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The Squaw and the Man
(1910) United States of America
B&W : One reel
Directed by Frank Beal
Cast: Margarita Fischer [the squaw], Harry A. Pollard, George Periolat, Randolph Grey
American Film Manufacturing Company production; distributed by Motion Picture Distributing & Sales Company. / Released [?] 29 December 1910 or 2 January 1911? / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format.
Drama: Western.
Synopsis: [?] [From The Moving Picture World]? A young soldier shields his brother’s honor by assuming the guilt of a forgery. He is deprived of his rank and drummed out of the service of the army. Shunned by his family and his friends, he leaves his mother and his sweetheart and goes West. On a ranch in New Mexico, he succeeds in losing his identity. One day he discovers an Indian maiden lying prone, near a clump of prairie brush, while the pony which threw her is grazing nearby. The ex-soldier lifts the girl to the horse and takes her back to her people. The girl is the daughter of the Chief of the tribe and he desirous of having her marry a dried up old medicine man, and in order to force an issue to his wish, he places her under guard. The ex-soldier overpowers the guard and rescues the girl. They are married and after a year a baby is born. Six years pass, six years of joy for the squaw and the man, and then comes a message from the East. The perfidity (sic) of the brother has been discovered and the mother and sweetheart are coming West to recover their lost boy and to make amends. The squaw and the child awaken him to his duty in the West and it is with foreboding that he receives his mother and the Eastern girl. The mother offers to take the child back East to educate him and the ex-soldier consents without consulting his squaw wife. The shock of losing her baby is too great for the Indian girl and feeling that she is a barrier between the white man and his happiness, she kills herself. The man finds her lying as he first saw her, and gathering her in his arms, he croons over her with his heart broken.
Reviews: [The Moving Picture World, 14 January 1911, page ?] A Western drama presenting some new and interesting features of life in that section of the country and affording opportunity for some lively work on the part of the actors. The story is well told, presenting the characteristics of Indians clearly and developing some interesting situations as it proceeds. It is the story of a man and woman, told in a new way and with a different setting, a story as old as life and equally as incomprehensible and difficult.
Survival status: (unknown)
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Keywords: Native Americans
Listing updated: 3 June 2024.
References: Lyons-American p. 217 : Website-AFI; Website-IMDb.
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