Major Dundee (1965)

Director:

Sam Peckinpah

Writers:

Harry Julian Fink (story)
Harry Julian Fink (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

15 March 1965 (Denmark)

Genre:

Adventure | War | Western

Tagline:

THE EPIC STORY OF THE GREAT SOUTH-WEST !

Plot:

During the last winter of the Civil War, cavalry officer Amos Dundee leads a contentious troop of Army regulars...

Plot Keywords:

Confederate | Apache | Mexico | Cavalry | Scout

Cast

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 (in closing credits) (as R. G. Armstrong)
L.Q. Jones	...	Arthur Hadley (in closing credits) (as L. Q. Jones)
Slim Pickens	...	Wiley
Karl Swenson	...	Captain Waller
Michael Pate	...	Sierra Charriba
John Davis Chandler	...	Jimmy Lee Benteen
Dub Taylor	...	Priam
Albert Carrier	...	Captain Jacques Tremaine
José Carlos Ruiz	...	Riago (as Jose Carlos Ruiz)
Aurora Clavel	...	Melinche (as Aurora Clavell)
Begoña Palacios	...	Linda (as Begonia Palacios)
Enrique Lucero	...	Doctor Aguilar
Francisco Reiguera	...	Old Apache (as Francisco Reyguera)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Whitey Hughes	...	Confederate Trooper (uncredited)
Cliff Lyons	...	(uncredited)
Jody McCrea	...	Lt. Brannin (uncredited)
Marvin Miller	...	Opening Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Dennis Patrick	...	(uncredited)
Rockne Tarkington	...	Jefferson (uncredited)

Directed by
Sam Peckinpah

Writing credits
Harry Julian Fink		(story)
Harry Julian Fink		(screenplay) &
Oscar Saul		(screenplay) and
Sam Peckinpah		(screenplay)

Produced by
Jerry Bresler	....	producer

Original Music by
Daniele Amfitheatrof
Christopher Caliendo		(2005 restored version)

Cinematography by
Sam Leavitt		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Howard Kunin
William A. Lyon
Donald W. Starling		(as Don Starling)

Art Direction by
Alfred Ybarra		(as Al Ybarra)

Costume Design by
Thomas S. Dawson		(as Tom Dawson)

Makeup Department
Larry Butterworth	....	makeup artist
Ben Lane	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Francisco Day	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Floyd Joyer	....	assistant director
Cliff Lyons	....	second unit director
John Veitch	....	assistant director

Art Department
Joe LaBella	....	property master (as Joe La Bella)

Sound Department
James Z. Flaster	....	sound
Charles J. Rice	....	sound supervisor
Rafael Ruiz Esparza	....	sound (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Augie Lohman	....	special effects (as August Lohman)

Stunts
Jerry Brown	....	stunts (uncredited)
Archie Butler	....	stunt coordinator (uncredited)
Joe Canutt	....	stunts (uncredited)
Bill Catching	....	stunts (uncredited)
Philip Crawford	....	stunts (uncredited)
Richard Farnsworth	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jerry Gatlin	....	stunts (uncredited)
Chuck Hayward	....	stunts (uncredited)
Robert 'Buzz' Henry	....	stunts (uncredited)
Bob Herron	....	stunts (uncredited)
Whitey Hughes	....	stunts (uncredited)
Leroy Johnson	....	stunts (uncredited)
Walt La Rue	....	stunts (uncredited)
Cliff Lyons	....	stunts (uncredited)
Hal Needham	....	stunts (uncredited)
Carl Pitti	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jim Sheppard	....	stunts (uncredited)
Roy N. Sickner	....	stunts (uncredited)
Buddy Van Horn	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jack Williams	....	stunts (uncredited)
Henry Wills	....	stunt coordinator (uncredited)
Henry Wills	....	stunts (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Gordon T. Dawson	....	set costumer (uncredited)

Music Department
Leonid Raab	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
David Tamkin	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Rick Rosenberg	....	assistant to producer
'Chema' Hernandez	....	head wrangler: Mexico (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation (presents)
• Jerry Bresler Productions (as A Jerry Bresler Production)

