Flap (1970)

Interesting facts

Flap is a 1970 American Western film directed by Carol Reed and starring Anthony Quinn, Claude Akins and Shelley Winters. Set in a modern Native American reservation, it is an adaptation of the novel Nobody Loves a Drunken Indian by Clair Huffaker.

Production

Intending to avoid cinema stereotypes of Native Americans, producer Jerry Adler hired Sir Carol Reed because the British director had not had exposure to the clichéd portrayal of American Indians in American Westerns.

Richard Harris (A Man Called Horse, 1970) was originally cast as Flapping Eagle, but withdrew from the production over creative differences, and was replaced by Anthony Quinn. Himself part Mexican-Indian, "Hollywood's favorite Indian warrior", Quinn had made several stereotypical Old West American Indian portrayals, including Crazy Horse in They Died with Their Boots On, a Cheyenne Indian in The Plainsman, and a fictional portrayal of Chief Yello…

The role of Flapping Eagle was directed with American patriotic elements to communicate that the character did not hold total animosity towards the United States and was in fact a dutiful citizen; the character had been a decorated sergeant in the United States Army and wore a hat and shirt for the New York Yankees as well as a sea jacket (author Clair Huffaker was a US Navy veteran of WWII).

The movie was filmed in 1969 on locations in Albuquerque, Madrid, Puye Cliffs (Santa Clara Pueblo), Santa Fe, and Santo Domingo Pueblo.

After completion, concerned about reception, Warner Bros. kept the movie on the shelf for 18 months before general release. The November following production, 89 American Indians and their supporters occupied Alcatraz Island. Quinn was among the several celebrities who visited the Occupation. After this, the movie was promoted in connection and the Occupation, with posters proclaiming "The Indians have already claimed Alcatraz."

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