Children of the Dust

I have given this movie a six because of the power of the story. I would have given it a higher mark but for the historical inaccuracies of the story. Its strong point was the fact that it showed black people in the west where they surely were, but in this movie present the first of the inacfcuracies. It would not have been abnormal at all for black people to have been in Oklahoma territory in the latter part of the 19th century. They had been there since the trail of tears. Some of the transplanted Natives were slave holders and simply brought their slaves with them. Second, a black Marshall in that territory would not have been strange at all. Gypsy Smith could have easily been modeled after Bass Reeves who was one of several Black US Marshalls who patrolled Okla territory. While there has always been problems between black and white Americans, it did not really occur in Oklahoma until it became a state. Thirdly, I can't believe that the light bulb which was only invented in 1879 would have been used in a barn in Oklahoma. Great idea for a movie, but could have been more accurate.

I can imagine why he'd want to die, after starring in this rubbish. The man is incredible, but even Sidney Poitier couldn't save this tiresome morality play about racism in the old West. He and Joanna Going are both fantastic in this film: too bad the screenplay, co-stars, directing, and score couldn't match those two.

But the DVD I bought from Amazon had about an hour cut out. One reviewer said it was about twenty minutes or more I believe but it was at least an hour. I knew the series had been chopped up but since I love it so much, I decided to get it anyway. I don't know why it could not have been left whole.

I'll admit to only wanting to see this film because of Billy Wirth, which for me was well worth the eleven dollars I spent on the DVD, but for fans of more violent westerns, this isn't the film for you. It was was good movie but I was expecting more action. The dialogue at times was kind of crappy as well as the acting, mainly from Joanna Going but the story was good. Billy Wirth most certainly looked the part of a Native American and did a pretty good job playing one, too. I'm not sure which storyline I liked better, Sidney Poitier's romance, Billy Wirth and Joanna Going's romance, or the ounce of action involved in the movie but it worked. Overall, this was a good movie that's worth the watch.

Don't know what film or version Jeff saw, but this entire film was awesome, not just Poitier and Going. The story was riveting, suspenseful and engaging. And for the guy complaining about historical accuracy, get real. Yes there were some Black deputy marshals in the Indian territory, but they had no authority to arrest Whites outside of Indian territory. As a rule, they did not "patrol" but exercised warrants on criminals only. I did find it odd that Corby didn't seem to have "any' Indian friends. I know their numbers were diminished but it still strikes me as strange. Even as Corby returned to his people, his Indian cohorts remain faceless and nameless.