Winchester '73 (1950), Wonder Woman (2017), Harry and Tonto (1974), Bend of the River (1952), Dinosaur 13 (2014), The Harvey Girls (1946), Drums Along the Mohawk (1939), Jim Thorpe, All American (1951) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best American Indian movies.
Storyline: Gene Autry attempts to arrange that both the Indians and ranchers, scheduled to be driven from their land by Mesa City's mew aqueduct, benefit from the deal, which is opposed by town banker Mason. Mason stirs up the Indians against Gene but, with help from school teacher Carol, Gene is able to expose Mason's schemes.—Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net>
Plot Keywords: loan, foreclosure, stampede, indian reservation, government official, construction site, sabotage ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Jim Slater's father (whom he never knew) died in the Apache ambush at Gila Valley, and Jim is searching for the one survivor, who supposedly went for help but disappeared with a lot of gold. In the process, he gets several people gunning for him, and he keeps meeting liberated woman Karyl Orton, who may be on a similar mission. Renewed Apache hostilities and an impending range war provide complications.—Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu>
Plot Keywords: based on novel, based on book, revenge, 1870s, arizona, u.s. cavalry, apache indian ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: A family saga: In a stunning mountain valley ranch setting near Aspen, complex and dangerous family dynamics play out against the backdrop of the first big snowstorm of winter and an enormous panther with seemingly mythical qualities which is killing cattle. An arrogant, pitiless son (Robert Mitchum) and a rigid pharisaic mother side against a moral eldest son and and a defeated alcoholic father while the youngest son tries to lay low, hoping against hope to persuade his family to allow him to marry a girl he has brought to visit. The girl however draws venomous condemnation and the two elder brothers set out in the midst of a violent snowstorm on a dangerous mission to kill the deadly panther.—Jasha
Plot Keywords: 19th century, remake, based on novel, father in law daughter in law relationship, mother in law daughter in law relationship, american indian, title same as book ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: In the 1930s, an elderly Tonto tells a young boy the tale of John Reid, the Lone Ranger. An idealistic lawyer, he rides with his brother and fellow Texas Rangers in pursuit of the notorious Butch Cavendish. Ambushed by the outlaw and left for dead, John Reid is rescued by the renegade Comanche, Tonto, at the insistence of a mysterious white horse and offers to help him to bring Cavendish to justice. Becoming a reluctant masked rider with a seemingly incomprehensible partner, Reid pursues the criminal against all obstacles. However, John and Tonto learn that Cavendish is only part of a far greater injustice and the pair must fight it in an adventure that would make them a legend.
Plot Keywords: texas ranger, wild west, old west, told in flashback, brothel, wooden leg, based on tv series ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: It's 1876 and all the Indians are at peace except the Comanches lead by Black Cloud. When Black Cloud wipes out a town, only six soldiers are left and they head for the nearest fort. In the desert they are reinforced by members of a stagecoach and find some water at a deserted mission. Pinned down by Black Cloud they send an Indian boy who was Black Cloud's prisoner on to the fort while they try to bargain with Black Cloud whom they learn is without water.—Maurice VanAuken <mvanauken@a1access.net>
Plot Keywords: native american, carbine, dynamite, survivor, 1870s, american indian, native american attack ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Gunfighter Lorn Warfield returns home after an absence of three years. Lorn finds his ranch in ruin. His neighbor, Owen Forbes, informs Lorn that his ranch was raided by the Apaches who kidnapped his wife and two children. Lorn decides to find the Apache camp and rescue his wife and daughters. His neighbor, Owen, also joins Lorn in his quest. The two men don't get along because Owen courted Lorn's wife in Lorn's absence. Angie consented to Owen's courtship only because she believed her husband Lorn to be dead. Despite the tension between Lorn and Owen the two men are determined to find Angie and her daughters. Things get really hard when Lorn and Owen run into Mexican bandits, army deserters and Apaches.—nufs68
Plot Keywords: quest, gunfight, shootout, american indian, rescue, buddy, sergeant ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: The Yosemite Valley Railroad, which runs through the breathtaking scenery and stunning vistas of the Merced River Canyon to its terminus at El Portal outside Yosemite National Park, is on the brink of failure. The grandson of a Chinese railroad laborer embarks on a romantic, but ultimately doomed, quest to save this railroad from being sold for scrap. His love of trains finds him working as a railroad-man, instead of at his father's profitable business. He manages to locate a wealthy eccentric investor to help him acquire the railroad, but its financial inviability makes this a quixotic reprieve, at best. The film also portrays the anti-Asian racism present in America at the conclusion of World War II.—Tad Dibbern <DIBBERN_D@a1.mscf.upenn.edu>
Plot Keywords: immigrant, ice cream truck, heart condition, grandfather grandson relationship, french, flowers, flask ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Certain Women drops us into a handful of intersecting lives across Montana. A lawyer (Laura Dern) tries to defuse a hostage situation and calm her disgruntled client (Jared Harris), who feels slighted by a workers' compensation settlement. A married couple (Michelle Williams and James Le Gros) breaks ground on a new home but exposes marital fissures when they try to persuade an elderly man to sell his stockpile of sandstone. A ranch hand (Lily Gladstone) forms an attachment to a young lawyer (Kristen Stewart), who inadvertently finds herself teaching a twice-weekly adult education class, four hours from her home.
