This next film was interesting in that I didn’t want to watch it a second time. No, I’m serious. I did watch it twice but I had to work up to that second time. Also because this movie talked about people as either white or Delaware/Indian, that’s how I’m going to talk about them in this post. It’s easier and keeps to the language of the film. For this project, I’m focusing on the story itself, including dialogue, character development, any subplots, how a story presents itself, the speed at which it moves, if it slows down unnecessarily, etc.
Update: In February 2022, I started a video version of the DFP on Tiktok. You can find the video below. Thoughts expressed in the video may be different than what are expressed in the blog post, due to the time difference in posting.
A Brief Summary
In 1764, the army makes a deal with the Delaware Indians to restore the captive children to their white parents. Among the captives is Johnny Butler who despises his white background and insists that he is fully Indian. With some struggle, he is brought home to Fort Pitt where he is reunited with his birth parents. But it’s not easy adjusting to his new life, with his Uncle Wilse leading a prejudiced gang against all things Indian. It will take his parents, his new friend Del Hardy and his new love Shenandoe to help Johnny find where he truly belongs. Includes target practice, a war party and Davy Crockett in a canoe…okay, maybe just the canoe.
What works
- Mrs. Butler, Johnny’s mother, is my favorite character. She has reservations about Johnny when he first comes back home but soon finds a gentle way to balance his Indian past with his white future. She, more than anyone (except maybe Johnny’s white father), encourages him to not forget what he’d learned among the Delawares, only to add to that knowledge with learning English and the white man’s ways.
- The film does flow pretty well. Whether there is a large action scene or a small action scene, the movie moves forward at a consistent, steady pace. Considering how I feel/felt about the rest of the movie, I appreciated this so much.
What may or may not work
- In other period films, a text blurb was often shown on the screen to establish the location and time of the story. In this film, Del Hardy (Fess Parker) did a voice-over narration to establish the story. It was fine, but I honestly would have preferred the text version, quicker and less stiff (that word will be used quite a bit to describe this movie and the story’s characters).
- Wilse Owens is actually a decent villain (despicable, creepy and rude). He’s easy to dislike upon sight BUT his story arc was given a crappy ending. Rather than getting a satisfactory ending deserved of his villainy, instead he gets this 180° flip after losing in a fist fight to Johnny, saying that Johnny’s most definitely a white person for how he (Johnny) fought. Seriously? The man had a weird thing for Shenandoe but other than a fist-fought beating, he’s not punished.
- I get that Johnny is a stranger among the white people, and at times that difference works out well. But those times were far and few between. Mostly he was stiff to the point of boredom. His blunt manner of speaking had its charms but I cringe more so at the fact that it doesn’t really change throughout most of the movie. His tone does soften a bit towards the end of the film, but not much and frankly it wasn’t worth the effort.
Honorable Mentions
- Shout out to the girl (not Shenandoe) who tried to win Johnny over at the dance and failed. I’ve been there, honey, it’s the worst but you’ll survive. Also, that girl was a little too forward so that may have had something to do with it.
Side Questions
- Del talks early on in the film about how he hasn’t been home in a while. But then he’s all about building a home/farm near Fort Pitt (where Johnny’s family and Milly live). Was his home not that important? Who would he be leaving behind?
- I still don’t get why Culoga (Johnny’s Indian father) changes to an enemy standpoint when he says goodbye to Johnny for the last time. Why would he do that? I’m so confused*.
What I learned from watching this film
- Let’s talk about endings because the ending of this film left much to be desired. It was a bit bland for my taste and the closing song (the title song, in fact) was super cheesy and definitely cringe-worthy. Okay, it was fine. It was more on the mediocre side and I can see why I’ve never heard of this movie before. Endings are so important. You want the characters to deserve the endings that they get so that whatever they went through in the story is worth it. I don’t think I’ve said this before during this project, but this was definitely a Disney ending. Everything ended up happy. That’s not necessarily a bad thing BUT it felt a little cheap. The fist-fight aside (see above reference), the main/supporting characters did deserve a happy ending, so I have no qualms with that. The execution of that ending though let me wanting something different (or at least just not that last scene. I had to cover my eyes because it was just awkward).
*If anyone understands, please let me know so that I can know as well.
If you’ve seen The Light in the Forest, what are some of your thoughts? Share in the comments below!
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