Sergeant Rutledge (1960)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

John Ford

Writers:

James Warner Bellah (written by) and
Willis Goldbeck (written by)

Release Date:

18 May 1960 (USA)

Genre:

Western | Crime

Tagline:

It's the rendezvous with DEATH for men to whom DEATH was no stranger!

Plot:

Respected black cavalry Sergeant Brax Rutledge stands court-martial for raping and killing a white woman and murdering her father, his superior officer.

Plot Keywords:

Sergeant | Rape | Murder | Courtroom | Buffalo Soldier

Cast

Jeffrey Hunter	...	Lt. Tom Cantrell (counsel for the defense)
Constance Towers	...	Mary Beecher
Billie Burke	...	Mrs. Cordelia Fosgate
Woody Strode	...	1st Sgt. Braxton Rutledge
Juano Hernandez	...	Sgt. Matthew Luke Skidmore
Willis Bouchey	...	Col. Otis Fosgate (president of the court-martial)
Carleton Young	...	Capt. Shattuck (prosecutor)
Judson Pratt	...	Lt. Mulqueen (court-martial board member)

Runtime:

111 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

UK:PG | West Germany:12 (nf) | USA:Approved (certificate #19413) | Canada:PG (video rating) | Finland:K-16 | Spain:13

Filming Locations:

Mexican Hat, Utah, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Originated in 1957 as a project for director André De Toth, about a black soldier accused of raping and murdering a German girl and the lieutenant who defends him and proves his innocence. De Toth wanted Jeffrey Hunter as the defense attorney. Based on the 1955 story "Shadow of the Noose" by John Hawkins and Ward Hawkins in The Saturday Evening Post.

Goofs:

Plot holes: Cantrell explains that the "buffalo soldiers" were so named because when first seen by the Native Americans, the Natives mistook their woolly coats for those of a buffalo. In truth, it was the "nappy" hair of the Black soldiers that lead the Natives to dub the unit as "Buffalo Soldiers," but Cantrell could have been misinformed. When Dr. Eckner testifies as to the rape/murder, his testimony is shown in flashback and concludes with a conversation between Juano Hernandez as Skidmore and Jeffrey Hunter as Cantrell that took place outside the building. As the doctor remained inside, he could not possibly have heard it.

Quotes:

1st Sgt. Braxton Rutledge: Anyone come, you ain't gonna be in here with me.
Mary Beecher: What are you talking about?
1st Sgt. Braxton Rutledge: I'm talking about you. A white woman. White women only spell trouble for any of us.
Mary Beecher: That's nonsense. We're just two people trying to stay alive.
1st Sgt. Braxton Rutledge: Lady, you don't know how hard I'm trying to stay alive.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Big Guns Talk: The Story of the Western (1997) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Captain Buffalo

A wonderful piece of social history

This movie was a wonderful piece of social history. It was filmed during a turbulent time in the United States when Civil Rights marches were really making headlines. It was a well crafted and movingly brave attempt to address in celluloid what the Civil Rights movement was addressing on placards.

Throughout the trial, colour isn't mentioned at all until near the end, but the underlying issue is one of race and how easy it would have been to jump to the wrong conclusion and ‘Hang ourselves a nigger'. It was also incredibly brave to show how the protagonist, Sergeant Rutledge, (beautifully played by Woody Strode) was helped by a white woman; again very rare at that time.

This is a hidden gem of a movie, and although the dialogue gets a little stilted at times, it doesn't detract from the central issue. Judging by his performance when under oath, Woody Strode is up there with the best of the marvellous Black actors that have changed the face of social America.

I rate this 10 out of ten.