Esther LeBarre is ready for marriage. Her father, Hunting Horse thinks Jack Sankeydoty would be a good match, but she doesn't love him. She loves White Parker. Hunting Horse set a test for the two suitors, which Sankeydoky fails miserably, so Parker get the girl and Sankeydoky is exiled. So he takes up with the evil Comanche and plots his vengeance.
There's good photography here, showing off the Kiowa in group settings and with the appurtenances of their culture. However, when it comes to acting, no one seems to have much of an idea of how to get a performance out of the Native Americans who made up the cast. Definite props for using Native Americans in the cast instead of White actors, but good intentions don't trump inept acting nor standard plots, and the camerawork by Ray Ries is the dull set-ups that American films got into while European film makers were occupied by a little something called World War One.
Plot summary
The Daughter of Dawn is a silent Western, and one of the few films of the silent era to have an entirely Native American cast. It tells the story of a Kiowa woman and her lover, his feats of bravery, and their trials at the hands of a jealous rival and Comanche warriors. Completed in 1920, it was only shown a few times before being considered lost. Five reels of the movie were found in 2005, and restored by the Oklahoma Historical Society in 2012.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
August 01, 2023 at 09:19 AM
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Interesting Mostly For The Casting
Of Interesting Mostly For The Casting
Esther LeBarre is ready for marriage. Her father, Hunting Horse thinks Jack Sankeydoty would be a good match, but she doesn't love him. She loves White Parker. Hunting Horse set a test for the two suitors, which Sankeydoky fails miserably, so Parker get the girl and Sankeydoky is exiled. So he takes up with the evil Comanche and plots his vengeance.
There's good photography here, showing off the Kiowa in group settings and with the appurtenances of their culture. However, when it comes to acting, no one seems to have much of an idea of how to get a performance out of the Native Americans who made up the cast. Definite props for using Native Americans in the cast instead of White actors, but good intentions don't trump inept acting nor standard plots, and the camerawork by Ray Ries is the dull set-ups that American films got into while European film makers were occupied by a little something called World War One.
Historical, an Interesting Oddity
This restored silent film features a love triangle involving a Kiowa chief's daughter and ensuing conflict between Kiowa and Comanche villages.
There are a few early films that claim to be made by Indians, with Indians, for Indians. This might be the first feature, and it certainly is the only one screened privately for President Wilson. But what makes it stand out is not its historical significance, but what happened to it after.
Besides a few small screenings, the film was not seen... and then vanished. That it showed up many decades later and in such fine condition is incredible. We have movies that are presumed lost and either never turn up, or are found as mere snippets with incredible damage. This one is a bit of a miracle and re-writes the history of Indian cinema. (And I mean Native American cinema, of course.)