Review of Captain John Smith and Pocahontas

After having made a bit of a splash as "Valentino," Dexter took part in several films that further suggested him as a dashing hero in the silent star mold. One of them, "The Brigand," cast him in a dual role as a King and a commoner who masquerades as the King and costarred Lawrence as his love interest. They teamed up again in this independent production as the title icons, though this must be counted as a more minor effort. It's early 1600s Jamestown, Virginia and Dexter is trying to forge a settlement out of the swamp while fending off distrusting Indians and impending starvation. One day, while seeking to reach peace with the head of the nearby tribe, he comes upon the chief's daughter Lawrence bathing and tries to establish a connection. A short time later he is captured and nearly killed, but she steps in to save his life. Soon, they are wed and she is a symbolic liaison between the settlers and the natives. Unfortunately, shifty Seay, a nobleman who is part of the settlement, wishes for it to fail so that he can lay claim to gold in the area, so he tries to thwart anything that will lead to unity and success. Meanwhile, Clarke, Dexter's pal, finds himself caring more and more for Lawrence himself even though he knows he shouldn't. Eventually, Seay's duplicity leads to an accident for Dexter and an uprising that threatens the future of Jamestown. Dexter, an actor who is practically unknown except to film buffs and who showed more promise than he was permitted to deliver, is not really at his best here. He starts off rather athletically with plenty of action, showing off his physique (which is maybe a little undernourished by today's standards) and making a decent impression, but eventually gets a bit lost in the tedium and starts to lose impact. A simplistic script and fairly uninspired direction do him no favors. Lawrence is lovely and pretty spunky, but often comes off rather silly with her blues eyes, perfect red lips and pigeon English. She gets credit for maintaining her dignity and for demonstrating a sense of integrity, but is hampered by some of the silly conventions of the era. Clarke is an amiable, pleasant presence though his character was not at Jamestown at the same time as Dexter's in real life. Hale appears as a burly and loyal settler in a way that fans of his will find familiar. Seay (whose real life counterpart was not at all this devious and trouble-making) is adequately selfish and thoughtless. Dumbrille plays the Indian chief and could really have used a hairpipe breastplate to cover up those moobs. The natives are portrayed by a wide variety of Caucasian actors in heavy tan makeup. Menken, as a brave with affections for Lawrence, has a disarmingly flat American accent. Though the action scenes are sprightly and enthusiastic, they are often incompetently staged to where the choreography is obvious and the bloody wounds are frequently muffed. More than once, an actor makes a pained expression and then lifts a bloody hand to his face, smearing it as if he's been injured in the head. The story is treated, at times, at an almost comic book level. That said, it's a colorful, pretty fast-moving and certainly, at 76 minutes, not overlong movie. Like most other films on the subject, some bits of the truth remain while plenty of fabrication is also on hand. One's tolerance for the film may vary depending on one's devotion to the facts.