After the Civil War Pvt. O'Meara (Rod Steiger), who fought for the Confederacy, heads out West. He falls in with a Sioux scout for the army and is captured by the Sioux. In a "Run of the Arrow" test, he survives and then becomes a member of the tribe. He renounces the US government and tells Blue Buffalo (Charles Bronson), that he is one of them.
The movie explores the bitterness that Southerners had at the end of the war. O'Meara tells Captain Clark (Brian Keith)that they had a right to fight for their rights. Sam Fuller comments on the racial situation in 1957 in the American South when he has Captain Clark say : "Free, white and Christian, huh. Burning crosses, hiding under pillow cases and terrorizing families. Free, white and Christian?" O'Meara replies : "You'll never make the South accept it by jamming it down their throat."
The movie also shows how the US was going to move in to Indian lands with or without the Indians permission. It also has some really good scenes of the Indians' village.
The movie would have been better if it used Indian actors and language. Charles Bronson was not believable at all as Blue Buffalo, he spoke better English than I do. Yellow Moccasin, played by Sara Montiel, had her voice dubbed by Angie Dickinson. The Indians were, however, portrayed in a sympathetic manner.
In the the end, O'Meara tries to get the troops, who are led by a Custer like calvary officer seeking glory, to leave the Sioux lands. When he refuses, the Sioux attack and massacre the troops. When the calvary officer is being tortured O'Meara steps in and shoots him putting him out of his misery. By doing so he shows he is still an American and not a Sioux. At the end he leaves with his Indian wife and adapted son.
The story, although based on a very interesting premise, was just mediocre. Good Indians, bad Indians, good soldiers, bad soldiers. In what may have been a call for racial tolerance, the movie ends with the words written in large red letters "The End Of This Story Can Only Be Written By You."
The Naked Prey (1966) and Apocalypto (2006) both use a plot device similiar to "The Run" and both do it better.
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