The Horse Soldiers (1959)

Director:

John Ford

Writers:

John Lee Mahin (written for the screen by) and
Martin Rackin (written for the screen by) ...

Release Date:

12 June 1959 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | War | Western

Tagline:

John Ford's Thundering Spectacle

Plot:

A Union Cavalry outfit is sent behind confederate lines in strength to destroy a rail/supply centre...

Plot Keywords:

Doctor | Spanking | Sabotage | Blown Up Bridge | Animal In Title

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

John Wayne	...	Col. John Marlowe
William Holden	...	Maj. Henry 'Hank' Kendall (regimental surgeon)
Constance Towers	...	Miss Hannah Hunter of Greenbriar
Judson Pratt	...	Sgt. Maj. Kirby
Hoot Gibson	...	Sgt. Brown
Ken Curtis	...	Cpl. Wilkie
Willis Bouchey	...	Col. Phil Secord
Bing Russell	...	Dunker, Yankee Soldier Amputee
O.Z. Whitehead	...	Otis 'Hoppy' Hopkins (medical assistant)
Hank Worden	...	Deacon Clump
Chuck Hayward	...	Union captain
Denver Pyle	...	Jackie Jo (rebel deserter)
Strother Martin	...	Virgil (rebel deserter)
Basil Ruysdael	...	The Reverend (Jefferson Military Academy)
Carleton Young	...	Col. Jonathan Miles, CSA

Runtime:

115 min | USA:119 min (DVD version) | UK:119 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

UK:PG | Norway:16 | New Zealand:G | Australia:G | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Alexandria, Louisiana, USA

Company:

Mirisch Corporation, The

Trivia:

The Horse Soldiers is apparently based on the true-life raid by Colonel Benjamin Grierson who, like stated in the movie, started the excursion from LeGrange, Tennessee.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Doc Kendall examines the soldiers in line, he walks from left to right. When he is seen from behind the soldiers, he is walking the opposite way.

Quotes:

Major Kendall: Look here, colonel, I didn't ask to be assigned to this mission...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Sesión continua (1984)

Soundtrack:

I LEFT MY LOVE

William Holden and John Ford, in their first pairing...

As the Civil War goes against the North, General Grant (Stan Jones) is unable to take the Confederate fortress of Vicksburg because the Confederates have it so well defended... He realizes necessity of cutting off that city's supply sources..

Col. John Marlowe (John Wayne) is assigned to take a small brigade of cavalry from Tennessee, ride hundreds of miles into the Confederate territory and destroy the railroad at Newton Station, Mississippi, thereby cutting the supply line to Vicksburg... To do it, he will have to avoid all contact with rebel forces until he has reached his target...

The first problem Marlowe encounters is Major Hank Kendall (William Holden), an obstinate surgeon who will be accompanying the force... Marlowe has the expected contempt of the combat soldier for his colleague who carries no arms... In addition, when Kendall asserts his rights as an officer in the medical corps to declare unfit any soldier he considers so, Marlowe and Kendall clash...

The next problem is Marlowe's second in command, Col. Secord (Willis Bouchey), who makes no secret of his plans to use his military career to further his strong political ambitions...

The third problem is the high-spirited belle Hannah Hunter (Constance Towers). This violent Southern patriot gives him an initial hard time... The Yankee soldiers stay at her plantation soon after they cross into the Confederacy... When Hannah learns their plans, Marlow is forced then to take her along with them for security reasons...

Holden and Wayne (violently opposing strong personalities) perform their assignment with a consummate force, intensity, and expert teamwork... Constance Towers, too, registers a vital presence... At their first dinner, she passes Wayne a platter of chicken... As she leans over, threatening to divulge her engaging décolletage, she says: 'Oh come now, Colonel, a man with a great big frame like yours can't just nibble away like a little titmouse. Now what was your preference, the leg or the breast?'

Incorrigibly sentimental and romantic in his big cavalry epic, Ford's motion picture is full of heroic cavalry on the skyline imagery... Among the more affecting scenes is that in which a harsh compassionate Wayne comforts a dying young soldier and the one in which he registers his love for Towers... There is also a compelling sequence, pure John Ford, in which a group of teenage cadets march out from a Southern military academy to take on the enemy, which makes manifest to battle boys and pulls a retreat, leaving the kids cheering...