Chingachgook: The Great Snake

Gojko Mitic stars in this film based on James Fenimore Cooper's novel The Deerslayer. When English troops attempt to seize the French colonial settlements in North America in 1740, the local Indian tribes become involved as mercenaries - the Huron on the French side, and the Delawareans on the English side. Wahtawah, the daughter of the Delawarean chief, is promised to the young warrior Chingachgook, but before the nuptials can take place, the Huron raid the Delawarean camp and run off with Wahtawah. Together with his friend Deerslayer, Chingachgook sets out to free Wahtawah from her captors - and to convince the Huron that the war between the whites ought not concern the Indians.

Like Spaghetti Westerns, the Red Westerns are classic American Westerns created far, far from the American West -- in this case, by Communist East Germany's legendary DEFA Film Studios. Turning the traditional American cowboy and indian movies on their head, these beautifully shot films made the Native Americans the heroes, and cast the American Army and white settlers as villains -- with obvious Cold War overtones.