The famous comment was do not look to deep into any Cavalry to Indian Charge in the old Black and White Westerns. In a Cavalry/Cowboy charge, the white actors would be up front, the Native Americans in the rear, the reverse in a Native American Attack when it was filmed. Thus you dressed up as an Native American or a Cavalryman or Cowboy, as needed. This kept costs down, since you used these extras on long shots anyway and most people just looked at the first line of extras, the people behind them were just more bodies.
My favorite comment was from the filming, I believe of "Western Union" a Randolph Scott movie from the 1940s. The Director wanted to used actual real Native Americans so he went to a reservation to film. He ended up sending a telegram to Hollywood for "Real Indians" for the local natives were to small. There could be used as rear extras, but not the extras near the main actors. The reason the Local Natives were small is bad nutrition do to they being very poor on the reservation.
Side note": Insufficient food when one is growing up has an effect on growth and height, insufficient food while growing affects one eventual height (The smaller one is, the less food one needs to survive). The next biggest factor is the amount one's mother is getting when one is in her womb. The less food she gets at that time seems to discourage growth of her child later in life. Present theory is that when a woman develops most of her ovaries, she is still in her mother's womb, thus if the grandmother has insufficient food, that message is transmitted not only to her daughter in her womb, but any potential grandchildren in her daughter ovaries and thus effect the height of that grandchild.
Thus you have an increase in total average height over three generation of sufficient food (and a decrease in height over three generation of a lack of food). The first generation gets a boost for they have sufficient food, then the subsequent generation gets another boost in height for their mother had sufficient food when they where in the womb, then the third generation has another increase in average height for the ovaries they came from were developed while they mother was in their maternal grandmother's womb.
Just a comment about why in that movie, the local Native Americans were NOT seen as "fit" to play Native Americans on film. It was the result of poor nutrition more then anything else.
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