Flap (film): Difference between revisions

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==Plot==
==Plot==
Flapping Eagle lives on an Indian reservation in the [[southwestern United States]]. He drinks too much, one of many sources of disagreement between Flap and his sweetheart, Dorothy Bluebell. He also has trouble with his arch-rival, Sgt. Rafferty, a brutal, bigoted police officer in town.
Flapping Eagle lives on an Indian reservation in the [[southwestern United States]]. He drinks too much, one of many sources of disagreement between Flap and his sweetheart, Dorothy Bluebell. He also has trouble with his arch-rival, Sgt. Rafferty, a police officer in town, brutal and bigoted (although criticized late in the story by Flap for being only "half Indian").


Flap launches protests, first disrupting a construction crew's bulldozer impeding on Indian land, then stealing a train after a lawyer, Wounded Bear, leads him to believe the train would become legal Indian property once it's in their territory.
Flap launches protests, first disrupting a construction crew's bulldozer impeding on Indian land ([[Interstate 25 in New Mexico|Interstate 25]] was being completed through the location pueblos at that time), then stealing a train after Flap's lawyer, Wounded Bear, leads him to believe the train would become legal Indian property once it's "abandoned" in their territory.


Rafferty is violently beaten by Flap after a series of insults and abuses and the last straw, the shooting of a dog. Flap, now an Indian activist whose protests have gained him publicity and popularity, leads a protest march through the town. From a hospital window, Rafferty aims a handgun and assassinates him.
Rafferty is violently beaten by Flap after a series of insults and abuses and the last straw, the shooting of a dog belonging to a poor, lonely old Indian. Flap, now an Indian activist whose protests have gained him publicity and popularity, leads a protest march through the town. From a hospital window, Rafferty aims a handgun and assassinates him.


==Cast==
==Cast==
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==Production==
==Production==


Intending to avoid cinema stereotypes of Indians, producer Jerry Adler hired Sir Carol Reed because the British director had not had exposure to the cliché portrayal of Indians in American Westerns.<ref name= Power >{{cite journal |author= Hollywood (AP) |title= Indian Power Felt Among Moviemakers |journal= Tallahassee Democrat |date= September 6, 1970 |page= 16E |location= [[Tallahassee, Florida]] |access-date = 2020-12-02 |url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/18950959/indian-power-felt-among-moviemakers/ |quote= The "Flap" cast is predominantly Indian, albeit not all full-blooded. Quinn, for instance, is part Mexican Indian. TO FURTHER AVOID cliches, Adler hired British director Sir Carol Reed to guide the film. "He had no preformed concepts of Indians because he hadn't had the exposure to American Westerns," says Adler.}}</ref>
Intending to avoid cinema stereotypes of Indians, producer [[Jerry Adler]] hired Sir Carol Reed because the British director had not had exposure to the cliché portrayal of Indians in American Westerns.<ref name= Power >{{cite journal |author= Hollywood (AP) |title= Indian Power Felt Among Moviemakers |journal= Tallahassee Democrat |date= September 6, 1970 |page= 16E |location= [[Tallahassee, Florida]] |access-date = 2020-12-02 |url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/18950959/indian-power-felt-among-moviemakers/ |quote= The "Flap" cast is predominantly Indian, albeit not all full-blooded. Quinn, for instance, is part Mexican Indian. TO FURTHER AVOID cliches, Adler hired British director Sir Carol Reed to guide the film. "He had no preformed concepts of Indians because he hadn't had the exposure to American Westerns," says Adler.}}</ref>

