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Smoke Signal (1955)
Director: Jerry Hopper
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
This is an interesting one for any student delving into Hollywood's iconography of the Indian nations. The heavies are the Utes - we don't often come across Utes - while the Apaches, for a change, are characterised as peacemakers. The movie is a pre-make, so to speak, of the better-known The Last Wagon, with a despised 'Indian lover' prisoner again proving the deliverance of a mixed band of whites. This journey to safety is by water: locations were shot on the Grand Canyon stretch of the Colorado River, so the film is appealing to look at even when it flags dramatically. Casting is conventional, but Douglas Spencer (the gangling reporter in Hawks' The Thing) has a good part as a friendly trapper.Author: BBa
Cast & crew
Director: Jerry Hopper
Producer: Howard Christie
Cast: Dana Andrews, Piper Laurie, William Talman, Rex Reason, Douglas Spencer, Milburn Stone, Robert J Wilke full cast
Genre(s): Westerns
Duration: 88 mins
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