I found by chance Walt Disney’s 1958 production of The Light in the Forest, which seems at best to be loosely inspired by Conrad Richter’s 1953 classic novel set in 1764. From perusing many comments about both, I believe Disney has added a romance, kinder white characters and a very happy ending for our hero, a white boy kidnapped by Indians, adopted by their chief, raised to hate the white man, then at age 15 must return because of treaty conditions with the British. Other white “captives” must also return, though none want to, and the chief solemnly keeps his word.

Our hero, called True Son by the natives and Johnny Butler by the whites back in Pennsylvania, is not happy with the prospect of leaving his father and best friend for some white folk he doesn’t even remember after eleven years and he tries to get out of it, even to the point of chewing mandrake root (the half-native army lieutenant forces him to spit it out). This sounds faithful to the novel.

The problems begin when True Son sullenly arrives home in the company of his white father and the lieutenant who is concerned for everybody’s safety. True Son could harm his white father to escape and there are murderous Indian haters in True Son’s new home, led by his despicable uncle. Disney and screenwriter Lawrence Edward Watkin added to the uncle’s immorality by his owning a beautiful servant girl orphaned by another native tribe and being a bad-shooting drunk. Of course, the girl is afraid of True Son/Johnny at first and Johnny thinks she’s lying, but things work out and they fall in love.

Things come to a head when a native friend tries to visit Johnny and gets shot. He hears about it from his native best friend and they seek revenge, but the girl is horrified. Johnny is caught between his two natures and pleads with her to leave with him, but she won’t and he runs back to his tribe.

I don’t want to give much more away. You can see what the problems are and they’re big ones. Disney simplifies it quite a bit, I imagine, by making his white parents so loving and supportive and his aunt also fairly nice to Johnny, which is different from the novel. When True Son returns, he’s not the cold-blooded native he was and he begins to see his tribe with new eyes, so where will he end up? Will he be able to give up his girl or will he face her uncle to prove he’s a white boy? Hmmm!

The Light in the Forest has a pretty good cast. Fess Parker as the concerned lieutenant who also falls in love, Wendell Corey as the loutish uncle, James MacArthur as Johnny, Jessica Tandy as his white mother, Carol Lynley as the girl (her debut) and many others make this an enjoyable film. Kids should also be taken with it, probably more than the lyrical novel. Hershel Daughterty directed this unrated, 92-minute movie that hasn’t been put on DVD (only on video in 1997), not letting me get bored with the action-packed, highly emotional story. I know, however, it’s been given the Disney treatment for kids and would probably prefer the more realistic, well-researched novel.

I can’t complain about the colorful scenery filling the screen, but there’s a love of nature that reminds me of Bambi non-animated. It brings out the romantic in Johnny, you could say!

You’ll have to find this on VHS somewhere, but it’ll be worth it, especially if you have kids.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up to Age 4