Sergeant Rutledge (1960)

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

Director:

John Ford

Writers:

James Warner Bellah, Willis Goldbeck,

Stars:

Jeffrey Hunter, Constance Towers, Billie Burke

Cast

Complete credited 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)

Storyline

Lieutenant Tom Cantrell is sent to defend Sergeant Braxton Rutledge, a black cavalry soldier, on a charge of rape and murder. The story begins in a courtroom and it is told through flashbacks. This is a story of how a black soldier in the face of danger from the Indians can be so easily mistaken as a criminal.

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Plot Keywords:

sergeant | cavalry | murder | court martial | soldier | 

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Taglines:

Gun Thrills Galore!

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Genres:

Western | Crime

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 May 1960 (USA)

Also Known As:

Captain Buffalo

Filming Locations:

Mexican Hat, Utah, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros, Ford Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The horse Jeffrey Hunter rides is an American Quarter Horse with a white blaze.

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Goofs

During Jeffrey Hunter's speech in which he brings up the evidence of the necklace, he bobbles a line by saying "being capable of tipped" instead of "capable of being tipped".

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Quotes

Lt. Tom Cantrell: Mary, when I got word at Fort Linton that the Apaches were in this district and that I'd left you alone, I was really...
Mary Beecher: [severely] Not alone. Sergeant Rutledge was here. And no officer could have protected a woman more gallantly!

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Connections

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

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Soundtracks

"Captain Buffalo"
Words and Music by Mack David and Jerry Livingston

User Reviews

This film deserves to be more well-known and watched

This is a marvelous Western starring Jeffery Hunter and Woodie Strode--thanks in large part to the always wonderful direction of John Ford and the fact that this film dared to take a big risk. In the 1950s and 60s, American was still struggling desperately with racism and it was still widely acceptable to demean or mistreat Black people. However, this film deliberately tries to debunk this myth that Black people are in some way inferior. The film attacks racism without being preachy or ridiculous (something that makes me hate GENTLEMEN'S AGREEMENT due to its very heavy-handed way of dealing with antisemitism).

Woody Strode, as usual, plays a very dignified and wonderful role as a soldier on trial for rape and murder. He was a very fine actor and you wonder how much further he could have gone in life had he been White. Hunter plays the man defending him and shows more than he could in most of his other pretty forgettable films. The actual story of what occurred unfolds in flashbacks told during the course of the trial and the style is very reminiscent of Akira Kurosawa's film Rashômon. This is VERY ironic, as for years, Kurosawa had been a huge fan of Ford and tried to emulate the master director! In this case, it is the other way around! The film is near-perfect in the acting, story and execution. Watch this film and see that Westerns CAN be more than just the typical horse and Indian flick.