Comes a Horseman (1978)

Director:

Alan J. Pakula

Writer:

Dennis Lynton Clark (written by)

Release Date:

25 October 1978 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Western | Romance

Tagline:

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

Plot:

Ella Connors is a single woman who gets pressured to sell her failing cattle farm to her corrupt ex suitor...

Plot Keywords:

1940s | Gunshot Wound | Frontier | Property | Rival

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 8 wins

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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Allan Baker	...	Pall Bearer (uncredited)

Directed by
Alan J. Pakula

Writing credits
Dennis Lynton Clark		(written by)

Produced by
Ronnie Caan	....	associate producer (as Ronald Caan)
Robert Chartoff	....	executive producer
Gene Kirkwood	....	producer
Dan Paulson	....	producer
Irwin Winkler	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Michael Small

Cinematography by
Gordon Willis

Film Editing by
Marion Rothman

Casting by
Isabel Halliburton

Production Design by
George Jenkins

Set Decoration by
Arthur Jeph Parker

Costume Design by
Luster Bayless

Makeup Department
Bernadine M. Anderson	....	makeup artist (as Bernadine Anderson)
Emile LaVigne	....	makeup artist (as Emil Lavigne)
Kaye Pownall	....	hair stylist

Production Management
James D. Brubaker	....	unit production manager
Hal W. Polaire	....	executive in charge of production

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
D. Scott Easton	....	dga trainee (as Scott Easton)
Paul Helmick	....	first assistant director
Albert M. Shapiro	....	second assistant director (as Albert Shapiro)

Art Department
Rod Babb	....	greensman
Francis N. 'Lucky' Costello	....	painter (as Frank 'Lucky' Costello)
Matt Furginson	....	set dresser (as F. Matthew Furginson)
Jaroslav Gebr	....	portrait artist
Jerry Graham	....	property master
Joseph Hurley	....	sketch artist
Victor Clay Johnson	....	propmaker foreman
Gary F. Kieldrup	....	assistant property master (as Gary Kieldrup)
William Maldonado	....	construction coordinator
Herman Muelmann	....	swing gang
James J. Murakami	....	assistant art director (as James Murakami)
Ray Villalobos Sr.	....	print foreman (as Ray Villalobos)
R. Chris Westlund	....	lead man (as Chris Westlund)
S. Bruce Wineinger	....	construction foreman (as Bruce Wineinger)

Sound Department
Bill Becker	....	cable person
Michael Colgan	....	sound editor
Laurey Condon	....	assistant sound editor
Christopher Newman	....	production sound (as Chris Newman)
Kay Rose	....	supervising sound editor
Walter Rühland	....	cable person (as Walter Ruhland)
Victoria Rose Sampson	....	sound editor
Theodore Soderberg	....	sound re-recordist
Pat Suraci	....	boom operator
Paul Wells	....	sound re-recordist
Douglas O. Williams	....	sound re-recordist
Christopher Newman	....	production sound mixer (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Phil Cory	....	special effects
Ken Pepiot	....	special effects assistant

Stunts
William H. Burton	....	stunts (as Bill Burton)
Danny Costa	....	stunts
H.P. Evetts	....	stunts
Donna Garrett	....	stunts
Walter Scott	....	stunt coordinator
Jim Sheppard	....	stunts (as James Sheppard)
Sammy Thurman	....	stunts
R.L. Tolbert	....	stunts
Ted White	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Doug Byers	....	electrician
Craig Denault	....	first assistant camera (as Craig DeNault)
Alan R. Disler	....	second assistant camera (as Alan Disler)
Clyde Hart	....	key grip
George Holmes	....	gaffer
Larry D. Howard	....	best boy (as Larry Howard)
William Kenney	....	dolly grip (as Bill Kenney)
Gerald A. King	....	second grip (as Jerry King)
Marcia Reed	....	still photographer
Donald E. Thorin	....	camera operator (as Donald Thorin)

Casting Department
Robert Young	....	extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Dorothy Edwards	....	costumer: women
Michael J. Harte	....	costumer: men (as Michael Harte)
Francine Jamison-Tanchuck	....	ladies' costumer (as Francine Jamison)

Editorial Department
Jeff Chaves	....	colorist (digital color correction)
Kathleen Korth	....	assistant editor
Michael E. Polakow	....	assistant editor

Music Department
George Brand	....	music editor
Jack Hayes	....	orchestrator
Aaron Rochin	....	scoring mixer
Michael Small	....	conductor