[[Richard Harris]] was originally cast as Flapping Eagle, but withdrew from the production over creative differences, and was replaces by Anthony Quinn. Himself part Mexican-Indian, "Hollywood's favorite Indian warrior",<ref name= DnC /> Quinn had made several stereotypical Old West Indian portrayals, including [[Crazy Horse]] in ''[[They Died with Their Boots On]]'', a Cheyenne Indian in ''[[The Plainsman]]'', and a fictional portrayal of [[Battle of Warbonnet Creek|Chief Yellow Hand]] in [[Buffalo Bill (film)|''Buffalo Bill'']]. The role of Flapping Eagle was directed with American patriotic elements to communicate that the character did not hold total animosity towards the United States; the character had been a decorated Sergeant in the [[United States Army]] and wore a hat and shirt for the [[New York Yankees]] was well as a [[United States Navy|sea jacket]] (author Clair Huffaker was a US Navy veteran of WWII). The portrayal of Flapping Eagle as a heavy drinking veteran hero of WWII invited comparison to [[Ira Hayes]]. When wearing his Army Uniform, Flap also wore a [[Counting coup|coup feather]], such as was awarded to some tribal members upon return from wartime service in the US Military.


The movie was filmed in 1969<ref name= SFNM /> on locations in [[Albuquerque, New Mexico|Albuquerque]], [[Madrid, New Mexico|Madrid]], [[Puye Cliff Dwellings|Puye Cliffs]] ([[Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico|Santa Clara Pueblo]]), [[Santa Fe, New Mexico|Santa Fe]], and [[Kewa Pueblo, New Mexico|Santo Domingo Pueblo]].<ref>{{cite web |title= Filmed in New Mexico |publisher= the Public Library, Albuquerque and Bernadillo County |url= https://abqlibrary.org/filmedinnm |access-date= December 1, 2020 }}</ref>
The movie was filmed in 1969<ref name= SFNM /> on locations in [[Albuquerque, New Mexico|Albuquerque]], [[Madrid, New Mexico|Madrid]], [[Puye Cliff Dwellings|Puye Cliffs]] ([[Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico|Santa Clara Pueblo]]), [[Santa Fe, New Mexico|Santa Fe]], and [[Kewa Pueblo, New Mexico|Santo Domingo Pueblo]].<ref>{{cite web |title= Filmed in New Mexico |publisher= the Public Library, Albuquerque and Bernadillo County |url= https://abqlibrary.org/filmedinnm |access-date= December 1, 2020 }}</ref>


Although Warner Bothers would keep the movie on the shelf for 18 months before general release, the movie was given a special premiere on Nov. 19, 1970 in the Cinema East Theater of Albuquerque with Anthony Quinn making a personal appearance. Admission was $100 per seat with all proceeds establishing a $75,000 creative arts scholarship fund for Indian students.<ref name= SFNM >{{cite journal |author= Jim Hoyle |title= State Praised, Film Makers Entertained |journal= The Santa Fe New Mexican |date= October 20, 1970 |page= 1 |location= [[Santa Fe, New Mexico|Santa Fe]] |access-date = 2020-12-02 |url= https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/581372289/ |quote= Flap was filmed in New Mexico last year at several locations, including the Santa Clara and Santo Domingo Indian pueblos }}</ref>
After completion, concerned about reception, Warner Bothers kept the movie on the shelf for 18 months before general release. The November following production, 89 American Indians and their supporters [[Occupation of Alcatraz|occupied Alcatraz Island]]. Quinn was among the several celebrities who visited the Occupation,<ref>{{cite web |website= SFGATE |author= Peter Fimrite |date= November 19, 1999 |title= Occupation Of Alcatraz / 30-year anniversary of Indian coup |url= https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Occupation-Of-Alcatraz-30-year-anniversary-of-2895929.php |quote= Actors Anthony Quinn and Jane Fonda were among several celebrities who took trips to Alcatraz in support of the Indians. }}</ref> After this, the movie was promoted in connection and the Occupation, with posters proclaiming "The Indians have already claimed Alcatraz."

