The Outsider

Tony Curtis portrays Ira Hamilton Hayes, the Pima Indian Marine caught in the photograph by Joe Rosenthal, as well as he subsequent struggle with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Curtis gives a simple, telling performance as the made miserable by his acclamation as a hero, after he buddy James Franciscus was killed in battle. His death is whitewashed a bit, but it's a telling portrait of a man wrecked by the realities of war.

Nowadays we are supposed to express our disdain at the casting of a New York Jew as a Southwestern Indian. Without a box-office draw like Curtis in the role, it's unlikely the movie would have ever been made.

The movie itself stands on it's own merits and might be applauded for the telling of this powerful true story, but when other film makers like John Ford had used REAL Native Americans in movies, this was yet another slap in the face to Native Americans .

The movie itself also tended to use Hayes' personal weakness for alcohol to reinforce the belief that ALL Native Americans were prone to alcoholism.

While it is widespread on some reservations...it is because they were forced to live in that environment for decades where they have little do and must fall back on "the public dole"...and suffer the worst economic structure in the U. S.

This movie is long over-due for a re-telling...and the skills of Mr Curtis has nothing to do with my review.

Tony Curtis as a serious actor was pretty much a joke at the height of his career when he was the darling of the teenyboppers; but he finally delivered an AAA+ role in this gritty and unforgettable saga of "drunken Ira Hayes" --- perhaps the best known World War II soldier after super-hero Audie Murphy. Audie Murphy was the greatest and most decorated soldier of World War II; but all Ira Hayes really did was help a few other men erect the flag at Iwo Jima. How this single act bestowed undeserved and unwanted fame on this fine Puma Indian man, and how this destroyed his life, are the essence of this extraordinary film. This picture knocked me out 45 years ago, a film you never forget.

I would love to see it. Just returned from the Doss, Texas reenactment/commemoration of the Battlle of Iwo Jima and Ira Hayes' name figures prominently in it's lore and legend. Tony Curtis should get an Oscar for his lifetime of work in the entertainment industry. His contributions have been huge and by all accounts his portrayal of Hayes is remarkable in its own right. Why has this movie been slighted all these years? And why is this movie so hard to find? Couldn't be because the director has had some troubles; Delbert Mann is Ray Harryhausen and Ray Bradbury's age and was active in directing well into his seventies.... Heck, he directed "Marty" for TV and for the 1955 Academy Award-winning movie; so where is the recognition this film so obviously deserves?

This is the true story of Ira Hayes, a Pima Indian who became a US Marine and was one of the famous flag raisers on Mt. Surabachi at Iwo Jima. The movie goes into Hayes life after the war as well but unlike many movies of the genre, the story and acting do not lose any steam. In fact, the emotional intensity seems to deepen.

Tony Curtiss, who is a WW2 navy veteran {submariner}, gives what I feel is his best performance ever. This story of a simple and fundamentally good man, thrust into a big and dangerous world, is shown without compromise. The movie tells a very real and tragic story about friendship, loss, war and even the dangers of celebrity.

In keeping with the authentic telling of this story, even the end is sadly accurate. If you ever visit the National military cemetery in Arlington, VA, you will see the United States Marine Corps War Memorial {often improperly called the Iwo Jima memorial}. The rearmost marine statue is Ira Hayes.