Movie Review: Geronimo: An American Legend (1993)

Posted on June 4, 2014 by Brian Wright

Best-in-breed Western, like Hombre __ 9/10

Geronimo: With all this land, why is there no room for the Apache? Why does the White-Eye want all land?

What a treat! Get out your fond memories of Dances with Wolves, then take in a quasi-documentary treatment of the handling of the great Apache leader, Geronimo, by the US Government White-Eye military hierarchy. With a coterie of some of the best actors working in Hollywood in 1993. Also, keep a box of Kleenex nearby for how it ends up… or be prepared to weather another seething storm of outrage against government cruelty. Continue reading →

Book Review: The Truth about Geronimo (1929)

Posted on November 9, 2012 by Brian Wright

Fascinating story from a soldier who lived it
by Britton Davis
Review by Brian Wright

This summer (2010) I was pleasantly amazed by the 1993 movie Geronimo, starring a young Matt Damon (as the author of this book: Britton Davis), Gene Hackman, Jason Patric, Robert Duvall, and Wes Studi. I love that film; my mom said she remembered seeing it closer to when it came out, and that it gave an authentic portrayal of the Indian conflicts. Well if the movie gives a fair idea of the interplay of Indian and White cultures in late 19th century America, the book provides a stunning achievement in that area. Growing up as I did in the decade of the 1950s to John Wayne movies and plenty of Westerns—where an Indian was a Hollywood actor with dark makeup—I fashioned some of my childhood heroes from the (white) actors. Continue reading →