Land of Cochise

Two movies depicting the life of Geronimo were made and released within the same month in 1993, but only one of the two included Cochise in the storyline. The "other one" (Geronimo, An American Legend) had the bigger budget, the most "name actors", and the least resemblance to historical fact.

This "Geronimo" also took liberties with the facts, as all movies do (just why, I'll never really understand), but all in all it told the overall story quite well with respect to the incendiary circumstances resulting from Americans invading the Southwest. The relationship between Geronimo and Cochise is correctly shown to be less than personal, almost to the point of casual. There was no melodramatic clash of personalities as inferred in "Broken Arrow" and virtually every other movie I've seen where the two characters are written into the same script. Geronimo in the beginning looked to Cochise as he would to any other powerful leader who happened to be older and wiser than he, and it was not until much later in Geronimo's life that he chose to break Cochise's treaty with the Americans . . . and then only after Cochise's death (and after the Americans found a way to justify closing the Chiricahua Reservation, which they had promised to Cochise as 'ever lasting'.)

August Schellenberg takes a small role (though he appears in quite a few scenes) and somehow manages to imbue his character with obvious strength and gravity, while tastefully showing us that Cochise had a sharp sense of wit. His physical appearance is perhaps a bit fleshy for the part, but his full mouth and intense gaze, and the prominent nose, make up for the fullness of his cheeks. At 5'8", he is a close match for Cochise and this also helped him stand out amongst the other Indians.

One complaint: I disliked how this movie portrayed the meeting between Cochise and General Howard (although to their credit they did include in the peace party both Lt. Sladen and a scraggly bearded Tom Jeffords). In this movie's version of history, Cochise is bent over and frail at their initial meeting, wrapped in an Indian blanket and barely able to walk. This of course is total fiction, as we know he rode in at a full gallop, a vision of visceral power and command.

The death of Cochise is depicted with solemnity and dignity, and the overpowering sense of loss to the Apache band which he led is clearly and hauntingly evident. However, more fiction creeps in afterward, in which we are asked to believe that Geronimo had an important part in the highly ritualistic burial. In fact, there is little chance he was prominent enough within that band, which was not his traditional band, to have been permitted at the site at all . . . certainly not in such a forward role.

THE HIGHEST MARKS SO FAR . . . -- Cont.