Plot Keywords: triple f rated, female nudity, lesbian, lawyer client relationship, bare breasts, f rated, reference to the vietnam war ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Based on true events, Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here, tells the story of one of the last Western manhunts, in 1909. Willie Boy, a Native American, kills his girlfriend's father in self defense, and the two go on the run, pursued by a search posse led by Sheriff Christopher Cooper.—Jon Hertzberg <jahertzb@students.wisc.edu>
Plot Keywords: on the run, forest fire, pool cue, whiskey, native american reservation, girl, gunshot wound ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Western sheriff Bob Wells is preparing to marry Sally Morgan; she loves part-Indian Wanenis, whose race is an obstacle. Sally flees the wedding with hypochondriac Henry Williams, who thinks he's just giving her a ride; but she left a note saying they've eloped! Chasing them are jilted Bob, Henry's nurse Mary (who's been trying to seduce him) and others.—Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu>
Plot Keywords: screwball comedy, reprisal, retribution, held at gunpoint, modern west, gunfire, sheriff ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Libby Day is a lifeless woman who survived the massacre of her family in their farmhouse in the countryside of Kansas when she was eight. She's been living on donations and lectures ever since. Thirty years ago, the police believed that a satanic cult was responsible for the murder of her mother and two sisters, and her brother Ben was convicted with her testimony in court. Today, however, an acquaintance, Lyle Wirth, invites Libby to visit "The Kill Club", where amateurs investigate famous crimes, and she finds that they believe Ben is innocent. Libby needs money and, in return, accepts to revisit the slaughter of her family and comes up to the painful revelations and the ultimate truth.
Plot Keywords: private investigator, murder of family, farm, nonlinear timeline, rural setting, satanist, flashback ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: In Wyoming Territory, army Major Ives and his men are building a temporary camp. The civilian surveyor, Mr. Keats is making preparations for the construction of a large permanent fort. However, the future fort is being erected on Cheyenne lands, in defiance of the treaty. Adam Reed is a self employed scout with friendly ties to the Cheyenne. Upset about the construction of the new fort on their lands, the Cheyenne ask scout Reed to contact Major Ives and deliver their message of grievance to him. The symbolic message consists of a yellow tomahawk as a warning against the building of a new fort in the area. Reed delivers the warning message to Major Ives but he is not taken serious. Major Ives lectures Reed about the need of bringing civilization to the lands that otherwise would go to waste under the savages. Reed retorts that Major Ives' only duty is to escort wagon trains of settlers passing through Cheyenne territory rather than build new forts in violation of the treaty. Reed also mentions the fact that Major Ives has a bad reputation with the Cheyenne who call him 'the Butcher' because of past massacres committed against Indians. Major Ives refuses to heed Reed's warnings, calls Reed a traitor and orders him to remain in the army camp to prevent him from returning to the Cheyenne. Reed obeys but warns everyone in the camp of a major Cheyenne attack. Major Ives orders the hurried construction of a reinforced defensive compound. Also in the camp are the families of the soldiers, a Mexican scout and his Indian squaw, the fiancee of one of the officers and a gold prospector who just happened to arrive there. Major Ives' determination to stay and defy the Cheyenne is not all due to his patriotism and courage. The Major also hides a terrible personal secret.—nufs68
Plot Keywords: deception, greed, battle, bow, friendship, 1800s, revenge ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: In 1876, Dawson wants to prevent a train from getting to Tomahawk, Colorado on time, to keep it from competing with his stagecoach line. Kit, who must get the train to its goal, forces Johnny aboard as the needed passenger. Madame Adelaide's showgirls (including Marilyn as Clara) ride along and, en route to Tomahawk, join Johnny in "Oh, What a Forward Young Man You Are".—Ed Stephan <stephan@cc.wwu.edu>
Plot Keywords: railway, train engineer, train conductor, grandfather, fireworks, knocked unconscious, dynamite ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: A posse of nine and Sheriff Bill Cummings set out after a renegade named Apache Jack, who has murdered the wife of Lopez, one of the posse members. The others are Rayburn, Chic Lyman, Billy Sweet, Bob Mulford, Curley Tom, Eaton, Garth and an old prospector named Cluff. Apache Jack leads them into Indian country where they come across an oasis in a gully wash. They not only find water but also a natural of vein of silver. Sheriff Cummings prevents any of them from returning to town to file a mining claim. The next morning, Eaton is missing and all of the horses are gone. Then Cluff is killed in an ambush. The posse is trapped by an unseen enemy.—Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net>
Plot Keywords: 1870s, thirst, u.s. army, remake, american indian, smoke signal, trap ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: When the government opens up the Oklahoma territory for settlement, restless Yancey Cravat claims a plot of the free land for himself and moves his family there from Wichita. A newspaperman, lawyer, and just about everything else, Cravat soon becomes a leading citizen of the boom town of Osage. Once the town is established, however, he begins to feel confined once again, and heads for the Cherokee Strip, leaving his family behind. During this and other absences, his wife Sabra must learn to take care of herself and soon becomes prominent in her own right.—George S. Davis <mgeorges@prodigy.net>
Plot Keywords: american indian, western town, street shootout, violence, gun battle, shootout, wild west ...
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