Brave Eagle


Brave Eagle is a 26-episode half-hour Western television series which aired on CBS from September 28, 1955, to March 14, 1956, with rebroadcasts continuing until June 6.

Overview

, who was of Norwegian descent, starred as Brave Eagle, a peaceful young Cheyenne chief. Larsen was one-fourth Cheyenne on his mother's side.
The program was unconventional in that it reflects the Native American viewpoint in the settlement of the American West and was the first series to feature an American Indian character as a lead character.
Larsen's co-stars were Kim Winona, a Santee Sioux Indian, as Morning Star, Brave Eagle's romantic interest; Anthony Numkena of Arizona, a Hopi Indian then using the stage name Keena Nomkeena, appeared as Keena, the adopted son of Brave Eagle; Pat Hogan as Black Cloud, and Bert Wheeler of the comedy team Wheeler & Woolsey, as the halfbreed Smokey Joe, full of tribal tall tales but accompanying wisdom.
The episodes center upon routine activities among the Cheyenne, clashes with other tribes, attempts to prevent war, encroachment from white settlers, racial prejudice, and a threat of smallpox.

Episodes

Guest stars

  • Ann Doran
  • William Fawcett
  • Anthony George
  • Jonathan Hale
  • Brett Halsey
  • Wayne Mallory
  • Dennis Moore
  • Steve Pendleton
  • Steve Raines
  • Henry Rowland
  • Fred Sherman
  • Rick Vallin
  • Lee Van Cleef
  • Pierre Watkin
  • Gloria Winters

    Production notes

Though Brave Eagle was produced by NBC, it aired on CBS at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday preceding Arthur Godfrey and His Friends. Since the 1980s, several episodes have been released on videotape. Brave Eagle was filmed by Roy Rogers Productions on Rogers' ranch in Chatsworth in Los Angeles, California, as well as the Corriganville Ranch in Simi Valley. Jack Lacey was the producer; George Blair and Paul Landres were the directors. Sam Bear, a full Chippewa, was the technical adviser.
Brave Eagle's principal competition was ABC's Disneyland, the Walt Disney anthology series. It was replaced by Cartoon Theatre.

Critical response

James Devane, writing in The Cincinnati Enquirer, found Brave Eagle to be "downright dull", so much so that he nearly went to sleep "before many minutes had passed" trying to review two episodes. Devane expressed appreciation for the program's efforts to portray Indians in a better light than other programs had done, but he wrote that the result was portraying them as "bores who talked too much and did too little".

Merchandising

released a Brave Eagle comic book series based on the TV show. It was published between 1956 and 1958 and drawn by Dan Spiegle.