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Poster for Tonka

1958 | 98 min | Adventure, Drama, Family, Western

Weeknight Watchearly rating

Why it’s a Weeknight Watch

With soft box office and little lasting buzz, it's a mixed bag. Fine if it's on; don't plan your night around it.

Based on critics, audiences, awards, box office and buzz. Details below.

Is it for you?

Who'll love it
Made for anyone with a bit of wanderlust and parents and kids watching together. A good one for when you want to be swept off somewhere else. Same wavelength as True Grit or Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron.
The mood
Feel-good.
The pace
Lively and easy to follow, at 1 hr 38 min.
What might put you off
  • Made in 1958: an older pace and style.
  • Skip it if you need something light and fast tonight.

Young Indian brave White Bull captures and tames a wild stallion and names him Tonka. But when White Bull's cruel cousin claims Tonka for his own and mistreats the horse, White Bull sets him free. Tonka finally finds a home with Capt. Keogh and the 7th Calvary, and in 1876, rides into the Battle of Little Big Horn with General Armstrong Custer, becoming its only survivor.

How it earned its rating

  • CriticsNot counted

    Not enough reviews on record yet

  • AudiencesNot counted

    Not measured yet: not enough ratings

  • AwardsNot counted

    No major awards or nominations

  • Box office & staying powerBelow par

    $3 million worldwide; still draws a steady audience long after release

  • Buzz & cultural impactBelow par

    About 19K people sought it out in the past year

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Cast & crew

Directed by Lewis R. Foster

  • Sal MineoWhite Bull
  • Philip CareyCaptain Myles Keogh
  • Jerome CourtlandLieutenant Henry Nowlan
  • H.M. WynantYellow Bull
  • Joy PagePrairie Flower
  • Britt LomondGeneral George Armstrong Custer
  • Rafael CamposStrong Bear
  • Herbert RudleyCaptain Benteen
  • Sydney SmithGeneral Alfred Howe Terry
  • John War EagleChief Sitting Bull