A Daughter of the Sioux

A Daughter of the Sioux is a 1925 American silent Western film[2] directed by Ben Wilson. It stars Ben Wilson, Neva Gerber, and Robert Walker, and was released on December 28, 1925.

A Daughter of the Sioux
Directed byBen Wilson
Screenplay byGeorge W. Pyper
Based onA Daughter of the Sioux, a Tale of the Indian Frontier
by Charles King
Starring
CinematographyWilliam E. Fildew
Production
company
Guaranteed Pictures
Distributed byDavis Distributing Division
Release date
  • December 28, 1925 (1925-12-28) (US)[1]
Running time
5 reels
CountryUnited States
LanguagesSilent
English intertitles

Plot summary

John Field (Ben Wilson) is a U.S. Government surveyor. Nanette (Neva Gerber) is the adopted daughter of Cavalry Major John Webb (Rhody Hathaway). Field suspects Nanette of giving information about Fort Frayne's defenses to the Sioux tribe.

Eagle Wing (Robert Walker) convinces the Sioux to attack some isolated settlers. During the attack, Field witnesses Nanette talking with Eagle Wing (Robert Walker). Field fights with Eagle Wing and kills him. Field returns to the fort with Eagle Wing's body.

A scout recognizes Nanette as a girl who had been kidnapped by the Sioux as an infant and raised by the tribe. Nanette admits this is true, and also that Eagle Wing is actually the long-lost son of Big Bill Hay (Willam A. Lowery).

Field has fallen in love with Nanette and proposes marriage.[3]

Cast list
  • Ben Wilson as John Field
  • Neva Gerber as Nanette
  • Robert Walker as Eagle Wing
  • Fay Adams as Trooper Kennedy
  • William A. Lowery as Big Bill Hay
  • Rhody Hathaway as Major John Webb

Themes

While some films of the era fall into what is described as "helper films" which sought to portray Native Americans in a romanticized portrayal of "the noble red man", another common trope is the opposite of this theme, portraying Native Americans as blood-thirsty savages at war with white America. A Daughter of the Sioux is an example of the latter type, with the Sioux portrayed as untrustworthy enemies of the settlers.[4]

Production

The film is an adaptation of Charles King's 1903 book A Daughter of the Sioux, a Tale of the Indian Frontier,[5] a book that inspired several Westerns of the silent film era. The book had previously been adapted into a film of the same name in 1909, and this 1925 film may have been a remake.[6]

References
  1. "A Daughter of the Sioux". American Film Institute. Retrieved August 11, 2018.
  2. "Silent Era : Progressive Silent Film List". www.silentera.com. Retrieved March 26, 2019.
  3. Institute, American Film (1997). The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States. University of California Press. p. 173. ISBN 978-0-520-20969-5.
  4. Marubbio, M. Elise (December 15, 2006). Killing the Indian Maiden: Images of Native American Women in Film. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0-8131-3694-3.
  5. Goble, Alan (September 8, 2011). The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film. Walter de Gruyter. p. 730. ISBN 978-3-11-095194-3.
  6. Langman, Larry (1992). A Guide to Silent Westerns. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 107. ISBN 978-0-313-27858-7.
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