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Contents

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I.  Introduction  2

II.  Analysis of the scene  3

A)  Description of the scene  3

B)  Interpretation of the scene  7

  )C Place of the scene within the entire movie  11

III.  Native American life during the post-war period  13

IV.  Robert Aldrich’s Apache - an approval for Native  14

American  assimilation in the Fifties?  

   Appendix

Works  Cited  17

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I. Introduction

“In the Fifties and Sixties, Indians in Hollywood movies were portrayed as primitive miscreants who attack the white Heroes in their corral while yelling out loudly” as Sylvia Englert argues. (171) Massai was in Apache a proud warrior who fought against the Whites and refused to go back into the reservation, because he thought of this life as inappropriate for a warrior. Does Massai consequently fit in the image described by Englert?

Robert Aldrich shot Apache in 1954. At that time, he was somewhat a rebel in Hollywood cinema and depicting his liberal humanist thematic vision in many genres. (Miller VII) Normally, one would expect him to produce a different kind of movie as the one expressed by Englert. Well, Aldrich did, yet his attempt was stopped and altered by his producers. At first, another version with an alternative end was shot, but it never became public. This end exactly fitted Aldrich’s style: the protagonist Massai, played by Burt Lancaster, got shot by the white soldiers after he had fought them furiously. Director Aldrich had to modify it according to the producers’ will. (Aleiss 95-96) In the final version, Massai throws away his rifle when he hears the first scream of his newborn son and calls off the war. So, it is the calling family that prompts him to do so. This paper will thus analyze which role and function the scene has in which Massai meets the Cherokee Indian who lives with his wife on a farm and plants corn. These corn seeds play an important role later in the movie for Massai, for the reason that he starts a living on them. The analysis will consist of looking at the content, the setting, the filming techniques, the background music and other cinematic elements and follow the scheme developed by Mickos (82-83). The whole scene and the dialogue in it circle around the “White Man’s way of life” or an “Indian warrior’s one”. Hence, the paper’s thesis will be that this particular scene (in connection with the end) argues that the Indians have to adapt the American way of life in order to live within the American society at the time when the movie takes place. In order to

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validate it, a deeper look at the historical background is required which is the topic of the next chapter. In it, the major historical developments for the Native American population will be examined and presented, so that they can eventually be linked to the movie. Moreover, the essay will place this scene in the overall plot of Apache and in a last step try to make the interrelation of all findings visible. A final conclusion will draw all results together and summarize them briefly.

II. Analysis of the scene

A) Description

In this scene, which starts at minute 15:52 and goes on until 21:00, Massai intrudes into a wooden barn after he has wandered through rain, cold and snow. It is a closed room into which the viewer looks straight. In the background, you can hear the wind howl. The barn is only slightly illuminated and there is some cattle and chicken in it. There are some agricultural tools hanging on the walls. Massai, still wearing the rest of his handcuffs, is hungry and looks for food until he finds some corncobs, which the Native American starts to eat hurriedly. The Apache is filmed in a medium shot. His clothes are filthy and he has not got shoes on. What’s more, he looks exhausted and his face is dirty as well. While he is chewing down the corncobs, the proprietor, holding a kerosene lamp, enters the barn. Now, the background music sets in. A lot of violins are used and it is scary and intimidating. Due to the poor lighting, the face of the farmer remains invisible. His clothes look typically American; he is wearing jeans, a lumberjack shirt and a dark brown jacket. The farmer is coming to look after his cattle and to feed his cows. Massai meanwhile hides in a dark corner, so that the other man will not notice him. The music is getting even more menacing, as the violins intensify and play faster. The farmer then turns away from the Apache’s hideout and then Massai jumps up and

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floors his opponent. He turns the farmer around and chokes him. Massai is threatening the man with a knife. After that, Massai tries to rip his clothing off in order to wear them himself, as he suddenly realizes that the other man is a Native American as well. He has long, black hair and two plaits. The frightening music stops and Massai ceases to fight his opponent, though he is still threatening the man with his blade. The scene appears in a long shot; only when Massai and the man are brawling, they are shown in a medium shot. The man questions the Apache warrior: “Would you kill a brother?” Massai replies with an own question: “What tribe are you?” The Native American answers that he belongs to the Cherokee Indians. Massai is not satisfied and goes on in posing his next question whether this land is the land of the so-called Cherokee mission. The Cherokee man responds that it is called “Oklahoma Territory” and inquires Massai to which tribe he belongs. As he gets the answer from him, the farmer states that Massai is far away from his home country, but invites him into his home which Massai considers “a White man’s house.” The dialogue in this scene only consists of short, alternating sentences. During the talking, the viewer recognizes the other Native American is an older Indian, because his face has wrinkles. Subsequently, after the invitation, both men enter the house which looks like an average farmer’s home: a table covered with a redwhite checked tablecloth, salt and pepper shaker and another kerosene lamp in the middle, two wooden chairs around it and other items like buckets and small furniture. The windows in the back have drapes with a floral design similar to the wallpapers. The Cherokee stays totally calm and does not accuse Massai for his attack. Massai is still holding his knife. The wife awaits the two inside the cabin and is putting firewood into an oven as the men enter. The Indian woman is wearing a white skirt and a checked shirt. Her outfit, like her spouse’s, is typically American, whereas her headband and her hairstyling look typically Indian.

The two discuss the style of the house in which the couple is living. Massai states for a second time that it is “a White Man’s house”.