By Erin Free
In this regular column, we drag forgotten made-for-TV movies out of the vault and into the light. This week: the compelling wilderness thriller Relentless, starring Will Sampson, Larry Wilcox, John Hillerman, Monte Markham and Marianna Hill.
When it comes to the often highly precarious historical positioning of Native Americans in cinema, the importance of the late Will Sampson cannot be overstated. For decades, Native Americans were played on screen by actors with no indigenous heritage, with the wildly inappropriate likes of Audrey Hepburn, Burt Lancaster, Rock Hudson, Chuck Connors, Jeff Chandler and even Australia’s own Michael Pate all donning the buckskins in a variety of WTF roles. Even one of the most famous Native Americans of all – Iron Eyes Cody, the famed “tearful Indian” from the Keep America Beautiful public service announcements of the 1970s – was no Native American at all, but rather a fraudulent Sicilian.
Though he had forebears (Jay Silverheels in The Lone Ranger) and contemporaries (Chief Dan George from Little Big Man and The Outlaw Josey Wales), Will Sampson was the first Native American actor to really emerge as a star. His breakout in 1975’s One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest as the towering, slyly funny Chief Bromden was a major moment in American cinema, and Sampson followed it up with strong, compelling performances in Robert Altman’s Buffalo Bill And The Indians, Or Sitting Bull’s History Lesson (1976), Clint Eastwood’s The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), the enjoyably odd The White Buffalo (1977) and the criminally underrated Orca (1977). A highly accomplished painter and rodeo performer, the imposing Muscogee (Creek) Nation man’s true calling was as an actor.
Will Sampson’s rising star was so bright that a hoped-for TV series for major network CBS was even built around him. It sadly didn’t end up getting picked up, and what remains of the intended series is the 1977 telemovie Relentless, which was created to gauge network and audience interest in the concept of Sampson’s crime-fighting Arizona State Trooper Sam Watchman, a calm, fair, level-headed but grimly determined lawman who uses his Native American know-how to catch crooks.
It’s a shame the series concept didn’t gain traction, because Relentless is a very nifty little watch indeed, courtesy of hard-working TV movie veteran Lee H. Katzin (who directed past Vintage Telemovie entries Zuma Beach and Strange Homecoming, as well as a few interesting features, including Steve McQueen’s Le Mans) and prolific TV writer Sam Rolfe (Hardcase), who skilfully adapts the same-titled novel by Death Wish author Brian Garfield. On top of that, it would have been great to see a weekly TV series in the 1970s headlined by a Native American actor. As something of a consolation, Sampson did score the recurring role of the scene-stealing Harlon Twoleaf on the popular 1970s crime series Vega$ with Robert Urich.
The case-to-be-solved in Relentless is a good one, with the authoritative Sam Watchman and his green-around-the-gills partner Buck (future CHiPS star Larry Wilcox) drawn into the pursuit of a gang of ruthless bank robbers. Led by the urbane Major Leo Hargit (Magnum PI’s John Hillerman), they’re an interesting bunch. Hargit wants to use his bank-job proceeds to set up his own mercenary mini-army, ready to intervene in conflicts around the world for the right price. Though Hargit has a couple of psycho military subordinates (Ted Markland, Ron Foster), there are also two far-from-martinet members of the group (John Lawlor, Antony Ponzini), which will see cracks start to form when they’re forced into the mountainous wilderness as a means of escape.
In hot pursuit are Sam and Buck, though they are saddled and slowed down by an FBI agent superior in the crisply efficient Paul Vickers (Monte Markham), who thinks he knows far more than Sam, even though the trio is very much on the seasoned Arizona State Trooper’s turf. The chase for the bank robbers is ratcheted up a considerable notch when the snarling crew kidnaps the beautiful Annie Lansford (Marianna Hill) along the way and then trudge headlong into an approaching storm. Wily, studied, clued-in and, as the film’s title suggests, relentless, Sam Watchman is on their trail…and he’s not giving up.
Though nothing especially new, Relentless is juiced substantially by its rich characterisation and highly accomplished performances. Will Sampson is incredibly likeable (his telephone conversations with a never-seen girlfriend are a delight) in the lead role, and he shares a great rapport with Larry Wilcox’s well-meaning but casually racist young trooper, their relationship subtly showing how insidious bigotry can be, even winding its way into a mostly respectful workplace friendship.
Monte Markham (so good in the classic telemovie Hotline) is almost hilariously cocky and no-nonsense as the FBI agent who thinks he knows everything, while John Hillerman uses his famed imperiousness to sinister effect here, and Ted Markland and Ron Foster are impressively nasty as his thugs. Marianna Hill does her best with a standard damsel-in-distress role, injecting a fair amount of pluck and resourcefulness.
Director Lee H. Katzin handles the action fairly well (in a mix of location and soundstage shooting), but Relentless is really all about the late, great Will Sampson. He’s offered a rare lead role here, and he carries the film with his characteristic charm and grace. Though now largely forgotten, Relentless was an important step in dragging the American film industry to its now considerably more enlightened position when it comes to Native American stories, filmmakers and actors.
Availability: Relentless is fairly easy to find online, but it’s unfortunately in pretty rough shape.
If you enjoyed this review, check out our other vintage telemovies The Connection, Zuma Beach, The Third Girl From The Left, Snowbeast, Stagecoach, Terror On The Beach, Strange Homecoming, The Possessed, Memorial Day, That Certain Summer, Elvis And The Beauty Queen, Scandal In A Small Town, Victims For Victims: The Theresa Saldana Story, The Seduction Of Gina, Blue Murder, The Brotherhood Of Justice, The Wave, The California Kid, The Cracker Factory, Night Terror, Inmates: A Love Story, The Shadow Riders, CHiPs: Roller Disco, Dawn: Portrait Of A Teenage Runaway, Young Love, First Love, Escape From Bogen County, The Death Squad, Hit Lady, Brian’s Song, The Defiant Ones, A Cry For Help, Trilogy Of Terror, Policewoman Centerfold, Smash-Up On Interstate 5, Something Evil, Savage, A Step Out Of Line, The Boy In The Plastic Bubble, The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission, A Very Brady Christmas, The Gladiator, Elvis, The Rat Pack, Silent Victory: The Kitty O’Neil Story, Terror Among Us, The Hanged Man, Hardcase, Charlie’s Angels: Angels In Vegas, Vanishing Point, To Heal A Nation, Fugitive Among Us, To Kill A Cop, Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, Police Story: A Chance To Live, Murder On Flight 502, Moon Of The Wolf, The Secret Night Caller, Cotton Candy, And The Band Played On, Gargoyles, Death Car On The Freeway, Short Walk To Daylight, Trapped, Hotline, Killdozer, The Jericho Mile, Mongo’s Back In Town and Tribes.
