The RKO Technicolor Western The Half Breed (1952) stars Robert Young as a wandering gambler of the post-Civil War era who tries to stop a war between white settlers and a tribe of Apaches. Jack Buetel plays the title character' a half-Apache called Charlie Wolf who befriends Young and tries to help him establish peace -- until Charlie's sister is murdered and he' too' rises up against the white man.

Young' in a bushy black mustache' plays against his usual image as a lightweight leading man or quietly capable father figure. Buetel' who gained notoriety as Billy the Kid opposite Jane Russell in Howard Hughes' sexy' much-censored Western The Outlaw (1943)' had found his career stymied after that debut performance. He was under personal contract to Hughes' who had refused to lend him out for other projects -- including Montgomery Clift's star-making role in Red River (1948). According to The Film Encyclopedia' Buetel thought it was because Hughes believed he had an affair with one of Hughes' girlfriends. By the time Buetel was free to resume his career' public interest in him had waned' and he was able to land roles in only a handful of low-budget Westerns including The Half-Breed. He eventually moved to Portland' Oregon' to pursue a career in insurance.

The Half-Breed' one of only five films directed by Oscar®-nominated film editor Stuart Gilmore' is cited by Gretchen M. Bataille and Charles L. P. Silet in their book The Pretend Indians as part of Hollywood's "shift toward pro-Indian movies" in the 1950s. Other writers were critical of Buetel's "cigar store-type Indian" character' but film historian Howard Thompson pointed out that The Half-Breed at least expressed "concern about racial prejudice."

Producers: Herman Schlom' Samuel Bischoff (uncredited)
Director: Stuart Gilmore
Screenplay: Harold Shumate' Richard Wormser' Charles Hoffman' from story by Robert Hardy Andrews
Cinematography: William V. Skall
Art Direction: Ralph Berger' Albert S. D'Agostino
Original Music: Paul Sawtell
Editing: Samuel E. Beetley
Costume Design: Michael Woulfe
Principal Cast: Robert Young (Dan Craig)' Jack Buetel (Charlie Wolf)' Janis Carter (Helen Dalhen)' Barton MacLane (Marshal Cassidy)' Reed Hadley (Frank Crawford)' Connie Gilchrist (Ma Higgins).
C-81m.

by Roger Fristoe