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1965) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia-Bavaria Filmgesellschaft m.b.H. (1965) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1966) (USA) (TV) (original airing) (pan/scan)
• GoodTimes Home Video (1988) (USA) (VHS) (pan/scan)
• Columbia Pictures Home Video (1996) (USA) (VHS) (pan/scan)
• Columbia TriStar (1995) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Columbia (1965) (France) (theatrical)
• Opção (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)
• RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video (198?) (USA) (VHS) (pan/scan)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2005) (Germany) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Intrada  score album released by (limited edition) (signature edition)
• Pathé  Eastman color by
• Sony Pictures  restoration (2005 restoration)

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence and some sensuality (re-release) (2005)

Runtime:

123 min | 136 min (2005 restored version) | Spain:117 min | USA:152 min (unreleased director's cut)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French | Spanish

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | Singapore:PG | Iceland:16 | West Germany:12 (nf) | UK:A (original rating) | Germany:12 (DVD rating) | UK:PG (tv rating) | Portugal:M/12 (Qualidade) | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:PG-13 (re-release) (2005) | USA:Approved (PCA #23829)

Filming Locations:

Chilpancingo, Guerrero, Mexico

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Shooting on the movie was wrapped up early by studio executives, in the interest of controlling costs, before some important scenes were filmed. Charlton Heston offered to return his entire salary for the movie if the studio would agree to film the opening scene - the massacre of soldiers and civilians by the Apaches - and some re-shoots. The studio kept his paycheck and never allowed any more footage to be shot anyway.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Prior to the final battle, Captain Tyreen is shown inserting cartridges into what should be a muzzle loading pistol.

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.

Movie Connections:

References Fort Apache (1948)

Soundtrack:

Major Dundee March

A forgotten masterpiece, with some defects

"Major Dundee" is a forgotten, much underrated masterpiece, though admittedly affected by many defects. Indeed, here the director Peckinpah is (almost) as much innovative as in his undisputed best work "The Wild Bunch". The realism of many scenes, like that of the camp-hospital, with the badly-wounded bleeding soldiers lying on the ground, was stark new at the time the film was made. The action scenes are fantastic. In particular, look at the furious violence of the final brief battle on the river, note that a pool of blood spreads out on the water where the horses are hit: never seen such stuff before!

The story is exciting. The photography is wonderful: the beauty of the Mexican locations is definitely stunning. The work of the whole cast is very good.

The clash between Major Dundee (Charlton Heston) and the Confederate war-prisoner Captain Tyreen (Richard Harris) is somewhat conventional, but the character of Dundee can be placed among the best depicted and most interesting in the history of western movies. This frustrated soldier, a typical born-to-fight fellow, has finally his chance to make war, pursuing the cruel Apache Sierra Charriba. And he fights, kills, makes war against everybody and everything (the Apaches, the French army in Mexico, his own soldiers if necessary). Then, suddenly, something goes to pieces inside him. He feels a mortal tiredness; he sinks into drunkenness, dirt, brutish dejection. Then the Apaches reappear, and Dundee finds the strength to exit from his self-built nightmare... and he restarts to fight, fight, fight... This fellow has really no other choice: either to be an assassin, or to be a brute. Strikingly original character!

It's true the movie have several faults. It is too long and often slow-paced. The martinet officer played by Jim Hutton is out of place: this comic character could be appropriate in a John Ford's movie, but he grates much with Peckinpah's tragic vision. The scout played by James Coburn and some other minor characters are uninteresting. And, of course, Senta Berger is completely pointless: but she's so lovely that we can easily forgive her presence.

I learn from other comments that "Major Dundee" was badly butchered by the producers. I saw it twice at the theaters, and some other times on the TV. I can say that the television version is very bad with respect to what I saw on the wide screen. Many interesting details and subtleties have been cut. And by no means we can forgive that two magnificent scenes are ruined: the ambush on the creek and the carnage at the Apache camp in the wide-screen version happen over-night! But in the TV version it seems that it's full light! This leaves a feeling of annoying nonsense on the viewer (are the Apaches sleeping during day?). Too bad!

Luckily enough, for all his misfortunes and troubles "Major Dundee" is a great, magnificent, innovative movie.