AllMovie

Colonel Tim McCoy had worked as an advisor on Indian sign languages and other things western during the making of James Cruze's The Covered Wagon in 1923. The newly founded MGM was the only major studio without a western line-up and tested the well-known war hero for a proposed series. McCoy proved just as good an actor as he was handsome, and the studio signed him to a star in a series of medium-budgeted westerns beginning with War Paint. W.S. "Woody" Van Dyke, a genial director who could create exciting screen fare without fuss and on time, helmed the inaugural McCoy feature which naturally dealt with Indians vs. the White Man. McCoy often expressed deep sympathy for Native Americans, and there are both good and bad Indians in his films. In this instance, a brave is humiliated in a fight with McCoy and vows vengeance on the White Man in general. McCoy saves the day, however, and without the usual stereotyping of his Native American cast. The film was made back-to-back with the second entry in the McCoy series, Winners of the Wilderness.