Comes a Horseman (1978)

Ella Connors is a single woman who gets pressured to sell her failing cattle farm to her corrupt ex suitor, Jacob Ewing. She asks for help from her neighbor, Frank Athearn. As Ella and ... See full summary »

Director:

Alan J. Pakula

Writer:

Dennis Lynton Clark

Stars:

James Caan, Jane Fonda, Jason Robards

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 8 wins.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
James Caan	...	Frank 'Buck' Athearn
Jane Fonda	...	Ella Connors
Jason Robards	...	Jacob 'J.W.' Ewing
George Grizzard	...	Neil Atkinson
Richard Farnsworth	...	Dodger
Jim Davis	...	Julie Blocker
Mark Harmon	...	Billy Joe Meynert
Macon McCalman	...	Virgil Hoverton
Basil Hoffman	...	George Bascomb
James Kline	...	Ralph Cole
James Keach	...	Emil Kroegh
Clifford A. Pellow	...	Cattle Buyer

Storyline

Ella Connors is a single woman who gets pressured to sell her failing cattle farm to her corrupt ex suitor, Jacob Ewing. She asks for help from her neighbor, Frank Athearn. As Ella and Frank fight back through stampedes, jealousy, betrayal, and sabotage...they eventually find love.

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Plot Keywords:

1940s | gunshot wound | frontier | property | rival | 

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Taglines:

She was as strong as the land for which she fought. And as vunerable.

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Genres:

Drama | Western | Romance

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 October 1978 (USA)

Also Known As:

Comes a Horseman Wild and Free

Filming Locations:

Coconino National Forest, Arizona, USA

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (35 mm prints) 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Veteran cowboy actor Jim Davis plays a henchman for J.W. Ewing (Jason Robards), an unscrupulous rancher who hopes to strike oil on his land. Immediately after completing this film, Davis signed on to play a character named J.R. Ewing Sr., a.k.a. "Jock" Ewing, a Texas oil baron, and father of the notorious J.R. Ewing Jr. (Larry Hagman) on the TV show Dallas. Davis played the role on "Dallas" until his death in 1981.

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Goofs

Frank's saddle has a holster but no rifle when he leaves his horse outside the ranch house near the end. He later uses the rifle from the holster to shoot the bad guys.

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Crazy Credits

Our thanks to the Forest Service for allowing us to film in the Coconino National Forest

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Connections

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

User Reviews

City folk infatuated with the western genre...

Director Alan J. Pakula and his cinematographer Gordon Willis, masters at capturing urban paranoia, give this post-WWII western a lachrymose solemnity, and while they may have been quite taken with the western clichés that litter Dennis Lynton Clark's screenplay, they keep the mood so sorrowful that the characters never quite emerge. Indeed, Clark's script seems to begin after the central drama has already been played out. Land baron Jason Robards, embittered by the death of his son and holding a decades-long grudge against rancher Jane Fonda, is in unhappy cahoots with oil drillers, and all want Fonda off her land so they can start getting rich. The picture is sleepy-slow and only half-realized, with Pakula's lofty ambitions clashing with Clark's writing, which is occasionally crass. Some good scenes (including Fonda and James Caan dancin' the Texas Star), pretty locales and a decent Michael Small score can't really make film worthwhile. ** from ****