Chief Crazy Horse [Valley of Fury] *** (1955, Victor Mature, Suzan Ball, John Lund, Ray Danton) – Classic Movie Review 13,119

The 1955 minor gem Western film Chief Crazy Horse stars Victor Mature as the Lakota Sioux war chief, the victor over Custer at Little Big Horn.

‘GREAT SAGA OF THE FIGHTING SIOUX…’ ‘He Hurled The Lance That Smashed Custer That Historic Day At Little Big Horn!’

Director George Sherman’s 1955 American CinemaScope and Technicolor Western film Chief Crazy Horse [Valley of Fury] stars Victor Mature, Suzan Ball, John Lund, and Ray Danton. It is very remarkable for its era, as the story of the famous Lakota Sioux war chief Crazy Horse is told entirely from the Indian viewpoint. Less fortunately though, it is a typically fictionalised Hollywood biopic, and there is typical Hollywood casting of Italian-American Victor Mature as a Native American.

Victor Mature is oddly, uncomfortably cast but nevertheless surprisingly convincing and heroic as Chief Crazy Horse, the Lakota Sioux war chief, the victor over Custer at Little Big Horn, who sets out to unite the various Indian tribes against the white man.

John Lund plays Mature’s US Cavalry friend, Major Twist, while Ray Danton is outstanding in support as the renegade Native American Little Big Man.

Chief Crazy Horse [Valley of Fury] is an appealing, carefully well-made Western, with a strong finish, in which the Battle of Little Big Horn is staged in impressively realistic style. This is a minor gem from Hollywood’s pro-Indian period, in which the once reviled (by Hollywood) Crazy Horse is here portrayed as a hero.

Doomed co-star Suzan Ball, playing Crazy Horse’s wife Black Shawl, had just had her right leg amputated for cancer on January 12, 1954. before filming began in June 1954 on location in Montana and Wyoming, and tragically died of cancer on August 5, 1955, at 22, four months after the film was released. At the time of filming, she had an artificial limb, and a double, photographed from behind, took over when she had to take more than a few steps.

The cast include Victor Mature, Suzan Ball, John Lund, Ray Danton, Keith Larsen, Paul Guilfoyle, David Janssen, Robert Warwick, James Millican, Morris Ankrum, Donald Randolph, Robert F Simon, James Westerfield, Stuart Randall, Pat Hogan, Dennis Weaver, John Peters, Henry Wills, Charles Horvath, Robert St Angelo, and David Miller.

Chief Crazy Horse [Valley of Fury] is directed by George Sherman, runs 86 minutes, is made by Universal International Pictures, is released by Universal Pictures, is written by Franklin Coen and Gerald Drayson Adams, based on a story by Gerald Drayson Adams. is shot in colour (Technicolor) and widescreen (CinemaScope) by Harold Lipstein, is produced by William Alland, and is scored by Frank Skinner (music) and Joseph Gershenson (musical director).

Release date: April 1955.

The cast are 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 Major Carlisle, John Peters as Sgt Guthrie, Henry Wills as He Dog, Charles Horvath, Robert St Angelo, and David Miller.

Suzan Ball (born Susan Ball; February 3, 1933 – August 5, 1955)

Suzan Ball was born Susan Ball on February 3, 1933. She was a second cousin of Lucille Ball and she got married to Richard Long on April 11, 1954. Tragically she had her right leg amputated in January 1954, as a result of a tumour. She died of cancer on August 5, 1955, aged 22, after a two-year battle. Her promising film career was only in its third year. Richard Long married Mara Corday in Las Vegas in 1957.

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 13,119

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