MGM
Silent. 68 minutes.
US release: 1/15/27.Not available on VHS or DVD.
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Winners of the Wilderness
1927
Critics' Reviews • Our Reviews • Lobby Cards
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MGM
Silent. 68 minutes.
US release: 1/15/27.
Not available on VHS or DVD.
Cast: Tim McCoy, Joan Crawford (as "Rene Contrecoeur"), Edward Connelly, Frank Currier, Roy D'Arcy, Louise Lorraine, Edward Hearn, Will R. Walling, Tom O'Brien, Chief Big Tree, Lionel Belmore.
Credits: Story by John Thomas Neville. Director: W.S. Van Dyke. Camera: Clyde De Vinna. Titles: Marian Ainslee. Editor: Conrad A. Nervig. Costumes: Lucia Coulter. Sets: David Townsend.
Plot Summary: ...Boasting a larger budget than the average "B"-western, the film casts McCoy as a courageous Indian scout, determined to negotiate an honorable peace between the white settlers and his Native American friends. Though his efforts are undercut by various villains pursuing their own agendae, our hero finally prevails. The film's most startling sequence finds a nude male prisoner being burned at the stake by hostile tribesmen -- hardly the sort of thing one might expect in a film essentially designed for preteen moviegoers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Box Office Total Gross: $283, 000. (Profit of $74, 000.)
Notes:
• Winners of the Wilderness was shot simultaneously with Tim McCoy's War Paint, using the same locations for both. (All Movie Guide)
• McCoy, a stickler for authenticity, insisted on having genuine Cherokees in the picture. (Ultimate Star)
• McCoy was "not at all pleased" when MGM put out publicity stills showing Joan teaching Chief Big Tree to Charleston. (Ultimate Star)
Film Daily (1927): Colonel Tim McCoy, a handsome soldier and a fine actor, mostly because he doesn't act. He is natural at all times. Joan Crawford the lady sought and Roy D'Arcy up to his usual deviltry.
Motion Picture News (April 8, 1927): Colonel O'Hara (Tim McCoy) dashing young officer of Braddock's staff is aided to escape from the French by Rene (Joan), daughter of commandant whom he worships. When the positions are reversed and she is his prisoner of war she willingly consents to become his prisoner for life. The costumes of the period offer a pleasing contrast to the interesting sequences ... in which are seen such historical figures as Washington and Braddock. The latter's disastrous defeat is the film's highlight and it is carried out with realism. |
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