The movie was given a special premiere on Nov. 19, 1970 in the Cinema East Theater of Albuquerque with Anthony Quinn making a personal appearance. Admission was $100 per seat with all proceeds establishing a $75,000 creative arts scholarship fund for Indian students.<ref name= SFNM >{{cite journal |author= Jim Hoyle |title= State Praised, Film Makers Entertained |journal= The Santa Fe New Mexican |date= October 20, 1970 |page= 1 |location= [[Santa Fe, New Mexico|Santa Fe]] |access-date = 2020-12-02 |url= https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/581372289/ |quote= Flap was filmed in New Mexico last year at several locations, including the Santa Clara and Santo Domingo Indian pueblos }}</ref>


==Reception==
==Reception==
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The film production drew protests, given the original title was ''Nobody Loves a Drunken Indian'', particularly from local Indians when the production was on location in and near [[pueblo]] reservations.<ref name= Power />
The film production drew protests, given the original title was ''Nobody Loves a Drunken Indian'', particularly from local Indians when the production was on location in and near [[pueblo]] reservations.<ref name= Power />


Reception of the film varied; on one hand the film was praised for illuminating the plight of Indians in America, while Anthony Quinn's bumbling caricature, drawing comparisons to his previous ethnic characters, a "Zorba the Navajo", drew criticism.<ref>{{cite |author= Michael J. Brathwaite |year= 1981 |title= The American Indian in the American Film, Thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in American Studies in the University of Canterbury
Reception of the film varied; on one hand the film was praised for illuminating the plight of Indians in America, while Anthony Quinn's bumbling caricature, drawing comparisons to his previous ethnic characters, a "Zorba the Navajo", drew criticism.<ref>{{cite |author= Michael J. Brathwaite |year= 1981 |title= The American Indian in the American Film, Thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in American Studies in the University of Canterbury |url= https://ir.canterbury.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10092/16780/brathwaite_thesis.pdf |quote= Anthony Quinn is not too bad in the pivotal role of Flapping Eagle, but he is becoming a one-man UN gallery of irrepressible minority heroes. In one scene he even does a few steps of the little dance that has become his stock in trade since [[Zorba the Greek (film)|Zorba the Greek]]; at that point we know we're watching not a real Indian, but another of Quinn's ethnic star-turns on behalf of the Life Force.}}</ref> "This picture made a joke of Indian rights. We don't mind a laugh at ourselves but this picture made us look like idiots."<ref name= DnC >{{cite journal |author= Jim Hoyle |title= Hollywood's Indian Massacre |journal= Democrat and Chronicle |date= April 25, 1971 |page= 127 |location= [[Rochester, New York]] |access-date = 2020-12-02 |url= https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/136749133/ |quote= Hollywood's favorite Indian warrior, Anthony Quinn, signals the attack ... This picture made a joke of Indian rights. We don't mind a laugh at ourselves but this picture made us look like idiots. }}</ref>
|url= https://ir.canterbury.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10092/16780/brathwaite_thesis.pdf |quote= Anthony Quinn is not too bad in the pivotal role of Flapping Eagle, but he is becoming a one-man UN gallery of irrepressible minority heroes. In one scene he even does a few steps of the little dance that has become his stock in trade since [[Zorba the Greek (film)|Zorba the Greek]]; at that point we know we're watching not a real Indian, but another of Quinn's ethnic star-turns on behalf of the Life Force.}}</ref> "This picture made a joke of Indian rights. We don't mind a laugh at ourselves but this picture made us look like idiots."<ref name= DnC >{{cite journal |author= Jim Hoyle |title= Hollywood's Indian Massacre |journal= Democrat and Chronicle |date= April 25, 1971 |page= 127 |location= [[Rochester, New York]] |access-date = 2020-12-02 |url= https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/136749133/ |quote= Hollywood's favorite Indian warrior, Anthony Quinn, signals the attack ... This picture made a joke of Indian rights. We don't mind a laugh at ourselves but this picture made us look like idiots. }}</ref>

