Invaders (1912)
by popegrutch
Director: Francis Ford, Thomas Ince
Starring: Francis Ford
I suppose that for movie-goers at the time this was a fairly unambiguous film, but I found it interesting from a moral standpoint. On the surface, it is a typical Western in which savage “Indians” attack a fort of noble white men who appear doomed until the cavalry rides in and rescues them. But, there’s more going on here. First of all, the movie begins with the treaty-signing between the Sioux and the forces of the US which the government blatantly violates in the next scene, provoking the Sioux by sending land surveyors into their territory without prior consultation. Second, there’s an inter-racial romance between one of the surveyors and the chief’s daughter, who rushes to the fort to warn them of the attack (not in time to save her would-be lover, who dies in the first attack). To make things creepier, the “heroic” colonel tries to use her as a hostage and threatens to kill her if the Sioux and their Cheyenne allies continue their uprising. He’s also about to kill his own daughter at the end, to save her from “dishonor” at the hands of the attackers, although of course this is prevented. Apart from these interesting plot developments, I was surprised at the rapid pace of editing in such an early film, and impressed by how many conventions of visual story-telling were already established. One difference I noticed was that almost everything was shot in static wide- or medium-shot, with only one or two closeups in the whole film, and no camera moves I can recall. Overall, an interesting, if not brilliant, piece of early American filmmaking.
You can watch it for free: here
Run time: 41 minutes
Century Film Project 
[…] release, in part due to the increased acceptance of the longer (2 reel) format. It reminds me of “The Invaders” by being a Western which depicts the clash of cultures between Native and Euro-Americans without […]
[…] an evil which must be vanquished by the heroic settlers, unlike the more nuanced characters of “The Invaders” or Griffith’s own “The Red Man’s View.” The movie is nevertheless impressive, in the […]
What’s funny is that when you read the journals of soldiers from back in the 1870’s-90’s there’s so much more complexity than the way we like to present the story now. For a while it was the savage indian in Hollywood, but then it became the noble savage. I’ll have to take a look at the film–it sounds more like the way it really was.
Thank you for your comment! As a European historian, I’m not that up on the real history of the American West, but of course I’ve seen all the tropes in movies through the ages. Since the 19th century was still living memory to many in 1912, it makes sense that there’d be more nuance. D.W. Griffith, apparently, made a number of movies sensitive to Natives, including one called “The Redman’s View,” which was on “DW Griffith: Years of DIscovery,” reviewed here: https://centuryfilmproject.wordpress.com/2014/03/10/d-w-griffith-years-of-discovery-1909-1913/
I’ll check it out. I like the rare even handed versions of history that show we’re all screwed up and sometimes less than nice 🙂