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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
John Lee Mahin (written for the screen by) and
Martin Rackin (written for the screen by) ...
more
Release Date:
12 June 1959 (USA) more
Tagline:
John Ford's Thundering Spectacle more
Plot:
A Union Cavalry outfit is sent behind confederate lines in strength to destroy a rail/supply centre... more | add synopsis
Awards:
1 nomination more
NewsDesk:
Shall we gather at the river?
(From Roger Ebert's Blog. 11 June 2009, 1:11 PM, PDT)
User Comments:
William Holden and John Ford, in their first pairing... more (41 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| 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 |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
115 min | USA:119 min (DVD version) | UK:119 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.66 : 1 more
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:
Company:
Fun Stuff
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. more
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. more
Quotes:
Major Kendall: Look here, colonel, I didn't ask to be assigned to this mission... more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Sesión continua (1984) more
Soundtrack:
I LEFT MY LOVE more
FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (41 total)
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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...