There's plenty of action in this one, but there's a lot of talk too. Basically, the movie is an anti-Apache harangue, complete with a large cast, actual location filming in Technicolor, and plenty of action. Maybe too much action. Maybe too much talk too. Certainly the movie would benefit from astute cutting but what to cut is the problem. Cutting Katy Jurado's scenes is the obvious method of attack, but she is not in the movie all that much anyway. Mary Sinclair could also go, but she has only one or two brief scenes. Throwing them away, is not going to make any difference. Besides, Mary Sinclair was actually a prolific TV actress who made only two movies (the other, playing herself briefly in 1974's Alice Goodbody), so it would be a shame to cut her brief role in Arrowhead. And it would also be difficult to cut Jack Palance's footage as just about all of it is essential to the plot. So the scissors would have to be sharpened for Charlton Heston. Although he's the good guy (the character was actually based on a real army scout named Al Seiber) and he's always in the right, this role is actually a bit of a liability as he often tends to rub the audience – as well the people on the screen – the wrong way! Available on an excellent Paramount DVD.
Review of Arrowhead
