Tonka
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Lewis R. Foster
Sal Mineo
Philip Carey
Jerome Courtland
H. M. Wynant
Joy Page
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
In the Montana Territory of 1876, two young braves, White Bull and his friend, Strong Bear, watch as their elders chase after a herd of wild horses. One horse in particular, a strong and swift stallion, catches their attention. White Bull, in an abortive attempt to capture this horse, loses his cousin Yellow Bull's prized rope. Back at the Indian village, White Bull's uncle, Sioux Chief Sitting Bull, is angry with him for not only losing the rope, but also for losing the quiver, bow and arrows that the chief gave him. He forbids White Bull from hunting until he has proven himself worthy of trust. The next morning when White Bull goes searching for the missing items, he captures the horse and names it Tonka Wakan, meaning "The Great One." After weeks of working with Tonka and gradually gaining his trust, White Bull returns to his people, who have fled to a new village to escape certain destruction by the U.S. Cavalry. When Sitting Bull rewards White Bull for his courage, ingenuity and tenacity, Yellow Bull becomes envious and demands that Tonka be given to him. Regretfully, the chief concedes that it is Yellow Bull's right to have Tonka, given his senior status in the tribe. One night, White Bull, appalled at the way Yellow Bull has been treating Tonka, sets the horse free. Tonka is soon captured by some horse traders, who sell him to Captain Myles Keogh of the Cavalry. Appreciative of Tonka's speed, strength and beauty, Keogh takes pride in the horse and treats him with great care. Meanwhile, White Bull is sent on a mission with some other braves to find out how many soldiers threaten the Indians. While scouting Fort Lincoln, White Bull is relieved to discover Tonka safely residing in the fort's stable. When Keogh finds that White Bull was Tonka's owner, he praises him for training Tonka so gently and so well. After White Bull is questioned by General George Armstrong Custer, he is allowed to ride Tonka once before he is set free. Custer, expressing a great desire to massacre the Indians, begins to lay plans for the big attack. He does not realize that a legion of Indians, Sioux as well as many other tribes, are planning their own war against him. When the day of the assault arrives, Custer and his men are completely surprised as they are surrounded by continuing waves of Indians. As the bloody battle ensues, White Bull is beaten unconscious, while Strong Bear is killed during an attempt to save him. Custer, raging and defiant until the end, is shot through the head. After killing Keogh, Yellow Bull is trampled to death by Tonka before he can claim Keogh's scalp. White Bull eventually revives and is tending to Tonka when a group of soldiers appear. One of the soldiers, upon recognizing White Bull from Fort Lincoln, prevents his man from shooting the Indian. He takes both White Bull and Tonka back to the fort. On 10 April 1878, a proclamation is made recognizing Tonka as the only survivor of Custer's Last Stand and retiring him from further duty. Tonka is to reside at Fort Lincoln, living the remainder of his days in comfort and with the only person who will ever be able to ride him again, his exercise boy, White Bull.
Director
Lewis R. Foster
Cast
Sal Mineo
Philip Carey
Jerome Courtland
H. M. Wynant
Joy Page
Britt Lomond
Rafael Campos
Herbert Rudley
Sydney Smith
John War Eagle
Gregg Martell
Slim Pickens
Robert Buzz Henry
Eddie Little Sky
Johnny Guerin
Harold Green
Chester Von Pelt
Leland Thompson
Al Wyatt
Pat Castor
Claude Brennan
Alvin Grimes
Stan Frank
Ed Saluskin
Conrad Well
W. C. Yeomans
George Bernier
Hugh Porter
Tom Bride
Rod Rosebrook
Walt Smead
Monroe Carlson
Alba Shawaway
Chuck Fite
Wayne Houston
Harry Welch
Charles Biles
Bob Patterson
C. R. Yount
Leroy Ditmore
Jim Alderman
Karl Kleint
Red Reynolds
Frank Stoul
Jim Smith
Larry Baxter
Gard Safley
Dallas Quick
Clem Klink
Peggy Jaques
Renee Jaques
Wallace Lee Hug
Levi Von Pelt
Morton Remmels
Nettie Shawaway
Harry Miller
Myrtle Brashear
Lynn Burke
Alma Armstrong
Walter Schenck
Armand Delmar
Jack Dusick
Bob Marx
Gus Norin
Roland Ray
Glen Wright
Jack Muhs
O. Hensel
Cliff Burdette
Leroy Johnson
Crew
L. E. Ballard
Elmer Balogh
Dominic Battaglia
Ivan Bauerle
John C. Bella
Roy Benson
Junior Bernard
Harry Bogart
