Looking for Mabel Normand

  The Squaw’s Love

            An Indian Poem of Love in Pictures

Marilyn Slater

“Looking for Mabel”

August 14, 2009

 

Mabel Normand is not thought of as a dramatic actress and yet there are examples, which reflect a rather high degree of sophistication in her screen portrayals.  An example of her effectiveness as a serious actress can be found in “The Squaw’s Love” (1911 Biograph).  D. W. Griffith seems to have recognized her talent; he cast her in a number of well received early dramatic films for Biograph.

 

“The Squaw’s Love,” is a prime example and one of the best of these treasures and is also a special movie in a number of ways and is worth taking a moment to explore.  Griffith, himself directed this romantic poem; it has been described as a miniature masterpiece, which indeed it is. Mabel is a real asset to the story as Griffith was able to capitalize on her ability to swim like a seal and of course captured her general athleticism on the screen.   Almost a hundred years ago, at the very birth of cinema the names of the players were unknown to the audiences but Mabel is recognizable as are most of the actors in this short.  Mabel plays the role of Wild Flower, an Indian maiden, the “Squaw” who endangers her own life to save Gray Fox, Alfred Paget, (her) “Love” and their companions, Silver Fawn, Dorothy West and White Eagle, played by Chief Dark Cloud, a real American Indian.

 

Wild Flower swims underwater in a cold rushing river risking physical injury. The film also required her to struggle on a steep cliff with Silver Fawn in hand-to-hand combat and be thrown into the rushing water below. No doubles were used and there was a real risk of injury. To film this scene, there were three cameramen, G. W. Bitzer, Percy Higginson and, John Mahr; this is thought to be the first time that multiple cameras were used to capture a single sequence.

 

The romanticized, idyllic image of the American Northeast Indian was a common theme during the nineteen teens. The plot of the film is simple like most good stories; it is the telling that creates the emotional reaction, which pulls at the heart.  White Eagle (Chief Dark Cloud) is in love with Silver Fawn (Dorothy West).  White Eagle leaves with others on a hunting trip.  Wild Flower (Mabel Normand) is the daughter of the chief played by William J. Butler and is loved by Gray Fox (Alfred Paget).  Wild Flower’s father is not happy about the relationship and exiles Gray Fox from the tribe without any means of survival.  By chance Gray Fox runs into White Eagle and explains what happened.  White Eagle promises to bring Wild Flower to him but when Silver Fawn sees White Eagle talking to Wild Flower and going into the woods together, Silver Fawn follows them imagining that it was a romantic tryst. Silver Fawn creeps up behind and hurls Wild Flower off the cliff.  Gray Fox was escaping in a canoe from a war-party that had captured him and was able to rescue Wild Flower from the water.   Wild Flower’s father became so angry when he found that the four members of his tribe had defied him, he ordered their death even his own daughter.  Gray Fox and White Eagle explained the mix-up to Silver Fawn and Wild Flower forgives her and the four friends plan their escape from the pursuing warriors.  Wild Flower swims under the pursuing canoes holding a knife between her lips and rips out the bottom of the warriors’ canoe.  The camera shows her underwater cutting the canoe, yet another innovative Griffith technique.

 

David Wark Griffith in his more than four hundred films explored the dramatic potential of the American racial history many times.  He had started at Biograph near the beginning of 1908; the Indian Wars were over but were still in the memory of many.  It was Griffith that took the 500 to 1000 feet of film turning it into brilliant vignettes with his powerful mastery of commutation though moving pictures. DWG helped synthesize the new patterns and attitudes toward the American Indians.

 

It was the Indian that was the subject of the first silent Westerns not the cowboys, the tales they told were the idyllic love stories, not the violent stories of massacres. According to William Everson, it was during this period the Indian became the symbol of integrity, stoicism and reliability and nobility.  In 1907 the movie Daniel Boone portrayed the interaction of Native Americans with whites in a sympathetic manner. This was the pattern used in the making of “The Squaw’s Love” 

 

William M. Drew, the film historian writes; that the casting of “The Squaw’s Love” is fascinating because it shows a real Indian in a romantic role opposite an Indian role played by a white actress. Chief Dark Cloud is really a spellbinding character, he was born in Quebec in 1855 as part of the Algonquin tribe (Abebaquis) his birth name was Elijah Tahamont and sometimes he used the name William Dark Cloud.   For over 20 years he was a well paid model of the artist/sculptor, Frederic Remington.  He began his film career working for D. W. Griffith at Biograph in 1910 and before that he was a noted lecturer. His first film was “The Broken Doll” (1910 Biograph) he appeared in the “eastern Western” which were almost like still-life profiles, respectful and calm reflections of the Native American myth later he moved to California with the Griffith's company in 1912, eventually appearing in at least 34 silent movies in the next 8 years working in the classic Westerns with dramatic conflicts.