Himself part Mexican-Indian, "Hollywood's favorite Indian warrior",<ref name= DnC /> Anthony Quinn had made several stereotypical old west Indian portrayals, including [[Crazy Horse]] in ''[[They Died with Their Boots On]]'', a Cheyenne Indian in ''[[The Plainsman]]'', and a fictional portrayal of [[Battle of Warbonnet Creek|Chief Yellow Hand]] in [[Buffalo Bill (film)|''Buffalo Bill'']]. But, in 1969, after location filming of ''Flap'', Quinn was one of several celebrities who visited the [[Occupation of Alcatraz]],<ref>{{cite web |website= SFGATE |author= Peter Fimrite |date= November 19, 1999 |title= Occupation Of Alcatraz / 30-year anniversary of Indian coup |url= https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Occupation-Of-Alcatraz-30-year-anniversary-of-2895929.php |quote= Actors Anthony Quinn and Jane Fonda were among several celebrities who took trips to Alcatraz in support of the Indians. }}</ref> an Indian protest that ''Flap'' promoters attempted to connect to the movie's plot.


==Music==
==Music==
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==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist|30em}}


==Bibliography==
==Bibliography==

Revision as of 14:06, 3 December 2020

Flap
Directed byCarol Reed
Screenplay byClair Huffaker
Based onNobody Loves a Drunken Indian
by Clair Huffaker
Produced byJerry Adler
StarringAnthony Quinn
Claude Akins
Tony Bill
Shelley Winters
Victor Jory
CinematographyFred J. Koenekamp, A.S.C.
Edited byFrank Bracht, A.C.E.
Music byMarvin Hamlisch
Production
company
Cine Vesta Associates
Distributed byWarner Bros. Inc.
Release date
  • November 1970 (1970-11)
Running time
106 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Flap (distributed in Britain as The Last Warrior) is a 1970 American comedy-drama western film directed by Carol Reed and starring Anthony Quinn, Claude Akins and Shelley Winters.[1] Set in a modern Native American reservation, it is based on the novel Nobody Loves a Drunken Indian by Clair Huffaker.[2]

Plot

Flapping Eagle lives on an Indian reservation in the southwestern United States. He drinks too much, one of many sources of disagreement between Flap and his sweetheart, Dorothy Bluebell. He also has trouble with his arch-rival, Sgt. Rafferty, a police officer in town, brutal and bigoted (although criticized late in the story by Flap for being only "half Indian").

Flap launches protests, first disrupting a construction crew's bulldozer impeding on Indian land (Interstate 25 was being completed through the location pueblos at that time), then stealing a train after Flap's lawyer, Wounded Bear, leads him to believe the train would become legal Indian property once it's "abandoned" in their territory.

Rafferty is violently beaten by Flap after a series of insults and abuses and the last straw, the shooting of a dog belonging to a poor, lonely old Indian. Flap, now an Indian activist whose protests have gained him publicity and popularity, leads a protest march through the town. From a hospital window, Rafferty aims a handgun and assassinates him.

Cast

Production

Intending to avoid cinema stereotypes of Indians, producer Jerry Adler hired Sir Carol Reed because the British director had not had exposure to the cliché portrayal of Indians in American Westerns.[3]

Richard Harris was originally cast as Flapping Eagle, but withdrew from the production over creative differences, and was replaces by Anthony Quinn. Himself part Mexican-Indian, "Hollywood's favorite Indian warrior",[4] Quinn had made several stereotypical Old West Indian portrayals, including Crazy Horse in They Died with Their Boots On, a Cheyenne Indian in The Plainsman, and a fictional portrayal of Chief Yellow Hand in Buffalo Bill. The role of Flapping Eagle was directed with American patriotic elements to communicate that the character did not hold total animosity towards the United States; the character had been a decorated Sergeant in the United States Army and wore a hat and shirt for the New York Yankees was well as a sea jacket (author Clair Huffaker was a US Navy veteran of WWII). The portrayal of Flapping Eagle as a heavy drinking veteran hero of WWII invited comparison to Ira Hayes. When wearing his Army Uniform, Flap also wore a coup feather, such as was awarded to some tribal members upon return from wartime service in the US Military.

