Susannah of the Mounties — Shirley Temple and Martin Good Rider

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Howdy!

Welcome to a terrific Tuesday!

I grew up watching old movies (and I mean old 1930’s movies).  And one of my favorite stars from that time period was Shirley Temple.

In researching the Blackfeet Indians for the story I’m currently writing, I came across this movie, “Susannah of the Mounties,” because, outside of the two “Indian chiefs,” all the rest of the Indians cast for the movie were Blackfeet from the Blackfeet reservation in Browning.  Now, the writer of the script was not Blackfeet and so there are some things in the Indian part of the movie that just weren’t so historically. But, I love that they used Blackfeet Indians for the most part to play Blackfeet Indians.  Martin Good Rider was Shirley’s child co-star in this movie and I gotta admit both Shirley and Martin steal the show.  He, with his stoic remarks, and Shirley getting her feathers ruffled.  Below is a publicity pict. they did for the picture.

SUSANNAH OF THE MOUNTIES, from left, Shirley Temple, Martin Good Rider, 1939, TM and copyright 20th Century Fox Film Corp.

 

It was said at the time that Shirley made it a rule to not make friends with her child co-stars, but she did make friends with Martin.  And she became  friendly with other members of the Blackfeet cast, also, and earned their respect. Indeed, she was adopted into the Blackfeet tribe.

Because I write Indian romance, I rarely get to see pictures (movies) where the two characters (male and female) are actually teasing and having fun with one another.  This movie was like a breath of fresh air in that regard.  Martin’s character is almost constantly teasing Shirley and the result is cute and sometimes very funny.

Like the time she tries to walk out in front of him and he won’t go with her because (and this is true at this time period in history) Indian men DID NOT walk behind women.  They always went first and considered it their duty to do so.  They would always be the first to confront danger by doing this.

In the movie, Shirley of course doesn’t understand this and he doesn’t inform her of the custom.  But, as she is walking behind him and complaining rather louldy about it, he says, “Squaw keep quiet when walk behind Brave.”

 

Now, there were some things Martin Good Rider did really right, and I’m sure his elders were helping him with these things:

1)  The Blackfeet men wore three, not two braids.  Two in front and one in back.  They got this right in the movie.

2)  Martin does a bit of trick riding in the movie.  This was correct, also, because Blackfeet boys practically learned how to ride as soon as they could walk.

3)  There is an Indian dance scene where he is very correctly dancing in the Blackfeet traditional fashion, at least as far as I can tell.

4)  Even his clothing is correct because the traders during this time period often commented on the Blackfeet style of dress and how beautiful it was because their clothing was practically bleached white.

5)  His talk is very Blackfeet.  His grunts and groans, etc.  He would have never called her a “squaw,” however.  But, still he presented a good representation of his culture.

It really is a delightful movie and you can watch it for free on YouTube.  However, if I can find it somewhere, I will probably buy it.  I look for the old (silent) movies.  I look at the new ones, and if I do find a “romance” one, it almost always ends in a bad way.  This movie doesn’t end in a bad way and both of these characters steal the show.  Here’s a link if you’d like to watch it.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAacHqrDZHg&t=4717s

There is almost no information about Martin Good Rider as he grew up.  He remained true to his Blackfeet heritage and made this movie his only step into the Hollywood scene as far as I can discover.

But, I was fascinated at the friendship between these two children because it practically jumps off the screen.

And, historical American Indian movies that include the American Indian male and the white female — and that actually end well — are rare, in my opinion.  I can probably count them at present on one hand, which includes a silent movie I saw recently.

And so I thought I’d tell you a little about this movie so that if you get the chance, you might sit down some evening and have a look at it.

On the screen you will see them saying lines to one another, but their friendship is obviously real and one can feel the humor between the two of them.

Well, that’s all for today.  Sure hope you enjoyed my rambling about American Indian movies.  Again, here’s a link to watch it on YouTube if you are so inclined:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAacHqrDZHg&t=4717s

Be sure to look for my latest effort.

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KAREN KAY aka GEN BAILEY is the multi-published author of American Indian Historical Romances. She has written for such prestigious publishers as AVON/HarperCollins, Berkley/Penguin/Putnam and Samhain Publishing. KAREN KAY’S great grandmother was Choctaw Indian and Kay is honored to be able to write about the American Indian Culture.
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30 thoughts on “Susannah of the Mounties — Shirley Temple and Martin Good Rider”

  1. Thanks for sharing. I used to watch a lot of Shirley Temple movies when I was a kid, and I’m pretty sure I saw this one. It’s nice to know that this movie actually had some things done correctly and used real Indigenous People of the Blackfeet instead of white actors playing them.

    denise

  5. I also grew up watching Shirley Temple movies. I don’t think this one was shown very often. In some ways the 30’s were more progressive than right now!

  6. I just loved this blog, Karen! So interesting!! Like most women my age, I grew up watching Shirley Temple and wanted to be just like her. She was so cute and talented, and she had the cutest dresses. Your knowledge of this movie and its Blackfeet influence was fascinating.

    Thanks for educating us!

  8. Hi Carylkane, Thank you so much. If you get a chance, I think you might enjoy the movie. Like I said, the friendship between these two people practically jumps right off the screen. So delightful.

  9. I’ve never seen this movie! When I was young we had a station that did a movie every morning, and I saw some old ones on there, but I don’t remember this one! I have to say, one of the reasons I really liked Dancing with Wolves was NOT Kevin Costner, but the Native American cast!! They could have put anyone in the part Kevin Costner had and I wouldn’t care, I went for the Natives!!! That’s why I had to see it twice at the theater, I couldn’t watch and read the subtitles at the same time! Rodney Grant was my pick in that film!

    • Hi Trudy! It was the same with me. I even went and bought the version of the movie that had the scenes edited out — and most of them concerned the American Indians. I’ve seen the movie over and over. : )

  10. HI Kay,

    I really enjoyed your blog. You totally enriched this Shirley Temple movie for me, and now I appreciate it even more. I am also a fan of old movies, even silent era ones.

    And, ta-da! I finally found where to click to leave a comment.

    Yours truly,
    Nancy Olson

  12. That’s fascinating! I always loved Shirley Temple, I’ll have to see about watching this movie now. Thanks!

  13. Hi Karen, I also grew up watching Shirley Temple and I loved all the movies I watched with her. I don’t recall this one though, it sounds like a great one, Thank you for sharing the You tube link to the movie, I am going to have to watch it. I enjoyed reading your post. Thank you so much. Have a great week and stay safe.

    • Hi Alicia! Thanks so much for your delightful comment. Am really hoping you’ll enjoy the movie. Only after seeing it a few times through did I realize how much Martin Good Rider did the right things and how well he respresented his people, even though his words were written by another. It’s truly a delightful movie. Enjoy.

    • Hi Starr! How lovely to see you here. Yes, it really is a delightful movie and it’s made that way by these two children who obviously became friends. It’s unmistakable. Thanks for the comment.

    • Hi Debbie, I did, too. And, truly, her movies were usually delightful. This one is, too. The only difference for me was her obvious friendship with Martin and then, there was the fact that they used Blackfeet Indians (except for the two leading ones) for the Indians. Really lspecial.

  16. Thank you so much for this delightful post. It is interesting that they did such a good job of being relatively accurate in a time period which was less “enlightened.” Many of Shirley Temple’s movies and the relationships shown in them were ahead of their time. She continued on in her life to exhibit those same characteristics. I have a set of her videos and will have to check to see if this one is part of it.

    • Hi Patricia, Yes, please do. I think you’ll enjoy it. Especially in the light of all these things they did right in the movie. Nice to hear from you today.

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