The Indian Fighter cover art

The Indian Fighter Details

1955 Certificate PG
  • Rated:
  • 50
  • from 156 members

In Andre de Toth's rough and tumble Western, Kirk Douglas stars as Johnny Hawks, a cocky, brash cowboy notorious as the Indian fighter throughout the Oregon territories. Captain Trask (Walter Abel), commander of the local fort, calls in Hawks due to trouble with the neighboring Sioux tribe, lead by Chief Red Cloud (Eduard Franz).. Read more

Starring Kirk Douglas, Walter Matthau, Diana Douglas, Walter Abel
Director Andre De Toth
Genres Action/Adventure

Sign up The Indian Fighter DVD

Buy from LOVEFiLM Shop

loading loading...

The Indian Fighter cover art

The Indian Fighter

In Andre de Toth's rough and tumble Western, Kirk Douglas stars as Johnny Hawks, a cocky, brash cowboy notorious as the Indian fighter throughout the Oregon territories. Captain Trask (Walter Abel), commander of the local fort, calls in Hawks due to trouble with the neighboring Sioux tribe, lead by Chief Red Cloud (Eduard Franz). Hawks visits the Chief to threaten and cajole for peace, and falls for his striking daughter, Onahti (Elsa Martinelli), who resists Hawks' lusty advances. Tensions mount when gold-hungry settlers Chivington (Lon Chaney) and Wes Todd (Walter Matthau), enrage the Chief's brother, Grey Wolf (Harry Landers), by attempting to trade whiskey for the Indian's gold. Hawks must broker a peace treaty, however, so the Sioux will allow a wagon train to pass through their land unharmed. Hawks accompanies the wagon train by the side of widowed mother, Susan Rogers (Diana Douglas), who hopes Johnny will marry her. Hawks, however, is preoccupied with his love for Onahti and with Chivington and Todd's dangerous quest to locate the Sioux gold. De Toth's colorful, action-packed tale of cowboys and Indians features a tense final standoff and strong performances by the dynamic Douglas and Matthau, in his sophomore film role.

Starring Kirk Douglas, Walter Matthau, Diana Douglas, Walter Abel, Lon Chaney Jr.
Director Andre De Toth
Studio MGM ENTERTAINMENT
Run time DVD: 1 hr 28 mins
Certificate Certificate PG
Genres Action/Adventure
Language DVD: English
Dubbed French, German, Italian, Spanish
Hearing-impaired English, German
Subtitles DVD: Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, Italian, Spanish, Swedish
Released DVD: 14 Mar 2005
Production year: 1955
Format DVD

  • Critics' reviews (3) of The Indian Fighter

    View all
  • 3 stars out of 5

    Kirk Douglas stars in this under-rated and beautifully made western, which was the first film to be produced by his own company, Bryna. Its classy eroticism is exemplified by the casting of Italian star Elsa Martinelli as Douglas's romantic Indian maid, though Diana Douglas (Kirk's ex-wife and Michael's mum) also appears as a settler with more than a passing interest in the leading man. Douglas himself is in his buckskinned prime, full of virile derring-do and flashing teeth, as he leads an Oregon-bound wagon train through “Injun” territory, helping a fort survive an attack in one particularly well-staged sequence. The duel between Douglas and rebellious Sioux warrior Harry Landers is also finely directed by Andre De Toth, while writers Ben Hecht and Frank Davis show an honest respect for Indian culture.

    • Radio Times
    • Posted 29 Jan 2006

  • A brisk and very polished Western, lacking the intensity of De Toth's later Day of the Outlaw, but notable for its... read more on Time Out

    • Time Out
    • Posted 04 Nov 2008

  • Most helpful member's review of The Indian Fighter

    View all
  • 1 out of 1 person found this review helpful

    Rated - 2 stars

    Nice scenery

    It is a very basic cowboy and indian film. In these days of making films with the lights off it is nice to watch a film which is visually attractive. The story revolves around gold at a secret location within indian territory, an attempt at a peace treaty, a wagon train and a couple of bad guys. There is also an unconvincing romantic pairing of the hero and the chiefs daughter. The ingredients are the same as a good film, but the chef was not on his game.

    It is fairly enjoyable as long as you are not hoping for anything too clever.

      • A customer from Ireland
      • Posted 21 Jun 2005 11:03

  • More like this

    View all
    Showing 1 to 4 of 20

    loading

Find cinemas


Rating breakdown

156 Member ratings
  • 100
5
  • 90
5
  • 80
16
  • 70
18
  • 60
36
  • 50
27
  • 40
21
  • 30
12
  • 20
11
  • 10
5

Related user collection

Buy from the LOVEFiLM shop

    • The Indian Fighter

    • The Indian Fighter
      In Andre de Toth's rough and tumble Western, Kirk Douglas stars as Johnny Hawks, a cocky, brash cowboy notorious as the Indian fighter throughout the Oregon territories. Captain Trask (Walter Abel), commander of the local fort, calls in Hawks due to trouble with the neighboring Sioux tribe, lead by ...