Black Fox

In the opener, ex-Virginian Alan Johnson (Christopher Reeve) and his African-American bloodbrother Britt (Tony Todd) settle on the 1861 frontier, where they face racial slurs from crackers like Ralph Holtz (Chris Wiggins) and Indian raids which proliferate once the military pulls out due to Civil War commitments. Instead of hightailing it to the fort, Alan and Britt track down their families captured by Kiowa and Commanches. Winning the respect of Running Dog (Raol Trujillo), Britt engages in hand-to-hand combat with Standing Bear (Byron Chiefmoon) and negotiates the release of all white hostages except for abused Delores Holtz (Cyndy Preston) who prefers to remain Running Dog's squaw, rather than return to Ralph, who threatens reprisals.

In "Blood Horse," ornery Ralph Holtz stirs up anti-Injun talk and secures the services of a preacher who doubles as an arms dealer. Selling the Kiowa faulty flintlocks through his middleman, Holtz primes prairie racists for what promises to be a massacre. Since most settlers adopt a neutrality policy, Alan and Britt save the day by stealing the preacher's Gatling gun and sending Holtz's brigade running for cover.

In "Good Men and Bad," Britt reluctantly accepts a federal marshall's post while Alan turns outlaw after a desperado Carl Glenn (David Fox) guns down his wife and wounds him. While hunting the killer, Alan slowly wins the trust of notorious bandit Nantchez John Dunn (Kim Coates), a compadre of Glenn's. During a stagecoach robbery, the gang captures Hallie Russell (Kelly Rowan) who, to stay alive, claims to be the ransomable wife of a tycoon. In the climactic shootout, Hallie gets Dunn with a concealed weapon, while Alan captures Glenn for a date with the hangman. Revenge satisfied, Alan returns to the right side of the Law.

As the episodes lose sight of an overarching brotherhood theme, they grow progressively less interesting. In the opening, anti-Indian and anti-Negro sentiments are paralleled in a tale that sympathizes with the plight of the uprooted and enslaved. With sturdy story construction and no-frills direction, "The Black Fox" concludes satisfyingly with Mrs. Holtz's "I Will Go Back To My Husband No More Forever" stance. "Blood Horse," continues its consideration of Indian affairs (hitching mainstream religion with bigotry as the traveling man of God turns out to be a munitions peddler with a hate agenda). Repetition mars this episode as rotter Holtz keeps regrouping his vigilantes and the Kiowa keep reiterating their noble sentiments to fight like men. Since the Native American exodus gives the triptych its unique underpinnings, the third and most conventional installment, "Good Men and Bad" is the least gripping, allowing Reeve to ride out this standard revenge tale with movie star aplomb (shortly before THE BLACK FOX premiered on cable TV, Reeve was paralyzed by a fall from horseback; scenes showcasing his athletic equestrian prowess are unsettling). Most arresting here is the subtle performance of Rowan as her character plays a shell game with the badmen.

All in all, THE BLACK FOX trilogy lets aficionados saddle up for considerable adventure even if their ride could have sheared off a few hundred miles of here and there. Admirable for its decision to craft a straightforward saga with serious undertones, this canters, but does not gallop, down a trail of Wild West formulas. (Violence, profanity, sexual situations, adult situations.) leave a comment