 

Dark Cloud was married to Soaring Dove (Margaret Camp) The couple had two daughters, Beulah Dark Cloud, the actress (1887-1945) and Bessie ‘Bright’ Eyes Tahamont, (1892-1907)  It was believed that his girls were the first Native American children to attend a New York public school.. He died October 17, 1918 of Spanish Influenza in Los Angeles.  His granddaughter, Bertha Parker, a writer and ethnologist, married actor Iron Eyes Cody.  Bertha Cody was a collector of lore, mythology, and early history of Native Americans in California and Nevada.

 

In 1911 a number of films dealing with the same themes were being shown across the country. The authorship of the scenarios was often unknown and plagiarizing was common. The names of various motion pictures were rather fluid.  Copies of many are missing, so perhaps “The Squaw’s Love” appeared under others names; “An Indian Legend” was released in the fall of 1911:

A beautiful Indian love story, showing the sacrifice a squaw made for her lover’s sake “Black Cloud’s Debt”, Sept 1911 “A most interesting picture illustrating an Indian tale in which two Indians and a pretty squaw occupy the prominent parts.  It is full of thrilling situations and abounds in pathos. ”Starlight’s Necklace” Sept 1911 Pathe’s Indian story of love and jealousy told in an interesting and novel manner.  Showing a fight between two Indian women over an Indian brave – in which the squaw is nearly killed.  The brave, seeing his wife near to death’s door, finds his old love rekindled, and takes her to his arms again. “Squaw’s Mistaken Love” also from Pathe came out in 1911 with Pearl White as female lead.

 

This is an important early Mabel Normand film with a look at what might have been.

 

 

 

FILM INFORMATION:

Biograph

Director: D. W. Griffith

Author: Stanner E. V. Taylor,

Cameramen: G. W. Bitzer, Percy Higginson, John Mahr

Cast: 

Mabel Normand              Wild Flower

Dark Cloud                     White Eagle

Alfred Paget                    Gray Fox

Dorothy West                  Silver Fawn 

William J. Butler               Father

Kate Bruce                      Mother

 

Filmed:  1911, August 1-3

Length:  998 ft. 

Released: 1911, September 14

Location:  Cuddlebackville, NY

Copyright:  1911, September 18

Surviving at: LOC, MOMA,

 

 

Notes and References for:

 “The Squaw’s Love” An Indian Poem of Love in Pictures

 

Alexander F. Chamberlain, "Algonkian Words in American English: A Study in the Contact of the White Man and the Indian." , The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 16, No. 61 (Apr. - Jun., 1903), pp. 128-129

Black Cloud’s Debt, Sheboygan Journal, Sept 30, 1911, pg 4

William M. Drew, Film Historian, exclusive article, Aug 14, 2009

 Allan Ellenberger, Chief Dark Cloud at Hollywood Forever, Jun 14th, 2008

 William K. Everson, American Silent Film, 241.

Robert M. Henderson. D.W. Griffith: His Life and Work, pgs 105-106 (Oxford University Press 1972)

Dark Cloud filmography on IMDb

Jack Temple Kirby, D. W. Griffith's Racial Portraiture, Phylon (1960- ), Vol. 39, No. 2 (2nd Qtr. 1978), pp. 118-127 Published by: Clark Atlanta University Stable 

Larry Langman, A Guide to Silent Westerns,

Indians Mourn at Mrs. Converse’s Bier NYTimes, The, Nov 23, 1903

William Thomas Sherman, Mabel Normand Source Book

Scott Simmon, The Invention of the Western Film: A Cultural History of the Genre's First Half-century, Cambridge University Press (2003), p. 17.

Squaw’s Love, (1911 Biograph) Blackhawk VHS videotape

Jane Tompkins, West of Everything,

Thames Television, Out West, VHS videotape.

Wikipedia, Dark Cloud

 

 

 THIS AND THAT

 

 

“...One film made at Cuddebackville on this last trip had a notable
technical innovation.

The Squaw’s Love featured a fight scene between two
Indian maidens, played by Mabel Normand and Dorothy West. The end of the fight came when Dorothy pushed Mabel over the edge of a cliff. Mabel
Normand, a superb athlete, was to execute a back dive into the Neversink
River. Mabel was fearless, but she also announced that she would do the
stunt only once. To make certain that the shot wouldn’t be mixed, Griffith
had Bitzer set up three cameras to film the action. Bitzer set up three
cameras to film the action. Bitzer operated one, and a new cameraman, P.
Higginson, would operate a second. Arthur Marvin, Griffith’s first
cameraman, had died the previous February 11th. Higginson had been hired
to work primarily with [director] Frank Powell. The third camera was
operated by the former office and prop boy turned actor Bobby Harron.
The fight came to its climax, and Mabel executed her dive perfectly
into the river. She was promptly pulled from the water, bundled into
the Thomas Flyer, and driven back to the inn for a reviving brandy or
two. In the editing of the film, footage from only one camera was
used, perhaps accounting for the subsequent overlooking of this first
use of multiple cameras.” – pgs. 105-106 (this was sent as a gift from the writer Rory L. Aronsky)