Monday, July 4, 2016

The Squaw Man (1914)

It looks as though TCM is doing a retrospective on the western in July, looking right from the beginning of the genre with 1903's The Great Train Robbery tomorrow and 6:15 AM, and then 48 hours of westerns through to Thursday morning. It'll be this way every Tuesday and Wednesday in July, hosted by Keith Carradine. (Unfortunately, the sub-site they created for it doesn't work well in my browser, because TCM loves to push Flash and other such garbage on us.) Following The Great Train Robbery will be the 1914 version of The Squaw Man.

I know I saw this one sometime on TCM, but I'm not certain exactly when or what spotlight TCM was running. The plot involves a Brit who goes to America to be the fall guy for his cousin's embezzlement, winds up out west, marrying a Ute chieftain's daughter, and foiling the bad guys. Its historical importance is that it was directed by Cecil B. DeMille; I think it's his very first film. It's also considered one of the first Hollywood features.

Since it's from 1914, it's in the public domain, and has therefore shown up on Youtube in several places. Here's one:

No comments: