The Most Savage Film

Book excerpt: Described by the BBC as 'one of the most significant American films ever made', ""Soldier Blue"" became explosively linked to real events of the Vietnam War as a result of the uncanny similarities between the U.S. Cavalry's extermination of Native Americans depicted at the film's finale and the American massacre of Vietnamese civilians at My Lai in 1968, just two years before the film was released.Drawing on primary sources and interviews with individuals associated with the production, this work solves the longstanding mystery of whether ""Soldier Blue"", a picture that set a new mark in cinematic violence in 1970, deliberately echoed events in the Vietnam War. In addition, the author details the bizarre location shoot in Mexico, describes the various post-production and censorship problems encountered by the film's director and producers, and examines the circumstances in and beyond the American film industry in the late 1960s that led to the creation of such a radical and bitter film. Richly illustrated with many rare and previously unpublished photographs, the book also contains four appendices providing a complete list of cast/crew credits, a revised final budget for the film, complete reproductions of two 1971 British articles on the film and a reproduction of a ""Harper's Weekly"" article from 1885.