Transportation Department
Russell McEntyre	....	transportation coordinator
Ed Wirth	....	transportation co-captain

Other crew
Harry Clein	....	publicist
Bud Conley	....	craft service
Janet Crosby	....	assistant to producer
Judi Dolan	....	projection services
Wayne Fitzgerald	....	titles
Karen Kelly	....	production secretary
Marge Leonard	....	assistant to director
Ann Luly	....	misc crew
Lisbeth Plannette	....	production coordinator
Hannah Scheel	....	script supervisor
William Smith	....	auditor
Rudy Ugland	....	wrangler boss
Douglas Wick	....	assistant to director
Charles Winkler	....	production assistant
David Wyler	....	production assistant
Richard Norwood	....	animal trainer (uncredited)
Fred O'Dell	....	animal trainer (uncredited)
Jimmy Sherwood	....	animal trainer (uncredited)

Distributors

• United Artists (1978) (USA) (theatrical)
• United Artists Films (1979) (Finland) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1979) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1982) (USA) (TV)
• CBS/Fox (1985) (USA) (VHS) (pan and scan)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV3) (1990) (Finland) (TV) (as MTV1)
• FS Film Oy (2005) (Finland) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2005) (Germany) (DVD)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
• Reserva Especial (Brazil) (VHS)

Special Effects

• Optical House, The (special optical effects)

Other Companies

• Intrada  score album released by (limited edition)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

118 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

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

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 | USA:PG (certificate #25341) | Australia:PG | Iceland:16 | Netherlands:16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Coconino National Forest, Arizona, USA

Trivia:

Stunt man Jim Sheppard was killed when a horse that was dragging him veered from its course and caused him to hit his head on a fence post. The scene appears in the movie, although it was cut right before Sheppard's fatal accident.

Goofs:

Continuity: After Ewing is told he will lose his ranch if he doesn't allow testing for oil, Frank and Ella are shown chasing cattle while swinging their ropes...left handed. In the next scene they are shown roping right handed.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Avengers: Comes a Swordsman (#1.4)" (1999)

Slightly plodding (sorry!) Pakula drama

I'm a fan of the late Alan J Pakula's naturalist style of direction, low on action but high on character, particularly his earlier contemporary political thrillers "The Parallax View" and of course "All The President's Men" and so came to this low-key out-west drama set during the second world war, (not that you'd know from the storyline itself). With an A-list acting cast boasting James Cann, Jane Fonda & Jason Robards you just know there's going to be a fair bit of intensity on display. In fact Fonda, despite being on screen from pretty much the start takes ages to utter her first line and it's fair to say that the director employs the "say more with less" approach throughout.

The plot, characters and indeed cinematography recall to mind classic films of yore, like Hawks' "Red River", Stevens' "Giant" and even a touch of "Gone With The Wind" with the fire at the conclusion, but the action is a little laboured, with, to these ears slow-talking drawling dialogue quite often proving fairly difficult to decipher, at least to my ears. The camera however picks out some wonderful scenery in natural clear light and throughout there's a sympathetic musical soundtrack adding shading to the pictures up front.

Back to the plot, which is a little melodramatic, I fear, with its casual slaughter of various individuals and depiction of Jason Robards as the smouldering resentful villain of the piece - I found all this much harder to swallow in its mid-40's settings than if it had been set in the old west. Ditto in fact all the other main characters - if it wasn't for the appearance of the oil derricks, light aircraft and contemporary cars, this story could have happily slotted into a mid 1860's time-line.

Of the acting, it's obvious that Pakula is going to get his handsome leading couple romantically involved although when it's done it's at least done without preamble, subverting the romantic courtship ritual of every other western since the year dot. Caan is fine as the strong-willed individual well able to look after himself (he early on dispatches a couple of Robards' thugs in short order in one of the few action scenes in the film), at least willing to consider adapting to the present-day, while Fonda is probably a bit too mannered in her portrayal of the independent single woman being driven to sell up her ranch by a combination of failing resources and Robards' machinations. She overplays occasionally with her eyes acting more than the rest of her, especially when she swears her "Damn your soul" oath against Robards. Robards himself, late of "All The President's Men", of course, does moody and stolid throughout, with sometimes variable results.

In summary then, a slow-moving but reasonably involving tale of the new old-west, which could have stood more enlivening in my opinion.