Nishko is a chief's son in the Great Plains, before Europeans arrive. During his rite of passage, he's determined to tame a painted pony. He approaches manhood while his peaceful clan is set upon by a nearby tribe willing to break a treaty. He must also contend with the kidnapping of three young women from his village, his pony's illness behind enemy lines, his mother's coma after a rattlesnake bite, the medicine man's urging that he sacrifice what he loves best, the attack of a cougar and of wolves, and his own injury while alone in the woods. His kindness, bravery, and quick thinking serve him well, but rescue come from an unexpected source.
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Others have suggested that Indian Paint was a little un-PC in its depictions of Native Americans but I reckon you need to take the historical context into account when you consider a film such as this. It was made in the early 60's and I think that the idea to focus on the lives of the Native American people was a pretty commendable one; in fact, not only that, but there was a total absence of white people at all in this story. Granted, some white actors played the Indian characters with make-up but this is surely a minor complaint when set alongside the film's worthwhile overall objectives.It's essentially a coming-of-age story about a boy and the horse he loves. But in amongst this there are quite a few other dramas and story developments, such as the ongoing conflict between warring tribes. It's not necessarily a great film but it is an agreeably unusual one, with an unexpected emphasis on a people not usually given the main focus in cinematic offerings. It must have played its own small part in painting a more human picture of Native Americans than was usually the case in traditional westerns and for this reason it is a pretty nice little movie.
I have many reasons for liking this film. First, I will admit I heard of it while growing up in a small town in Texas. The filming locations for Indian Paint state that it was filmed in Grand Prairie, Texas and in "Texas" (which, for me, means that there were too many locations to name, but that's just my opinion). But I know specifically of a town where scenes were filmed nearby and that town is Cleburne, Texas. My older sister (by 10 years) was a young teeny-bopper at the time and knew all about Johnny Crawford and even his brother Robert (Bobby) Crawford Jr. In my small town, even in the pre-internet days, it was no secret that a Johnny Crawford film was being made the next town over. Due to my sister's urging, no doubt, my Dad took her and some of her friends to Cleburne to see if they could find the hotel where the Crawfords were staying.As there were only so many hotels in town, it wasn't hard to track down and my sister told me of how Bobby Crawford (who was a heartthrob himself for teen girls at the time) saw girls gathering and was playing peek-a-boo with them in and out of the hotel, much to their squealing delight. Meanwhile, my Dad, who could talk his way into many an opportunistic situation, asked a man who was getting into a jeep with a production logo on the side if he could give him a lift to the set. The guy said, "sure," and off my Dad set off towards the filming site. They talked along the way and soon my Dad had to confess that he wasn't part of the film crew. The guy promptly let him out and took off. Back in those days, it wasn't hard to catch a ride (at least in our part of Texas), so Dad got back to Cleburne and met up with my Mom, sister, and her friends. For small-town Texas folk, this was a fun time. I'd heard that story several times as a kid. Coincidentally, I grew up loving The Rifleman (in reruns) as my favorite TV Western. I didn't really think of Johnny Crawford in the years to come as the same kid that had filmed Indian Paint. Cut to 1979, and my younger sister got engaged to a guy who was/and is a brilliant Western painter locally. I tagged along with them to visit his family home south of Cleburne and found out that Indian Paint had been partially filmed on their land. My sister's fiancé and his brother even had a small part in the film, but it's one of those "blink and you'll miss it" moments. He showed it to us on VHS and I was just reminded what a small world it is. As for the film itself, I remember liking it very much for what it was. Not perfect by any means but a gentle, likable family film. Someday I'll try to pick it up on DVD and revel in the memories. Sorry this wasn't as much a review as it was a trip down memory lane for a middle-aged guy.
I find it hard to believe that I watched this movie being filmed in 1963 on location and have never seen the movie.I was in a boy's camp that went out for a few days of camping. We ended up along the Brazos River, I believe and the movie company ended up right beside us. Some wild donkeys (or loose donkeys) came into our camp while we were gone on hike and at our food. The people with the movie company invited us to eat with them and that's how I met Johnny Crawford face-to-face. He was a really nice kid (he was only 3 years old than me) and we all were big Rifleman fans. We at with him and he talked to us and it was just like a bunch of kids sitting around. He didn't act stuck up or anything. I also got to meet Jay Silverheels of The Lone Ranger fame, who played Crawford's father. I had never seen a movie being filmed before and it was a magical experience for me. The one vivid memory I have is that the Native American actors had rubber-tipped arrows and lances. I couldn't figure out how they wouldn't look rubber in the movie so now I'll have to see the movie and find out.
If Indian Paint hadn't started out with a bad historical error I might have given it a star or two higher rating. But even a B independent picture should not have made such a bad mistake. Right at the beginning the narrator says that the story is set in the time before the white man came to the western hemisphere and the Indians who are plains Indians are all riding horses.Even high school history students know that the horse came to America first from Cortes who let his stock run free and multiply in Mexico. Horses gradually moved north or were traded north by tribes to the south to their northern brethren who envied what could be done on horseback.Such an incredibly silly error mars a very nice story of a young Indian boy coming of age as a warrior through his love and care for a wild colt that everyone else says can't be broken. Jay Silverheels is the chief of the Arikawaha tribe and he's got considerably more dialog than what he used to have in The Lone Ranger. Silverheels's son is Johnny Crawford two years from The Rifleman and trying to keep his career alive as a teenage heartthrob. He plays the lad trying to tame the wild colt and has quite a few adventures in the process.Some criticism is voiced about not having American Indian players in the roles that whites have in this film. Take a look at the credits and you'll see one Robert Crawford, Sr. is the associate producer of Indian Paint. That should answer the question why his Johnny was cast in the lead. Please note that Robert Crawford, Jr. who was a regular in the Laramie series while Johnny was on The Rifleman is cast as Johnny's best friend. I think this is the last time the Crawford brothers worked together on a project.Indian Paint was shot on a shoestring completely outdoors in Texas where the action would have taken place a few hundred years earlier. It does lack some production values that a big studio could have given, but it's still a nice story, good family viewing.But let no one come away with the fact that horses were being ridden before Columbus got here.