are kind to Bridger's orphaned young Indian sister-in-law (Susan Cabot), but unfortunately there are Cavalry members, led by Lt. Dancy (Alex Nicol), who have nothing but hatred for Indians and consistently stir up trouble.

TOMAHAWK vaguely reminds me of CANYON PASSAGE (1946) in that it paints a portrait of an entire community against a beautiful setting. There is much pleasure to be found from both the cast and the superb Technicolor location photography by Charles P. Boyle. A majority of the film was shot outdoors in South Dakota.

My only real criticism is that at just 82 minutes the film could have been longer to provide greater character depth; De Carlo, in particular, is excellent and deserved a more fleshed-out role. I'm generally a fan of shorter movies, but this film really could have stood another five or ten minutes to develop people and relationships.

Alex Nicol, in particular, tends to play similar unpleasant characters from movie to movie, though he went much deeper as a disturbed man in the Anthony Mann Western THE MAN FROM LARAMIE (1955). The TOMAHAWK script by Silvia Richards and Maurice Geraghty, from a story by Daniel Jarrett, is solid but this is a good example of where a beefier script might have made Nicol's character more interesting instead of a one-note Indian hater.

Heflin is outstanding as the mountain man at the center of the conflict; he loves his country but he also has great love for the Indian way of life. The cast is filled with strong performers, including character greats like Tom Tully and Arthur Space. Rock Hudson also shows up briefly.

Script quibbles aside, TOMAHAWK is quite a solid and enjoyable film, energetically directed by George Sherman. The Technicolor cinematography is lovely and shown off to great effect on Kino Lorber's excellent Blu-ray.

Blu-ray extras include the trailer; a gallery of trailers for five additional films available from Kino Lorber; and a commentary track by Lee Gambin.

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.

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