It's 1845 in Montana. The Blackfoot Indians have an outbreak of smallpox, and chief Michael Dante tries to get medicine from nearby White settlers. They respond by killing two of his companions, so he kidnaps Dawn Wells and her brother, Chuck Pierce Jr., planning to trade them for medicine. A party of rescuers goes in pursuit.
There are lots of oldtime players here for the movie fan to enjoy, including Leif Erickson, Woody Strode, L. Q. Jones, Elisha Cook Jr., and Arthur Hunnicutt. The outdoor photography by James W. Robertson is magnificent, but writer/director Charles Pierce falls into several traps, including wooden performances by the actors playing Indians, lack of actual Indian actors (with the dubious exception of Sacheen Littlefeather), and insisting on Miss Wells doing a narration to inform us what's going on instead of showing us.
There are lots of oldtime players here for the movie fan to enjoy, including Leif Erickson, Woody Strode, L. Q. Jones, Elisha Cook Jr., and Arthur Hunnicutt. The outdoor photography by James W. Robertson is magnificent, but writer/director Charles Pierce falls into several traps, including wooden performances by the actors playing Indians, lack of actual Indian actors (with the dubious exception of Sacheen Littlefeather), and insisting on Miss Wells doing a narration to inform us what's going on instead of showing us.