The Exiles is a 1961 film by Kent MacKenzie chronicling a day in the life of a group of 20-something Native Americans who left reservation life in the 1950s to live in the district of Bunker Hill, Los Angeles, California. Bunker Hill was then a blighted residential locality of decayed Victorian mansions, sometimes featured in the writings of Raymond Chandler, John Fante, and Charles Bukowski. The structure of the film is that of a narrative feature, the script pieced together from interviews with the documentary subjects. The film features Yvonne Williams, Homer Nish, and Tommy Reynolds.
Plot
The film is about Native Americans who have left their reservations in the Southwest. It follows them in Bunker Hill, a gritty neighborhood in Los Angeles.[2] The cast of American Indian actors are notable for their lack of self-consciousness as they drink and socialize during a night out on the town ending in a 49 party[3] of drumming and dancing on "Hill X" overlooking downtown LA.[4][5]
Cast
Yvonne Williams
Homer Nish
Tommy Reynolds
Rico Rodrigues
Clifford Ray Sam
Clydean Parker
Mary Donahue
Eddie Sunrise as singer on Hill X
Jacinto Valenzuela
Ann Amiador as waitress at The Ritz
Delos Yellow Eagle
Louis Irwin
Norman St. Pierre
Marilyn Lewis as Yvonne's friend
Bob Lemoyne
Ernest Marden
Frankie Red Elk
Chris Surefoot
Sedrick Second
Leonard Postock
Eugene Pablo
Matthew Pablo
Sarah Mazy
Gloria Muti
Arthur Madrull as man being shaved
Ted Guardipee
Ned Casey
Jay Robidaux
I. J. Walker
Julia Escalanti as Rico's wife
Danny Escalanti as boy with skypiece
Della Escalanti
Tony Fierro
Production
Filming was started in the late 1950s. The film features rock and roll music provided by Anthony Hilder and Robert Hafner. It was performed by The Revels,[6][7] who recorded on Hilder's Impact record label.[8] Years later Norman Knowles of The Revels recalled some of the tracks they recorded for the film. They included "It's Party Time" and possibly "Revellion". According to Knowles, the song "Commanche," which was written for the movie, was cut.[9]
Release
The Exiles premiered at the 1961 Venice Film Festival. As it was only licensed (16mm version) to schools and churches, it did not find a distributor to release it theatrically in that year,[10] and so over the years it fell into obscurity, known to cinephiles but remaining largely unseen by the public. A restored version produced by the UCLA Film and Television Archive premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in February 2008, and Milestone Films released it commercially and on DVD in summer 2008.
Legacy
In 2009, it was named to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant and will be preserved for all time.[11]
Years later, Variety film critic Dennis Harvey's review of the 2015 film Mekko, about a Native American, mentioned The Exiles and On the Bowery (1956); he referred to the two older films as being classics also set on skid row.[12]
Production crew
Written, produced, and directed by Kent MacKenzie
Cinematography by Erik Daarstad, Robert Kaufman, John Morrill
Production by Ronald Austin, Sam Farnsworth, John Morrill, Erik Daarstad, Robert Kaufman, Beth Pattrick, Sven Walnum, Paula Powers
Additional photography by Sven Walnum, Nicholas Clapp, Vilis Lapenieks.
The Exiles essay by Daniel Eagan in America's Film Legacy, 2009-2010: A Viewer's Guide to the 50 Landmark Movies Added To The National Film Registry in 2009–10, Bloomsbury Publishing USA, 2011, ISBN1441120025 pages 103-106 [2]
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