Chief Thunderbird

(On Cable TV, January 2021) It took me a longer time than I care to admit for me to warm up to Barbara Stanwyck—not because she’s anything less than a terrific actress, but because she was never quite interested in creating a distinctive screen persona. Unlike other actors in the Hollywood star system, her many great roles span a number of genres and personality types. This makes it difficult to rely on a Stanwyck screen persona like many of her contemporaries. For someone who delivered striking performances in farcical comedy, thrilling noir, pre-Code provocation and straight dramas, seeing her take up the biography of Western sharpshooter Annie Oakley is just yet another puzzle piece in a wonderfully diverse filmography. Despite many liberties taken with the character (the least of them being upgrading Oakley’s looks to Hollywood standards), Stanwyck remains the centrepiece of the film. There’s a playful quality to the way the film reinterprets Oakley’s life to fit with remembered history, and that basic narrative thrust propels the film forward. Those who don’t care much about westerns will have to rely on star power and the film’s gradual escape from the Wild West into more urban society, as Oakley becomes an entertainment star. Those who chronicle native presence in western films will note a far more sympathetic role than expected for Chief Thunderbird as Sitting Bull—at a time where Native Americans seldom had any role in westerns beyond being violent antagonists. This grab bag of interesting elements does help make Annie Oakley worth a look—but if you’ve trained yourself to pay attention to Barbara Stanwyck’s chameleonic screen persona, it approaches being a must see.