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Filmed on location in Utah,
One Little Indian is a leisurely paced Western adventure for children and families. This sets it apart from many of those that preceded it in the '70s--and appear to have served as influences--like
Little Big Man (1970) and
Jeremiah Johnson (1972). There is less violence and, as in many Disney productions, animal sidekicks are a big part of the action; in this case, an ornery camel named Rosie and her calf, Thirsty. James Garner plays Keyes, a deserter from the U.S. Cavalry, who "borrows" the camels while making his escape. Shortly afterwards, he meets Mark (Clay O'Brien), a white boy raised by Indians upon the death of his parents. He too slipped away from the cavalry after they rounded up his adopted family for relocation. He joins Keyes for a trip to Mexico. Along the way, they encounter widow Doris McIver (Vera Miles) and daughter Martha (Jodie Foster). All the while, the cavalry is hot on their trail. Bernard McEveety directed episodes of a number of TV Westerns from the '50s through the '70s. These included
Gunsmoke, which featured appearances by Miles (a favorite of John Ford) and Foster. He would later direct Garner in his best-known series,
The Rockford Files, the following year.
--Kathleen C. Fennessy
From the back cover
Facing the hangman's noose for desertion and mutiny, an AWOL cavalry man (James Garner) is on the run in the New Mexico desert, but finds his escape complicated by a 10-year-old runaway boy. The two encounter a pioneering widow (Vera Miles) and her daughter (Jodie Foster), who must choose between aiding the fugitives or hindering their desperate flight. They all find themselves in a test of endurance, trust and--ultimately--survival.
