Great visuals, story delivers no surprises

A Brilliant Conflict

There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

. . . an American Race War with his "Helter Skelter" plot (something many psychopaths have attempted and failed to do before and after the Tate killings), MOHAWK documents part of the True History of America's Actual, Real Life Race War. Playing the role of an Iago or Manson-like character stirring up the Racism always bubbling near the surface on both sides is would-be New York developer "Butler." The Historical Record shows that this Cultural Conflagration was not quenched until the rampant production of Multi-Racial children could be accomplished. "Jonathan 'Keoga' Adams" and "Oneida" comprise the heroic couple who take a crack at peace during MOHAWK. Thanks to them and their colleagues in such mixed blessings, "26 and me" recently has reported that 98% of the people living Today on Native Preserves have at least some European roots. Though a few thoughtless Revisionists may feign outrage when lab results prove a Swede or Finn to be up their Family Tree, MOHAWK illustrates exactly why this was the only route to peace.

Charming, if silly western, clean and wholesome to the core (despite outrageously stupid scenes with stereotypically stupid Indians) and photographed with lush 1950's Technicolour which makes the scenery look lovely. The story has an artist Scott Brady trying to stop the war between whites and Indians, while romancing his fiancée Lori Nelson, his model Alison Hayes (who looks gorgeous in the aforementioned Technicolour) and an Indian princess Rita Gam. Directed by sci-fi expert Kurt Neumann from the script by Maurice Geraghty and Milton Krims, this is romantic, entertaining and as much fantasy as any fairytale.

I remember as a teenager passing a theater poster of a scantily clad Rita Gam and wishing I had the money to go in. I know now what I didn't then-- it was my lucky day. Even a longer look at that shapely leg wouldn't have made up for all the bad acting (deCorsia's wooden Indian should be planted in front of a cigar store), the stupefied poetic dialogue ("You shine like a moon above the stars,"), the ridiculous Hollywood casting (malt-shop teen Tommy Cook as Indian warrior), and the ultra-cheap production values (backgrounds painted by art class dropouts). Heck, they couldn't even stage minimal outdoor battle scenes, using stock shots from 1939's Drums Along the Mohawk instead. Note too, how artificially the Indians emerge from the forest as though they're expecting a parade to pass by. At least the producers knew enough to play up the sex angle with a bevy of Indian maidens apparently recruited from a Las Vegas stage show. I'm just sorry that director Kurt Neumann's name is attached to this misfire. He did manage a number of quality low-budget sci-fi flicks like The Fly (1958), Kronos (1957), and the ground-breaking Rocketship X-M (1950). Maybe there's a lesson here, like it's easier to direct bug-eyed monsters than a bunch of phony Indians.

Ridiculous western about the love of Casanova painter for an Indian girl. It was shot almost entirely in a studio, though the story is set outdoors, so it seems pretty fake, too. It also features a battle between, you guessed it, the BAD Indians and the GOOD whites. Oh, those bad Indians....3