Selling the Sympathetic Western: Taste, Independent Production, and the Treatment of Indigenous Peoples in The Indian Fighter (1955).

  • Published In: JCMS: Journal of Cinema & Media Studies, 2025, v. 65, n. 2. P. 12 1 of 3

  • Database: Academic Search Ultimate 2 of 3

  • Authored By: Lampert, Pauline 3 of 3

Abstract

The Indian Fighter (André De Toth, 1955) was the first picture made by Kirk Douglas's independent production company, Bryna Productions, and is one among a series of mid-century westerns that cast Native Americans as sympathetic rebels in the fight against encroaching Anglo-European colonialism. This article examines how Douglas stood to accrue social capital by representing Natives in a sympathetic light and how the realities of independent production conflict with the film's professed higher ideals. I argue that Douglas and others sought to appropriate the rhetorical power of the Native American fight for liberty while ultimately perpetuating a system of economic exploitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Additional Information

  • Source:JCMS: Journal of Cinema & Media Studies. 2025/12, Vol. 65, Issue 2, p12
  • Document Type:Literary Criticism
  • Subject Area:Social Sciences and Humanities
  • Publication Date:2025
  • ISSN:2578-4900
  • Accession Number:191434102
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