The Silent Enemy (1930)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

H.P. Carver

Writers:

W. Douglas Burden (story)
Richard Carver (scenario)

Release Date:

2 August 1930 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A documentary about the life of Indians in Northern Canada.

Plot Keywords:

Ojibwa Tribe | Part Talkie | Docudrama | Native Canadian | Ontario

Cast

Chief Yellow Robe	...	Chetoga, tribe leader
Chief Buffalo Child Long Lance	...	Baluk, mighty hunter
Chief Akawanush	...	Dagwan, medicine man
Spotted Elk	...	Neewa, Chetoga's daughter
Cheeka	...	Cheeka, Chetoga's son

Also Known As:

Silent Enemy: An Epic of the American Indian

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (MovieTone) (talking sequence)

Filming Locations:

Temagami Forest Reserve, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Burden-Chanler Productions

Trivia:

Contains one of the very first zoom lens shots in cinema.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Manhattan Parade (1931)

Soundtrack:

Rain Flower

A docu-drama in the Robert Flaherty tradition

One of a number of fiction films of the 1920's and 1930's that attempt to show the life of primitive peoples before contact with European material culture. The best known example is Nanook of the North (1922).

Very well done, with much location shooting under trying circumstances for both the Ojibwe Indian cast and the crew. Interesting wild animal sequences, especially of the caribou.

The sound mostly is fine organ playing, with a short spoken introduction by Chief Yellow Robe (who played Chetoga, tribe leader).