A Man Called Horse is the 1970 film based on a Dorothy Johnson short story and set in the early 19th century in the American west. John Morgan (Richard Harris) is a wealthy, aristocratic Brit who undergoes a remarkable transformation after being kidnapped by a Sioux tribe led by Yellow Hand (Manu Tapu) while on a hunting expedition. Morgan is put into service in the household of his captor's mother, Buffalo Cow Head (Dame Judith Anderson). Initially hell-bent on escape, the nobleman now known by his Indian name Horse ultimately develops an understanding of his captors, aided by a fellow prisoner named Batise (Jean Gascon) who serves as his translator. After proving his mettle with a painful rite of passage, Horse also earns the respect of the Sioux. The Englishman even falls in love with Yellow Hand's sister, Running Deer (Corinna Tsopei). With location filming at South Dakota's Custer State Park, A Man Called Horse is a Western genre standout, thanks to its gritty and unsentimental portrait of a chapter of American history and Native American relations.moreless
