In this Western written and directed by Samuel Fuller, Rod Steiger plays a Confederate soldier who is unable to accept the defeat of the South at the close of the Civil War, and heads West to continue the fight against the U.S. as a member of the Sioux nation. Central to the film are variations on two Fuller preoccupations: the importance of national identity to individual identity, and the role of the individual in war. Alan Lovell comments on both in “Samuel Fuller” (an Edinburgh Film Festival publication): “In essence, Fuller seems to be saying that violence and racism are the responsibility of subordinates whose personal temperament is such that it leads them to act in an ugly way.... Fuller...exclude(s)...established authority from responsibility....” Fuller's own comments are interesting in this light: “My hero is the epitome of the Southern type, limited, bigoted, a bad man losing from a bad cause. He tries to escape his responsibilities. He rejects reality. I hate him....” and, elsewhere, “I'm more interested in the shooting of a man than the shooting of a soldier.” (JB)