Ahead of Martin Scorsese’s new Osage Nation-set film Killers of the Flower Moon, Save the Man presents an assembly of titles showcasing an overlooked trend in Pre-Code Hollywood: studio films to openly confront the contemporary consequences of this nation’s fraught history with its Indigenous peoples. Featuring a melodrama on mixed-race love, a tale of Native Alaskan revenge, a doomed Navajo Nation bordertown romance, and a violent uprising led by a Wild West Show performer against a corrupt government, these four forgotten films each reflect the era’s affinity for breaking on-screen taboos. They stand out as being both of their time and beyond the studio filmmaking of today.

Series curated and program notes by Adam Piron.