One idea I recall from the book was that J. Edgar Hoover used this case to push for more power. The case was not totally resolved. The essential idea that the Osage had been poorly treated is true as with many other European interchanges with the indigenous.
The Osage had been re-located several times before this move to Oklahoma. One difference was this time they were able to get mineral rights. As luck would have it oil was discovered in such amounts that most became millionaires. They had legal rights to the revenue generated by the oil, but by law the court appointed guardians for each recipient assuming the Osage were incompetent.
One powerful man, William Hale encourages his nephew Ernest Burkhart to marry an Osage woman Mollie pointing out he could inherit oil income. We learn that many of the Osage died under suspicious circumstances and soon others were murdered.
Other people were involved and we probably will never know exactly who. It is another mark against Americans involving not only demonstrated self-righteous greed, but also racism. One can only hope that we have all learned a lesson. After several attempts Tom White of the Bureau of Investigation, not yet the F.B.I.was called in to sort out the mess.
At almost 3 1/2 hours it takes a lot of professionalism to maintain your interest. Here are some of contributors.
Martin Scorsese director, writer, producer and actor. His formal film education took place at New York University;s School of Film. Later as a lecturer he taught Spike Lee and Oliver Stone. Scorsese has been involved with restoring and finding lost films He has directed for 19 Oscar nominated performances. He has 85 credits as a producer, 68 credits as a director, 36 credits as an actor (mostly cameos) and 16 as screenwriter. His credits include "Taxi Driver" (1976), "Raging Bull" (1980), "After Hours" (1985), "The Last Temptation of Christ" (1988), "The Aviator" (2004), "The Departed" (2006), "Hugo" (2011), "The Wolf of Wall Street" (2013), "Silence" (2016), "Rolling Thunder Revue" (2019) and "The Irishman" (2019). Martin likes to work with proven cast and crew and that will be evident with the other biographies.
Robbie Robertson wrote much of the music although he died two months before release of the film which was dedicated to him. I had not realized until researching him that I probably saw him in person as a young adult. He was part of Little Caesar and the Consuls and later of Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks. He was already a lead guitarist and a song co-writer. Later he became guitarist for Bob Dylan and worked with Neil Diamond, Eric Clapton and Nelly Furtado. A big step was forming his own group called the Band. He approached Martin Scorsese to do a film of the band, but also intersperced with other groups. This became "The Last Waltz" (1977). From there Robbie worked with music from Scorsese and others including "Raging Bull" (1980), "The Wolf of Wall Street" (2013), "Silence"(2013) and "The Irishman" (2019). Robbie became a member of The Canadian Songwriter Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He also wrote and arranged music representing the indigenous.
Rodrigo Prieto the cinematography got his start in Mexico with Mexico directors. He has 20 film credits including "Amores Perros" (2000), "Frida" 2002), "Brokeback Mountain" (2006), "Lust, Caution" (2007). "State of Play" (2009), "Biutiful" (2010), "We Bought a Zoo" (2010), "Water for Elephants" (2011), "Argo" (2012), "The Homesman" (2014), "Passengers" (2016), "Silence" (2016), "The Putin Interviews" (2017) and "The Irishman" (2019).
Thelma Schoonmaker was the editor. She had been born in Algiers, but her family fled to Aruba and as a teen she came to America. She has been a friend of Martin Scorsese who introduced her to a future husband, Michael Powell, a mentor for Martin. She has won 3 Oscars all for Scorsese films. She has 39 film credits including "Raging Bull" (1980), "After Hours" (1985, "The Last Temptation of Christ" (1988), "The Aviator" (2004), "The Departed" (2006), "Hugo" (2011), "The Wolf of Wall Street" (2013), "Learning to Drive" (2014), "Bombay Velvet" (2015), "Silence" (2016), "The Snowman" (2017) and "The Irishman" (2019). Some critics think Scorsese films are too long, but is likely discussions between him and Thelma are agreeable.
Ellen Lewis was in charge of casting and also has a long working relationship with Martin. She apprenticed for over 8 years. Ellen has cast 5 Emmy winning performers and 4 Oscar winning performers. She has 92 film credits including ""The Aviator" (2004) "The Devil Wears Prada" (2006),"The Departed" (2006), "Charlie Wilson's War" (2007), "Hugo" (2011), "Extremely Loud, Incredibly Close" (2011), "Her" (2013), "Bridge of Spies" (2015), "Silence" (2016), "The Post" (2017), "The Irishman" (2019), "Bad Education" (2020) and "The Queen's Gambit" (2020). http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2016/05/bridge-of-spies.html
Leonardo DiCaprio played Ernest Burkhart and was also an executive producer. He started in a supporting role for a tv. sitcom. Later he became a teenage heartthrob. By the 2000's he became a leading man in diverse roles. He has 44 acting credits and 48 producing credits. His films include "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" (1993), "Titanic"(1997),"Catch Me If You Can" (2002), "The Departed" (2006), "Shutter Island" (2010), "Inception" (2010), "J. Edgar" (2011), "The Great Gatsby" (2013), "The Wolf of Wall Street" (2013), "The Revenant" (2015), and "Don't Look Up" (2021). He is a staunch environmental and wildlife advocate.
Robert De Niro played William Hale. He lived in the same neighborhood and time as Martin Scorsese, but didn't each other, but when the were formally introduced years later recognized they had seen each other. De Niro has 129 acting credits and 36 as a producer. His films include "Taxi Driver" (1976), "Raging Bull" (1980), "Once Upon a Time in America" (1984), "Brazil" (1985), "The Mission" (1986), "Everybody's Fine" (2009), "Silver Linings Playbook" (2012), "The Family" (2013), "The Intern" (2015), "Joy" (2015), "The Irishman" (2019) and "Joker" (2019)
Lily Gladstone played Mollie. She graduated from the University of Montana with a major in acting and directing and a minor in Native American studies. She has 22 acting credits including "Jimmy P." (2013).
Jesse Plemons played Tom White, representing the federal government. He had been a child actor. His 63 film credits include "Breaking Bad" (2013), "The Post" (2017), "El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie" (2019), "Judas and the Black Messiah" (2021) and "The Power of the Dog" (2021)
Tantoo Cardinal played Lizzie, the mother of Mollie. She had been an activist and has said "I got into acting through my political involvement through a sense of justice. I wanted to see things change, to offset some of the lies that we have been told throughout history." She has been named a member of the Order of Canada and won numerous awards including as far away as Portugal and Zimbabwe. She has 130 credits including "Dances with Wolves" (1990), "Black Robe" (1991), "Legends of the Fall" (1995), "Smoke Signals" (1998), "A Thief of Time" (2004), "The Englishman"s Boy" (2008), "Older than America" (2008), "Maina" (2013), "From Above" (2013), "Wind River" (2017), "The Grizzlies" (2018) and "Three Pines" (2022). The blog link includes an embarrassing admission .http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2020/01/an-unexpected-canadian-film-gem.html
This movie is likely to win a few Oscars. It is available on Apple. Well worth the time.
