The Red Girl and the Child, 1910 - ★★★½

THE RED GIRL AND THE CHILD (James Young Deer, USA, 1910, 7)

It’s a straight kidnap-and-chase one-reeler, but physically very impressive as we see Red Wing (an actual Indian actress apparently) in horse chases, riding down slopes, climbing up embankments, straddling gorges, with what often looks like a real toddler clinging to her, and I didn’t mind the film’s using the “secret Indian skills” trope given the ends and the time and broadness of the film (it only has two title cards, both diegetic). It didn’t escape my notice that the white couple’s child is kissing the red girl in the triumphant final shot, not his [narratively] useless parents. The score attached to this print is … interesting — it’s very Morricone-like, which feels like an ill fit for a film this primitive,...

Nov 25th 2022
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