Soldier Blue

A grimly embarrassing anti-racist Western about the US Cavalry's notorious Sand Creek Indian massacre in 1864. In the interests of propaganda, one might just about stomach the way the massacre itself is turned into a gleefully exploitative gore-fest of blood and amputated limbs; but not when it's associated with a desert romance that's shot like an ad-man's wet dream, all soft focus and sweet nothings. To complete the rout, the script has an unerring instinct for cliché. 'Why, why, why?' yells the appalled hero. Box-office, is the curt answer.