The movie was filmed in 1969[5] on locations in Albuquerque, Madrid, Puye Cliffs (Santa Clara Pueblo), Santa Fe, and Santo Domingo Pueblo.[6]

After completion, concerned about reception, Warner Bothers kept the movie on the shelf for 18 months before general release. The November following production, 89 American Indians and their supporters occupied Alcatraz Island. Quinn was among the several celebrities who visited the Occupation,[7] After this, the movie was promoted in connection and the Occupation, with posters proclaiming "The Indians have already claimed Alcatraz."

The movie was given a special premiere on Nov. 19, 1970 in the Cinema East Theater of Albuquerque with Anthony Quinn making a personal appearance. Admission was $100 per seat with all proceeds establishing a $75,000 creative arts scholarship fund for Indian students.[5]

Reception

The film production drew protests, given the original title was Nobody Loves a Drunken Indian, particularly from local Indians when the production was on location in and near pueblo reservations.[3]

Reception of the film varied; on one hand the film was praised for illuminating the plight of Indians in America, while Anthony Quinn's bumbling caricature, drawing comparisons to his previous ethnic characters, a "Zorba the Navajo", drew criticism.[8] "This picture made a joke of Indian rights. We don't mind a laugh at ourselves but this picture made us look like idiots."[4]

Music

The song "If Nobody Loves" was written by Marvin Hamlisch with lyrics by Estelle Levitt. It is performed by Kenny Rogers & The First Edition.

See also

References

  1. ^ BFI.org
  2. ^ Evans p.185
  3. ^ a b Hollywood (AP) (September 6, 1970). "Indian Power Felt Among Moviemakers". Tallahassee Democrat. Tallahassee, Florida: 16E. Retrieved 2020-12-02. The "Flap" cast is predominantly Indian, albeit not all full-blooded. Quinn, for instance, is part Mexican Indian. TO FURTHER AVOID cliches, Adler hired British director Sir Carol Reed to guide the film. "He had no preformed concepts of Indians because he hadn't had the exposure to American Westerns," says Adler.
  4. ^ a b Jim Hoyle (April 25, 1971). "Hollywood's Indian Massacre". Democrat and Chronicle. Rochester, New York: 127. Retrieved 2020-12-02. Hollywood's favorite Indian warrior, Anthony Quinn, signals the attack ... This picture made a joke of Indian rights. We don't mind a laugh at ourselves but this picture made us look like idiots.
  5. ^ a b Jim Hoyle (October 20, 1970). "State Praised, Film Makers Entertained". The Santa Fe New Mexican. Santa Fe: 1. Retrieved 2020-12-02. Flap was filmed in New Mexico last year at several locations, including the Santa Clara and Santo Domingo Indian pueblos
  6. ^ "Filmed in New Mexico". the Public Library, Albuquerque and Bernadillo County. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  7. ^ Peter Fimrite (November 19, 1999). "Occupation Of Alcatraz / 30-year anniversary of Indian coup". SFGATE. Actors Anthony Quinn and Jane Fonda were among several celebrities who took trips to Alcatraz in support of the Indians.
  8. ^ Michael J. Brathwaite (1981), The American Indian in the American Film, Thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in American Studies in the University of Canterbury (PDF), Anthony Quinn is not too bad in the pivotal role of Flapping Eagle, but he is becoming a one-man UN gallery of irrepressible minority heroes. In one scene he even does a few steps of the little dance that has become his stock in trade since Zorba the Greek; at that point we know we're watching not a real Indian, but another of Quinn's ethnic star-turns on behalf of the Life Force.

Bibliography

  • Evans, Peter William. Carol Reed. Manchester University Press, 2005.

External links