Runtime: 91 minutes
Directed by: Don Siegel
Starring: Elvis, Barbara Eden, Steve Forrest, Dolores del Rio, John McIntire
From: 20th Century Fox
If only Elvis had the chance to do more serious motion pictures such as this Western. Before it leaves the Criterion Channel at the end of September, I wanted to see one of Presley’s films which weren’t goofy cornball efforts. A Western from Don Siegel where Elvis was half Native American and the conflict came from his mixed family & how each side in an escalating conflict is upset with them because they’re a mixed family; they’re supposed to “pick a side”… I was intrigued.
Specifically, white John McIntire has a Kiowa wife (Dolores del Rio); white Steve Forrest and Elvis are half-brothers. Both sides of the equation are three-dimensional characters yet both also do some heinous things against the other. The Burton family (hilariously, Presley’s character is PACER BURTON) is stuck in the middle, just trying to mind their business out on their ranch in the middle of nowhere, Texas-mainly filmed in Utah; scenic vistas are usually on display-but each side attempts to pull them in.
Flaming Star is a serious drama where besides the opening credits song, Elvis only sings one other tune… and that’s at a hootenanny birthday party where a silly song is sung. Otherwise, it is a downbeat picture where both sides discriminate against the family and poor Pacer is torn apart by having such mixed emotions. As long as you understand that it’s still 1960 and thus most of the Native American parts are played by Caucasian or Hispanic actors, this is a fascinating Western which doesn’t have happy answers to what is almost a Kobayashi Maru sort of situation where every option for the family is a bad one for them.
It's a shame that Elvis wasn’t able to have more opportunities for complex roles such as this (allegedly, BRANDO and SINATRA were first speculated for the half-brother parts) but Col. Tom Parker is to blame for all those fluffy inconsequential pictures he did after this. Alas, at least I saw a Western for the first time in ages and it was nice seeing familiar faces like Ford Rainey, L.Q. Jones & Richard Jaeckel.
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