Chuka is a 1967 western film directed by Gordon Douglas and starring Rod Taylor, Ernest Borgnine, John Mills, and Luciana Paluzzi. The film is set in the late 1800s and tells the story of a group of people who are under siege by hostile Native American tribes at a remote Army fort in Arizona.
The film's protagonist is Chuka, a half-Indian and half-white former cavalry sergeant who is now a scout for the Army. Chuka is hired by the fort's commanding officer, Colonel Stuart, to help defend the fort against the attacking tribes. Inside the fort, Chuka encounters a motley crew of characters, including Stuart's alcoholic wife Emily, a former slave turned cook, a former Confederate soldier, and a young Chinese woman sold into prostitution.
As the siege wears on, tensions rise among the group, and painful memories of their pasts come to the surface. Emily, haunted by the death of her son during a previous Indian attack, struggles with alcoholism and her growing attraction to Chuka. The former slave, Tobe, grapples with his own past as a slave and the racism he faces from some of the other characters. The Confederate soldier, Lt. Lennox, confronts the horrors of the war he fought in and the atrocities he committed. And the Chinese woman, Mai Ling, fights against her own oppression as a woman and an immigrant.
Amidst all this turmoil, Chuka emerges as the voice of reason and the only hope for survival. He rallies the group and devises a plan to break the siege and escape the fort. But in the end, not everyone makes it out alive, and the survivors are left to deal with the emotional scars of their experiences.
Overall, Chuka is a thought-provoking and visceral exploration of the psychological toll of violence and trauma, set against the backdrop of the American West.