The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Western Calvary outlaw James Garner (as Clint Keyes) escapes hanging, and heads for the hills. Meanwhile, preteen Clay O'Brien (as Mark) is discovered to be a white boy in an Indian wig, taken from his tribe, and made Christian through baptism by Chaplain Andrew Prine. He runs away and hooks up with Mr. Garner. The bonded pair symbolically travel with a brown adult camel named "Rosie" and a young white one named "Thirsty". A fantasy family is completed when they happen upon pretty widow Vera Miles (as Doris McIver) and blue-eyed daughter Jodie Foster (as Martha). Alas, the men must hit the trail again. Young O'Brien does well, considering the way characters keep checking his bare buttocks to see if he is a real Indian, or not. After lowering the lad's pants, Garner utters the film's best line, "You ain't anymore Cheyenne than I am!" ***** One Little Indian (6/20/73) Bernard McEveety ~ James Garner, Clay O'Brien, Vera Miles, Jodie Foster

One Little Indian is the first of two westerns that James Garner and Vera Miles made for Walt Disney Productions in the middle Seventies, the second being The Castaway Cowboy. Vera has less to do in this film as James Garner spends most of his screen time with the actor playing the title role, young Clay O'Brien.The title is really a misnomer because O'Brien isn't an Indian. He's a white captive who is discovered as such after an army patrol brings in some women and kids. He's used to living with the Cheyenne and runs away.While on the run O'Brien meets up with James Garner who is also on the run from the army. He's been sentenced to hang for mutiny and desertion and Sergeant Morgan Woodward is making it a personal mission to bring Garner in. As it turns out Garner finds O'Brien invaluable because he didn't get away on a horse. His getaway animal was a mother camel named Rosebud and her baby named Thirsty. Part of the remnants of Jefferson Davis's camel corps experiment which even today can be found roaming our deserts in the Southwest. Rosie can outlast any horse on the desert, but she does require some special handling and O'Brien proves to have a way with the beast.Where One Little Indian succeeds is in the chemistry between Garner and O'Brien without which the film couldn't work. Rendering them aid and comfort for a while is widowed mother Vera Miles and her daughter Jodie Foster. Garner being an army deserter and under sentence to hang does complicate things for a romance with Miles.This is a Walt Disney production so you know it will all work out. Pat Hingle a gruff army captain who does not like the routine of his well ordered post disrupted proves to be a savior for all, but Woodward. How that is accomplished is something to watch One Little Indian for.One Little Indian is a pleasant piece of entertainment from Walt Disney with the added pleasure of James Garner.

You know I watch a great many movies, being disabled and not very mobile can do that to you.From action to romance and thriller to comedy I pretty much enjoy any genre and being this way I have seen a lot of action packed movies. So when one comes my way that is simply a good story with fun and a pleasant message it is refreshing.This is one of those movies! Good, fun, pleasant to watch and with clean non-violent message.James Garner is good fun and plays the role well.Jodie Foster is in it for only a few scenes but you know even seeing her at that age (11 i guess) was kind of neat! Vera Miles also plays her part well.As for the "one little Indian" - Clay O'Brien, he plays his part well, and even the occasional dodgy haircut is forgivable! So in short, if you a looking for a good, clean, family movie I can recommend this one.All the best from Southern Ireland! Kevin

As a teenager, I have a natural taste for movies with excellent special effects, engaging, innovative plots and good old fashioned gore. However, as a father, I have grown a special appreciation for movies that are simply decent and human. This is one of those. It is a family movie, but with a clever and, well, lovable concept. Well written and well performed, it has the capacity to touch even those who don't want to admit they can be touched, even if it is old.