| Warner Baxter | ... | James 'Jim' Wingate, aka Jim Carston | |
| Lupe Velez | ... | Naturich | |
| Eleanor Boardman | ... | Lady Diana Kerhill | |
| Charles Bickford | ... | Cash Hawkins | |
| Roland Young | ... | Sir John 'Johnny' Applegate | |
| Paul Cavanagh | ... | Henry, Earl of Kerhill | |
| Raymond Hatton | ... | Shorty | |
| Julia Faye | ... | Mrs. Chichester Jones | |
| DeWitt Jennings | ... | Sheriff Bud Hardy | |
| J. Farrell MacDonald | ... | Big Bill (as J. Farrell McDonald) | |
| Mitchell Lewis | ... | Tabywana | |
| Dickie Moore | ... | Little Hal Carston | |
| Victor Potel | ... | Andy | |
| Frank Rice | ... | Grouchy | |
| Eva Dennison | ... | Dowager Lady Amy Kerhill, Henry's Mother | |
| Lilian Bond | ... | Babs | |
| Luke Cosgrave | ... | Shanks, Driver in Arizona | |
| Frank Hagney | ... | Deputy Clark | |
| Lawrence Grant | ... | General Stafford | |
| Harry Northrup | ... | Meadows, the Butler | |
| Ed Brady | ... | McSorley, Hawkins' Henchman | |
| Chris-Pin Martin | ... | Spanish Pete - Hawkins' Henchman (as Chrispin Martin) | |
| rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
| Kathryn Adams | ... | Party Guest (uncredited) | |
| Earl Askam | ... | Posseman (uncredited) | |
| Max Barwyn | ... | Party Guest (uncredited) | |
| Ben Corbett | ... | Barfly (uncredited) | |
| Herbert Evans | ... | Train Conductor (uncredited) | |
| Winifred Kingston | ... | Party Guest (uncredited) | |
| Louise Mackintosh | ... | Party Guest (uncredited) | |
| Pete Morrison | ... | Barfly (uncredited) | |
| Edgar Norton | ... | Fox Huntsman (uncredited) | |
| Artie Ortego | ... | White Horse, Naturich's Brother (uncredited) | |
| Desmond Roberts | ... | Hardwick (uncredited) | |
| Pat Somerset | ... | Seated Officer at Party (uncredited) | |
Directed by | |||
| Cecil B. DeMille | (as Cecil B. De Mille) | ||
Writing credits | ||
| Edwin Milton Royle | (play) | |
| Lucien Hubbard | (screenplay) and | |
| Lenore J. Coffee | (screenplay) (as Lenore Coffee) | |
| Elsie Janis | (dialogue) | |
Produced by | |||
| Cecil B. DeMille | .... | producer (as Cecil B. De Mille) | |
Cinematography by | |||
| Harold Rosson | |||
Film Editing by | |||
| Anne Bauchens | |||
Art Direction by | |||
| Mitchell Leisen | |||
Costume Design by | |||
| Adrian | (gowns) | ||
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director | |||
| Earl Haley | .... | assistant director | |
| Mitchell Leisen | .... | assistant director | |
Sound Department | |||
| Douglas Shearer | .... | recording director | |
Stunts | |||
| Audrey Scott | .... | stunt double: Eleanor Boardman (uncredited) | |
| George Sowards | .... | stunts (uncredited) | |
Music Department | |||
| Charles Maxwell | .... | orchestrator (uncredited) | |
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| The Squaw Man | Gone with the Wind | Giant | The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford | The Letter |
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| Full cast and crew | Company credits | External reviews |
| IMDb Drama section | IMDb USA section | Add this title to MyMovies |
As all film buffs know Cecil B. DeMille's first version of The Squaw Man was the very first film done in what we now call Hollywood. He did a second silent version and for his third film on his MGM hiatus from Paramount he did it once again.
Third time was not the charm. Although the actors, especially Warner Baxter as the disgraced English Earl who goes to the American west and meets, weds, and beds an Indian maiden, Lupe Velez are competent and sincere the film is terribly dated. Depression audiences simply were not interested in a Victorian morality tale with a dose of the British stiff upper lip.
It all sounds so quaint and ridiculous. Baxter is accused of embezzlement and he knows who the culprit is, but won't inform because he doesn't want to disgrace the other guy's family. So with admirable rectitude he heads west and make a new life in America.
He also manages to make an enemy of Charles Bickford who was another rancher who covets his land. But Baxter finds love with Lupe, as did most of Hollywood in real life, and he has a son who will in fact inherit his title.
Cecil B. DeMille was a child of his time. Melodramas like The Squaw Man was the stuff that the legitimate theater did when he grew up and learned his trade from David Belasco.
But audiences weren't buying it in 1931, people had real issues about where the next meal was coming from and could they find work. A story about some Victorian honor code just wasn't marketable.
It's a sincere film though and it might be worth a look to judge what public tastes were at the turn of the last century and before the Roaring Twenties.