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:

Stabbing | Ranch | Gunshot Wound | Cattle Drive | Montana

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 (in alphabetical order)
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)
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:

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

Filming Locations:

Buckskin Joe Frontier Town & Railway - 1193 Fremont County Road 3A, Canon City, Colorado, 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: When Ewing is shot and falls of his horse, his foot slips THROUGH the stirrup. When the horse gallops away, the foot of the stuntman doubling for Jason Robards is TIED to the stirrup by a long strap, that can be safely released.

Movie Connections:

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

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 ****