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YMMV / Davy Crockett (1954)

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  • Awesome Music: The folk music soundtrack is pretty upbeat and enjoyable, particularly the title song and Mike Fink's "I Am Great!" Song.
  • Ensemble Dark Horse: Thimblerig the gambler in the third episode, and Mike Fink's Pint-Sized Powerhouse sidekick Jocko in the River Boat episodes.
  • Fair for Its Day: The series' depiction of Native Americans tends to fall into the Noble Savage stereotype and even whitewashes Andrew Jackson's crimes against them. However, even the most antagonistic Native characters are shown as having legitimate distrust of the white government. Also, the title character and even the theme song protest the US government's treatment of Native Americans.
  • Magnificent Bastard: Red Stick is a ruthless, but cunning American Indian leader who opposes western expansion. Unifying multiple tribes, his force proves a match for General Jackson's forces despite inferior weapons by using the frontier's environments to their advantage. When Davy Crockett leads the army to his main camp, Red Stick defeats Davy Crockett in single combat, then orders a strategic retreat, saving many of his men by expertly ordering them to duck at just the right moment to avoid a volley of gunfire. Though many of his followers are killed and several other chiefs accept the US's offer of peace, Red Stick continues the war, evading Major Norton's forces for months by leading them into a swamp where the Indians can easily hide, but Norton's forces catch swamp fever and are unable to fight. Only Davy Crockett and George Russel are able to find Red Stick's encampment, but Russel gets captured. Red Stick nearly burns Russel at the stake, before Crockett challenges him to a duel as per Indian law. In the tomahawk duel, Red Stick gets the upper hand numerous times though skill and guile before eventually losing. Davy Crockett spares him, though, and convinces Red Stick of his own honor and to accept a peace for the good of his tribe.
  • Tear Jerker:
    • In the middle of a party, Davy gets a letter saying that his wife has died.
    • The final battle at the Alamo, watching all the characters get gunned down.
  • They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: The crew of Davy and Georgie's keelboat during the race with Mike Fink are little more than extras despite a somewhat interesting introduction.

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