Run of the Arrow

Run of the Arrow is a 1957 American Western film written, directed, and produced by Samuel Fuller and starring Rod Steiger, Sara Montiel, Brian Keith, Ralph Meeker, Jay C. Flippen, and Charles Bronson. Set at the end of the American Civil War, the movie was filmed in Technicolor. Plot On the last day of the Civil War, O'Meara (Rod Steiger), a Confederate soldier, shoots a Union lieutenant, who is later revealed as named Driscoll (Ralph Meeker). When he sees that Driscoll is not dead, O'Meara takes him to nearby Appomattox, where he learns that General Lee is in the process of surrendering to General Grant. As the doctor (Carleton Young) removes O'Meara's bullet from Driscoll, O'Meara almost shoots Grant, but is stopped by the doctor, who gives him the bullet. When O'Meara complains that he did not kill Driscoll only because the bullet was "warped", the doctor remarks that it is the "last bullet shot in this war" and gives it to O'Meara. Returning to his home in Virginia, O'Meara rejects the pleas of his mother (Olive Carey) to put aside his hatred and settle down, as she notes the losses that the family and community have suffered in the war. O'Meara, however, refuses to accept the authority of the United States government and proclaims himself a man without a country. He heads west, hoping to join with the Sioux nation in their own wars against the American army. O'Meara finds travel in strange territory difficult until he meets an aging Oglala scout named Walking Coyote (Jay C. Flippen), who speaks English, and says that he is heading back to his home tribe to die. O'Meara and he travel together, with Walking Coyote teaching the White man the Sioux language and customs. The two, though, are captured by a band of Sioux warriors led by Crazy Wolf (H.M. Wynant), who is about to execute both men when Walking Coyote invokes the right to the "run of the arrow", a ritual that could save the men's lives if they can endure a run marked by arrows flying in their path.