To talk of peace is not hard. To live it is very hard. As the war rages between the American settlers and the Apache, former soldier Tom Jeffords happens upon a young Indian wounded after an attack. Taking upon himself to aid the boy, it's not long before the Apache show up intent on killing Jeffords by way of the war instincts. Pleading for Jeffords' life, the boy manages to get him spared by the Apache chief, Cochise. It's the start of a friendship that may just bring and end to the war and peace across the west. Tho not the first "social" Western film made, Broken Arrow, it can be argued, is maybe one of the most important and telling genre films of the 50s. Showing humanist portrayals of the Apache and dealing out level headed tellings of the relationships between whites and the Native Americans, Delmer Daves' film is as relevant today as it was back on release. Adapted from Elliott Arnold's novel Blood Brother, the story follows Jeffords (a measured and fine James Stewart) as he attempts to broker peace between the warring factions. Firstly by convincing Cochise (Jeff Chandler bang on form) to allow the mail run thru the pass, something that brings suspicion and calls of Indian lover from Jeffords' own kind, and then to finally set up a peace pact at a time when violence and hatred was rife in the west. As the friendship between the two men grows, Jeffords and an Apache…

If you're looking for a traditional cowboys and indians film, then this might not be for you. Sure, there are the odd confrontations between the ever expanding white man and the Apache braves, but this is essentially a more cerebral look at the efforts both sides made to find an enduring peaceful solution. After months of no stagecoach and mail getting through, a pretty lightweight James Stewart ("Tom Jeffords") decides to try to find a better solution to their problems than the stalemate series of skirmishes between the two sides. He learns some basic Apache and goes off in search of their leader Cochise (Oscar nominated Jeff Chandler). After the usual scepticism, the two men agree to let the mail run. From then on, their trust begins to grow and the story follows their determination to cement this arrangement; despite reservations and resistance from vested interests on both sides, whilst "Jeffords" falls hook, line and sinker for "Sonseeahray" (Debra Paget). It's a touch sentimental, and it over-simplifies the problems and the solutions of the factual elements of the history, but it's still an engaging watch with a tragic but fitting conclusion and some epic cinematography along with a decent screenplay from the blacklisted Albert Maltz (who is actually credited in the version I saw).

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