Flaming Star

📀 Cammmalot 📀3.5

Viva Rio Bravo?”What is it Sam?”“I’m not sure yet.”A year after Ricky Nelson’s western debut comes an Elvis cowboy movie, but it’s like nothing you might expect.Elvis actually gets serious and it catches me completely off-guard. I went into this thinking it’d be a typical Elvis movie with him as a singing cowboy, but once you get past the two opening songs it suddenly turns into a pretty dark and solid western with some decent Elvis acting.He plays the son of a white rancher and a Kiowa mother who finds himself, and his family, caught in the middle of a frontier racial war. The tension builds from both sides as the violence swirls ever closer and it becomes obvious there’s no easy answers and no way out.Sam, I saw the flaming star of death. Cinematic Time Capsule - 1960 RankedCinematic Playlist – Viva Las Elvis

Josh Gillam3.0

Pacer (Elvis Presley), the mixed race son of a Texan rancher (John McIntire) and a Native American woman (Delores del Río), becomes conflicted when a nearby tribe begin attacking his town, in Don Siegel’s western drama co-starring Barbara Eden and Steve Forrest. I think this is one of Elvis’ best roles, along with King Creole, as the story takes precedence over the songs, allowing him to give a more layered, conflicted performance than usual. He manages to show Pacer’s inner dilemma really well, and holds the film well. Del Río and McIntire were also really good, and gave a lot of warmth and believability to the film. It explores some interesting ideas about prejudice and racism, feeling a lot more balanced than similar films made at the time, and Siegel gives everything a gravitas and a sincerity that works well. However, the pace is quite slow, and this combined with an earnest tone makes it feel a bit stilted and detached. Overall, a solid western with great performances and thoughtful subject matter which could have made some more of its themes, but has some interesting things to say.

Jesse Snoddon3.0

"I saw the flaming star of death"A mixed race family finds themselves caught in the vice of a conflict between white racists and the Kiowa. Pacer (Elvis), the son of a white father (John McIntire) and Kiowa mother (Dolores del Rio), finds himself torn between two worlds and increasingly pressured to choose one of them. Flaming Star is a decent Western. Though it's a little outdated in its politics now, it was socially conscious for the time in how it approached the genre. The white people here are shown as hostile and racist toward the tribe, a portrayal most Western films would flinch away from. It really demonstrates the tragic consequences of the conflict on average, everyday families. It's pretty clear early on that the Burtons are in a no win situation, and things only get worse as the film unfolds. There's an underlying tragic feeling that carries it along and underscores an anti violence message in an unexpected way. I went into this expecting a trashy Elvis movie since the ones I've seen so far were the more poorly rated offerings, so it was a little shocking to see that Flaming Star is a solid movie. This is largely helped along by the directorial talent of Don Siegel, who keeps things on point and moving along and doesn't allow for amateur hour stuff like you get in movies like Clambake or Kissin' Cousins. The biggest surprise for me though is that Elvis is good. Not amazing, and he doesn't fully transcend the Elvis persona, but he shows real potential here that I never would have guessed based on the lower end movies. It really makes you wonder what could have been if he had really worked on the acting side of his career with more people who cared to push him. Overall it's a decent Western worth checking out mainly if you're interested in seeing Elvis can do in a real role.