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In many ways, this movie looks and feels much older than 1973, and I'm still not quite convinced that this is accurate. Yet, the social conscience of the 70's is there, if only in throw away lines and occasional, unexpected preachiness. The struggle for the WMD of the era, i.e. the Gatling Gun of the movie's title, involves a small band of US Cavalry, one "bad apple" (Robert Fuller playing effectively against type), and the Apaches, headed by the Spanish speaking chief "Two Knives." Thrown in the mix are the vixenish step-daughter of a self-righteous preacher (must have been a handful for that man of the cloth) and an All-American, sharp-shootin'"Annie Oakley Type" who in one brief scene appears in a dress and is described as "All Girl" (which she is!). Plus John Wayne's son, I think, and a couple of old codgers. Any and all of the characters vacillate here and there in their views on the treatment of the American Indian and their role in history but the Gatling Gun has the final word.

One wonders how a movie of this sort ever got made, basically a two character drama in a one-set play (although the set is rather a spectacular one, and the quality of the color of this production is eye-popping). Although Spencer Tracy more or less sleep walks his way through this film, sometimes using his "Portuguese Fisherman" accent from "Captains Courageous", sometimes not, he still would be my choice of the person to first see on opening my eyes after surviving a plane crash....he exudes character and compassion. Robert Walker's "angry young brother" character, on the other hand, is quite unbelievably unprincipled...I wish he had been given even a modicum of balance in this tale. A plodding, predictable script does pick up and turn exciting towards the end. Overall, the viewer might be left with a sense of the strangeness of this 1950's artifact.

1980's style, "modern" (and mostly tomboyish) nuns siting around struggling with their new exposure in the world, sans the religious veil and habit, all seem genuine and thoughtful, although heavily influenced by the "Liberation Theology" (read Marxist) and activist politics in vogue in that period. This is overlayed with a stringent dose of radical feminism, goddess theory and always reliable male bashing that detracts from the more nuanced struggles expressed by these women who are interviewed. A deadpan, monotone narrator is especially irritating, as is the use of fictional portrayals of nuns at their most masochistic as fact. Still, it captures the anger and angst of the time and is best enjoyed as such.