Chief Crazy Horse (film)

Chief Crazy Horse
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	George Sherman
Screenplay by	Franklin Coen Gerald Drayson Adams
Story by	Gerald Drayson Adams
Produced by	William Alland
Starring	Victor Mature Suzan Ball John Lund
Cinematography	Harold Lipstein
Edited by	Al Clark
Music by	Frank Skinner
Color process	Technicolor
Production company	Universal International Pictures
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date	April 1955 (1955-04)
Running time	86 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$1.75 million (US/Canada rentals)^[1]

Chief Crazy Horse is a 1955 American CinemaScope Western film directed by George Sherman and starring Victor Mature, Suzan Ball and John Lund.^[2] The film is a fictionalized biography of the Lakota Sioux Chief Crazy Horse. It was also known as Valley of Fury.

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Plot

When young Crazy Horse (Victor Mature) wins his bride, rival Little Big Man (Ray Danton) goes to villainous traders with evidence of gold in the sacred Lakota burial ground. A new gold rush starts and old treaties are torn up. Crazy Horse becomes chief of his people, leading them to war at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

Cast

Victor Mature as Crazy Horse
Suzan Ball as Black Shawl
John Lund as Major Twist
Ray Danton as Little Big Man
Keith Larsen as Flying Hawk
Paul Guilfoyle as Worm
David Janssen as Lt. Colin Cartwright
Robert Warwick as Spotted Tail
James Millican as General Crook
Morris Ankrum as Red Cloud
Donald Randolph as Aaron Cartwright
Robert F. Simon as Jeff Mantz
James Westerfield as Caleb Mantz
Stuart Randall as Old Man Afraid
Pat Hogan as Dull Knife
Dennis Weaver as Maj. Carlisle
John Peters as Sgt. Guthrie
Henry Wills as He Dog

Production

Jeff Chandler was originally announced to play the lead.^[3] Instead the part was given to Victor Mature. Filming began in June 1954, on location in Montana and Wyoming.^[4] This was the final film of Suzan Ball who died of cancer four months after the film was released.

Reception

Bosley Crowther wrote that the film was "just a series of hit-and-holler clashes between the Indians and the United States Cavalry" and "[s]o monotonous, indeed, are these forays that when they finally get around to the famous slaughter of Custer's troop at the Little Big Horn it is just another routine episode--even though it is later mentioned as the great victory that the old chief prophesied".^[2]

References

^ "1955's Top Film Grossers". Variety. January 25, 1956. p. 1. Retrieved February 7, 2021 – via Archive.org.
^ ^a ^b Crowther, Bosley (April 28, 1955). "The Screen: Warpath; Chief Crazy Horse and Tribe Attack Cavalry". The New York Times.
^ Schallert, Edwin (March 21, 1953). "'Chief Crazyhorse' Held Right for Jeff Chandler; Slate Signs Term Deal". Los Angeles Times. p. 11.
^ Pryor, Thomas M. (May 22, 1954). "Subsidies to Italy on Films Decried: Talks on New Agreement Are Seeking End to the Practice, Held 'Dangerous' Precedent". The New York Times. p. 8.