Stuart Brown
George Bruns
Clarence Burke
Marty Buryan
Gertrude Casey
Charles Chrisman
Ellis Coleman
Henry Convertino
Robert O. Cook
Joe Craigmaile
Pat Cummings
Judd Curtis
Landis Davis
Ted De Moss
Ted Deardorf
Joe Didier
Walt Disney
Ed Duarte
Peter Ellenshaw
Oliver Emert
Bob Finn
Robert Fleming
Lewis R. Foster
Wilber Freese
Chuck Gabbert
Alton Galbreith
Gil George
Ken Gillmore
Thomas Goldrick
Ed Goodman
Elmer Grether
Loyal Griggs
John Grubbs
Eldon Hall
Russ Haverick
Lillie Hayward
Harold Hazelbush
Les Hilton
Herb Hirst
H. Ellsworth Hoagland
Horace Hough
Ace Clyde Hudkins
Bill Jones
Eddie Jones
Erwin Jones
Frank Kauffman
Chuck Keehne
Dick Kelly
Knox K. Kelly
Pat Kelly
Evelyn Kennedy
Leroy Kennedy
Robert Kent
Emile Kuri
Garrett Lambrecht
Charles Leist
Harry M. Lindgren
Joe Lomax
George Lucas
Max Luttenberg
Willard Marty
Mickey Mccardle
Bob Mcgowan
Pat Mcnalley
Ed Meece
Stanley Miller
Hedvig Mjorud
Cecil Moon
Red Morgan
Robert Morrison
James H. Murray
Roy Nelson
John Ormonde
Nick Potskoff
William Powky
James Pratt
Fred Price
Mal Rennings
Paul Ridge
Jess Salais
Pete Saldutti
Frank Sanders
Jack Sanders
Ruth Sandifer
C. E. Sheehan Jr.
Clifford Shoir
Abe Siegal
Art Smith
Norman Smith
Robert E. Smith
Clarence Soper
Chuck Spurgeon
Richard Sutton
Henry Thornsberry
Lois Thurman
Edwin Tillman
Jim Treanor
Harry Underwood
Clifford Vaughan
Oliver Wallace
Gene White
Samuel A. Wierman
Lou Wildey
John Williams
Bill Wood
Cecil Wynn
Albert Zarro
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working titles of this film were A Horse Called Comanche and Comanche. The pressbook for the film stated that this was "the first full-scale movie attempt to tell the battle story [of Custer's Last Stand] from the Indian viewpoint." For more information about Custer and the Battle of the Little Big Horn, please see the entry for They Died With Their Boots On in AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1941-50. David Appel's novel was purchased by Walt Disney in October 1956, according to news items, and in April 1958, as production was being planned, it had still not been decided whether it would be a feature-length theatrical film, or a two-part feature for the ABC television series Disneyland.
Fess Parker was originally scheduled for the role of "Captain Myles Keogh" and tested for the part on May 27, 1958, according to production reports at the Walt Disney Archives. Parker subsequently refused the second-billed role, however, and was placed on suspension, according to Variety. Studio publicity states that over five hundred Indians were used as warriors in Sitting Bull's army, and two hundred and fifty residents of Bend and Madras, OR, were used as cavalry soldiers. According to the San Francisco News, the role of Sitting Bull was originally to have been played by an Indian actor named Blue Eagle, but after receiving the news that he had won the role, Blue Eagle died from a heart attack.
According to an article in the Rapid City Daily Journal included in a studio scrapbook, Disney chose Northern and Central Oregon locations for filming over locations scouted in South Dakota. Studio publicity adds the following information about Oregon location sites: the re-enactment of the Battle of the Little Big Horn was shot at the Warm Springs Reservation; Custer's command headquarters was built near the town of Bend; and an Indian village was constructed at the Deschutes River. Shooting also took place at Madras, OR, according to production reports, and process shots were completed at M-G-M Studios.
Reviews generally praised the film, and a few applauded the studio for its concern with historical accuracy. The film was criticized, however, for evading issues concerning the causes of the Little Big Horn conflict and for romanticizing the Sioux. However, Christian Science Monitor criticized the film for making "no attempt to explore the rights and wrongs of the situation between the redskins and whites in the 1870's." New York Times noted that the film "rarely suggests the basic causes of Indian-white friction." The film was telecast as Comanche in two parts, on 18 February and February 25, 1962, on Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color. In 1977, the film was retitled A Horse Called Comanche, according to Los Angeles Times.
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States Winter December 1958
Released in United States Winter December 1958
