A Pueblo Legend
About A Pueblo Legend
On a feast day at Isleta, before the Spanish have come, the people dance the green boughs. The sun priest tells of a turquoise stone that fell from the sky and lodged in the earth. Recovering it would mean light and prosperity. The great brother, the tribe's exemplar, is chosen to go after it. The journey is the rest of the picture.
Cast & crew
More about A Pueblo Legend
D. W. Griffith wrote and directed. G. W. Bitzer photographed it. A trade description says the two-reel production was made at Isleta Pueblo, where the story is set, and that costume plates, shields, weapons, and accessories were lent by the Museum of Indian Antiques in Albuquerque. A listing gives a United States release of August 29, 1912, and a British date of October 27, 1912. Mary Pickford, Wilfred Lucas, and Robert Harron are billed.
Themes
Making
Griffith's company shot at Isleta rather than on a backlot, and borrowed objects from the Albuquerque museum.
Look
G. W. Bitzer photographed the feast and the quest at Isleta Pueblo.
Preservation
A copy is on Wikimedia Commons. Published lengths disagree: two reels in the trade text, 13 minutes on Wikidata.
Notes
- The dance in the opening is the spring dance of the green boughs.
- The stone is turquoise, said to have fallen from the sky.
- The museum loan is named in the trade description of the production.
- Wikidata lists a 13-minute duration. The trade text calls the film two reels.
- A copy is on Wikimedia Commons.
Scenes
- The sun priest tells the turquoise story during the green-bough dance.
- The great brother is chosen and sent out.
