Major Dundee (1965)

During the last winter of the Civil War, cavalry officer Amos Dundee leads a contentious troop of Army regulars, Confederate prisoners and scouts on an expedition into Mexico to destroy a ... See full summary »

Director:

Sam Peckinpah

Writers:

Harry Julian Fink (story), Harry Julian Fink (screenplay),

Stars:

Charlton Heston, Richard Harris, Jim Hutton

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Charlton Heston	...	Major Amos Charles Dundee
Richard Harris	...	Captain Benjamin Tyreen
Jim Hutton	...	Lieutenant Graham
James Coburn	...	Samuel Potts
Michael Anderson Jr.	...	Tim Ryan
Senta Berger	...	Teresa Santiago
Mario Adorf	...	Sergeant Gomez
Brock Peters	...	Aesop
Warren Oates	...	O. W. Hadley
Ben Johnson	...	Sergeant Chillum
R.G. Armstrong	...	Reverend Dahlstrom (as R. G. Armstrong)
L.Q. Jones	...	Arthur Hadley (as L. Q. Jones)
Slim Pickens	...	Wiley
Karl Swenson	...	Captain Waller
Michael Pate	...	Sierra Charriba

Storyline

During the last winter of the Civil War, cavalry officer Amos Dundee leads a contentious troop of Army regulars, Confederate prisoners and scouts on an expedition into Mexico to destroy a band of Apaches who have been raiding U.S. bases in Texas.

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Plot Keywords:

apache | confederate | mexico | raid | prisoner of war | 

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Taglines:

THE EPIC STORY OF THE GREAT SOUTH-WEST !

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Genres:

Adventure | War | Western

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for violence and some sensuality

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French Spanish

Release Date:

15 March 1965 (Denmark)

Also Known As:

Mayor Dundee

Filming Locations:

Chilpancingo, Guerrero, Mexico

Box Office

Budget:

$3,800,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$3,520 (USA) (8 April 2005)

Gross:

$14,873 (USA) (15 April 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, Jerry Bresler Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

123 min 136 min (2005 restored) 152 min (unreleased director's cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Woody Strode was considered for the part that went to Brock Peters. Strode was part Native American and he wrote in his memoirs that he didn't get the part because he was told by Sam Peckinpah that he looked too much "like a half-breed" to play the part.

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Goofs

Although Mexico was occupied by French troops during the American Civil War and that occupation was not looked upon kindly by the Lincoln administration, there was never any fighting between the U.S. Army and the French.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: In the territory of New Mexico towards the end of the Civil War, an Indian, Sierra Charriba, and his Apache warriors raided, sacked and looted an area almost three times the size of Texas.

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Connections

References The Searchers (1956)

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Soundtracks

"Major Dundee March"
Music Daniele Amfitheatrof
Lyrics Ned Washington
Sung by Mitch Miller's Sing Along Gang

User Reviews

Lost Masterpiece

After the breakthrough success of Ride the High Country(1962), Sam Peckinpah would embark on a journey to Mexico to film a story about an obsessed major on the tracks of some renegade Apaches. Sam Peckinpah was on his way to making a classic until the interference of producer, Jerry Bresler prevented this from happening. The film begins with a prologue describing the massacre that leads to Dundee's quest for revenge. The film focuses on the hostile relationship between Amos Dundee(Charlton Heston) and Ben Tyreen(Richard Harris). Once friends, but now enemies due to the Civil War are reluctant to join forces and go after the Apaches. Major Dundee(1965) has to rank with Greed(1925), Que Viva Mexico(1931), Metropolis(1927), and The Magnificent Ambersons(1942) as some of the most maligned films in motion picture history. Major Dundee(1965) is a good movie that might have been great. This is an example of producers putting their dirty greedy palms where they don't belong.