I saw 'The Last of the Line' in October 2006 at the Cinema Muto festival in Sacile, Italy. They screened a print on loan from the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. The original credits list an actor with the Victorian-style billing of 'Mr Bingham' -- no forename, just Mister Bingham -- in the role of the cavalry colonel.
By modern standards, it would be easy to dismiss 'The Last of the Line' as creaky, and to accuse this film of perpetrating racial stereotypes about Amerindians. In fact, I felt that this frontier drama made an honest and intelligent attempt to address a subject which the United States and its people have never truly confronted: the difficult balancing act of fully including the Amerindians into the nation's mainstream without the loss of their native culture.
Chief Grey Otter is an Amerindian tribal leader living near a white settlement. He has the foresight to recognise that the white settlers are an increasing presence in this region, and that amicable co-existence is the best option available to his own people. Accordingly, he has sent his son Tiah (Sessue Hayakawa) away to be educated at a 'government school', so that Tiah will become acclimated to the ways of the white people and will be able (as Grey Otter's heir and successor) to lead the next generation of his own people with the benefit of knowledge of the white people's ways.
However, while Tiah was at the school, he was taunted as a 'bad Indian'. He is embittered towards the white people, and believes that the two cultures cannot co-exist. Tiah gathers a group of like-minded renegades, and they attack a stagecoach en route to the white settlement. The stagecoach has an escort of cavalry riders; some of the cavalrymen shoot it out with the renegades while the rest head towards the cavalry fort.
SPOILERS NOW. Grey Otter arrives at the attack just as Tiah is about to shoot the cavalry commander. Without any hesitation, Grey Otter shoots his own son dead. The other renegades ride off. Aware that the rest of the cavalry will arrive soon, Grey Otter arranges his son's corpse so that it looks as if he died defending the coach. When the cavalrymen arrive, they recognise Tiah as Grey Otter's son who was about to return from the government school. Grey Otter's ruse succeeds; the cavalrymen respect Tiah as an heroic defender of the white settlers, and he is buried with military honours.
Oh, dear. I'm sure that a lot of cynical people will dismiss this film as chock-full of clichés. The cavalry to the rescue! Cheee-yarrrge! However, it's possible that in 1914 some of those tropes weren't ossified into clichés yet.
I'm not a major fan of Westerns, but I give this film credit for an attempt to depict the Amerindians honestly, with less patronisation than usual. It's notable that Grey Otter is able to deceive the white people, and the film is staged and directed to give Grey Otter the audience's sympathy. Most of the actors playing Amerindians in this movie do indeed seem to be racially authentic, and their distinctive facial structures and cheekbones photograph well. The casting of the Issei Japanese actor Hayakawa as a Plains Amerindian actually works well, and Hayakawa's considerable acting talent overrides any ethnic conflicts. Although the role of Tiah is nominally a villainous one, Hayakawa brings sympathy to the role: he wouldn't have become a 'bad Indian' if the whites hadn't taunted him. Another Issei actor, Tsuru Aoki, is good as one of the renegades. I'll rate this film 7 out of 10.
By modern standards, it would be easy to dismiss 'The Last of the Line' as creaky, and to accuse this film of perpetrating racial stereotypes about Amerindians. In fact, I felt that this frontier drama made an honest and intelligent attempt to address a subject which the United States and its people have never truly confronted: the difficult balancing act of fully including the Amerindians into the nation's mainstream without the loss of their native culture.
Chief Grey Otter is an Amerindian tribal leader living near a white settlement. He has the foresight to recognise that the white settlers are an increasing presence in this region, and that amicable co-existence is the best option available to his own people. Accordingly, he has sent his son Tiah (Sessue Hayakawa) away to be educated at a 'government school', so that Tiah will become acclimated to the ways of the white people and will be able (as Grey Otter's heir and successor) to lead the next generation of his own people with the benefit of knowledge of the white people's ways.
However, while Tiah was at the school, he was taunted as a 'bad Indian'. He is embittered towards the white people, and believes that the two cultures cannot co-exist. Tiah gathers a group of like-minded renegades, and they attack a stagecoach en route to the white settlement. The stagecoach has an escort of cavalry riders; some of the cavalrymen shoot it out with the renegades while the rest head towards the cavalry fort.
SPOILERS NOW. Grey Otter arrives at the attack just as Tiah is about to shoot the cavalry commander. Without any hesitation, Grey Otter shoots his own son dead. The other renegades ride off. Aware that the rest of the cavalry will arrive soon, Grey Otter arranges his son's corpse so that it looks as if he died defending the coach. When the cavalrymen arrive, they recognise Tiah as Grey Otter's son who was about to return from the government school. Grey Otter's ruse succeeds; the cavalrymen respect Tiah as an heroic defender of the white settlers, and he is buried with military honours.
Oh, dear. I'm sure that a lot of cynical people will dismiss this film as chock-full of clichés. The cavalry to the rescue! Cheee-yarrrge! However, it's possible that in 1914 some of those tropes weren't ossified into clichés yet.
I'm not a major fan of Westerns, but I give this film credit for an attempt to depict the Amerindians honestly, with less patronisation than usual. It's notable that Grey Otter is able to deceive the white people, and the film is staged and directed to give Grey Otter the audience's sympathy. Most of the actors playing Amerindians in this movie do indeed seem to be racially authentic, and their distinctive facial structures and cheekbones photograph well. The casting of the Issei Japanese actor Hayakawa as a Plains Amerindian actually works well, and Hayakawa's considerable acting talent overrides any ethnic conflicts. Although the role of Tiah is nominally a villainous one, Hayakawa brings sympathy to the role: he wouldn't have become a 'bad Indian' if the whites hadn't taunted him. Another Issei actor, Tsuru Aoki, is good as one of the renegades. I'll rate this film 7 out of 10.
