Squaw Man

Perhaps as an expression of gratitude for the fact that 1914's The Squaw Man firmly established him as a top Hollywood director, Cecil B. DeMille remade the property no fewer than three times between 1918 and 1931. The second version of The Squaw Man closely followed the storyline of the first, which in turn was based on a play by Edwin Milton Royle. This time, Elliot Dexter starred as unjustly disgraced British nobleman Captain James Wynnegate, who relocates to Wyoming in hopes of starting life anew. Wynnegate rescues Indian maiden Nat-u-rich (Ann Little), who repays the favor by killing his bitterest enemy, cattle rustler Cash Hawkins (Jack Holt). When Wynnegate's name is cleared and his British fiancee Lady Diana (Katherine McDonald) returns to him, the disconsolate Nat-u-rich commits suicide. Far more expensive and elaborate than the original Squaw Man, the 1918 version was nonetheless neither as memorable nor significant as the 1914 adaptation. Only DeMille's 1931 remake of the property truly surpassed the standard set by the original.