The Outsider (1961 film)

The Outsider
Film poster
Directed by	Delbert Mann
Written by	Stewart Stern
Produced by	Sy Bartlett
Starring	Tony Curtis
Cinematography	Joseph LaShelle, A.S.C.
Edited by	Marjorie Fowler, A.C.E.
Music by	Leonard Rosenman (composed and conducted)
Distributed by	Universal-International
Release date	December 1961 (1961-12)
Running time	108 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

The Outsider is a 1961 biopic film about Ira Hayes, a Native American who fought in World War II in the United States Marine Corps and was one of the Marines who raised the flag on Iwo Jima. The film stars Tony Curtis as Hayes. It was directed by Delbert Mann.

Jim Sorenson, a Marine depicted as Hayes's best friend, is a fictional composite of others who raised the flag.

Plot

The 17-year-old Ira Hamilton Hayes has never been off the Pima reservation in Arizona when he enlists in the United States Marine Corps to serve his country in World War II.

Hayes is shunned by fellow soldiers or mocked as "Chief" by them except for one, Jim Sorenson. By chance they are two of the six U.S. servicemen who memorably hoist the American flag on Mount Suribachi during the violent battle at Iwo Jima, after which Sorenson is killed by enemy fire.

A morose and traumatized Hayes returns home, where he is proclaimed a hero and recruited to help sell war bonds to the public. As his depression mounts, Hayes, feeling unworthy of the attention and publicity, takes refuge in whiskey.

Marine Corps War Memorial

His continued drunkenness after he leaves the Marine Corps becomes a public scandal. Hayes simply wishes to be left alone, but a tribal chief implores him to go to Washington, D.C., on his people's behalf to seek political support for an irrigation bill. Not until he attends the dedication of the Marine Corps War Memorial (also called the Iwo Jima Memorial) in Arlington, Virginia on November 10, 1954, does he sober up and pull himself together.

Hayes returns to the reservation, but is deeply disappointed when the tribal council no longer seems to want anything to do with him. He begins drinking again and goes off into the hills, where he dies of exposure to the elements ten years after the Iwo Jima battle. He was 32.

End inscription

"Ira Hayes was buried with
full military honors at
Arlington National Cemetery
on February 2, 1955."

Cast

• Tony Curtis as Ira Hayes
• Co-starring James Franciscus as Jim Sorenson
• Gregory Walcott as Sergeant Kiley
• Bruce Bennett as Major General Bridges
• Vivian Nathan as Nancy Hayes

• With Edmund Hashim as Morago
• Paul Comi as Sergeant Boyle
• Stanley Adams as Noomie
• Wayne Heffley as Corporal Johnson
• Ralph Moody as Uncle

• Jeff Silver as McGruder
• James Beck as Tyler
• Forrest Compton as Bradley
• Peter Homer, Sr. as Mr. Alvarez
• Mary Patton as Chairlady

Production

The movie was filmed on location at the Gila River Indian Reservation in Arizona, Camp Pendleton in California, Soldier Field in Chicago, San Diego, the Marine Corps War Memorial at Arlington, Virginia, Arlington National Cemetery, and at Universal Studios in California.

See also

• List of American films of 1961
• Whitewashing in film

External links

• The Outsider at IMDb