Cheyenne Autumn (1964)

The Cheyenne, tired of broken U.S. government promises, head for their ancestral lands but a sympathetic cavalry officer is tasked to bring them back to their reservation.

Director:

John Ford

Writers:

Mari Sandoz (suggested by "Cheyenne Autumn"), James R. Webb (screenplay)

Stars:

Richard Widmark, Carroll Baker, Karl Malden

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Richard Widmark	...	Capt. Thomas Archer
Carroll Baker	...	Deborah Wright
Karl Malden	...	Capt. Wessels
Sal Mineo	...	Red Shirt
Dolores del Rio	...	Spanish Woman (as Dolores Del Rio)
Ricardo Montalban	...	Little Wolf
Gilbert Roland	...	Dull Knife
Arthur Kennedy	...	Doc Holliday
James Stewart	...	Wyatt Earp
Edward G. Robinson	...	Secretary of the Interior Carl Schurz
Patrick Wayne	...	2nd Lt. Scott
Elizabeth Allen	...	Guinevere Plantagenet
John Carradine	...	Maj. Jeff Blair
Victor Jory	...	Tall Tree
Mike Mazurki	...	Senior First Sergeant

Storyline

When the government agency fails to deliver even the meager supplies due by treaty to the proud Cheyenne tribe in their barren desert reserve, the starving Indians have taken more abuse than it's worth and break it too by embarking on a 1,500 miles journey back to their ancestral hunting grounds. US Cavalry Capt. Thomas Archer is charged with their retrieval, but during the hunt grows to respect their noble courage, and decides to help them.

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Plot Keywords:

cavalry | noble savage | poker game | whiskey | cigar smoking | 

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Taglines:

1,500 miles of heroism and incredible adventure!

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Genres:

Drama | History | Western

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

Spencer Tracy was first cast as the real-life Secretary of the Interior Carl Schurz, but he had a heart attack and was replaced by Edward G. Robinson. His scenes were entirely photographed in studios, including the climactic meeting scene between Schurz and the Cheyenne chiefs, in which the background had to be done with screen process.

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Goofs

When Secretary of the Interior Carl Schurz talks with the colonel at the Victory Cave, the soldiers standing in the background are from a totally different scene: the light, colors and proportions are different.

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Quotes

Dr. O'Carberry: The question is, do you want to be responsible?
Capt. Oskar Wessels: I am responsible for nothing, none of them had to die. They could have walked out of there any time they liked. I have simply been the instrument of an order, an order I did not agree with.
Dr. O'Carberry: You say that as if you memorized it.
Capt. Oskar Wessels: Why do you talk to me? Why don't you talk to the Indians? That is where the blame is. Any time! Any time, they could have ended this.
Dr. O'Carberry: First it was the headquarters, now it's the Indians. Everybody is to blame but you!

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Alternate Versions

The original premiere, in Cinerama, ran a full 170 minutes. The film was cut by fifteen minutes following this premiere. The missing 15 minutes is presumed lost forever (check your attics). The only version now available is a VHS that runs around 155 minutes.

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Connections

Featured in Affection to the People (2013)

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Soundtracks

The Yellow Rose of Texas
(uncredited)
Traditional
Played on the banjo during the saloon

User Reviews

The desperation of an artist, shown by a beautiful film

I have recently seen again "Cheyenne Autumn", and, perhaps, I finally got it. In my opinion, this film represents the desperation of an artist, the director John Ford. Forget the usual stunning beauty of the cinematography, the accuracy in filming action scenes, the care for poetic details, and all Ford's trade-mark style. We readily see that "Cheyenne Autumn" is completely different from any other western movie, and not only from the remainder of Ford's work.

Compared with other western movies, the main difference and innovation is that here any killed man is a REAL tragedy, that exhaustion, famine, cold, violence are REAL sufferings for the miserable people on the screen (not just for the Cheyennes, even for the whites). And all that is shown us by Ford ruthlessly, uncompromisingly. The fact that the director stands for the Indians is not as much innovative as it seems. All along his career Ford showed respect and sympathy for them. In the finale, just after an apparent happy ending, we have again violence, again a murder, again a distressed mother: we almost feel the same grief of hers. It is somewhat ironic that in the same year the film was made, 1964, the fashion of Italian western movies invaded the world of cinema, with furious, acrobatic gun-fights and hundreds of shot-dead people, like in a sort of funny game.

The movie is split into two parts by a comic interlude, the episode placed in Dodge City, which is actually a farce. I think that Ford wanted to pay a homage and bid his personal farewell to the old silent western-movies of the 1920s, when his career started. The funny situations are deliberately over the top: see the sensational, licentious joke, when Wyatt Earp (Jimmy Stewart) realizes that he actually had met the girl in Wichita... In any case, a somewhat gloomy mood permeates even this comic part. The main characters are all aged, grey-haired and seemingly life-weary. And the episode is introduced by a particularly brutal, cruel murder.

I think that "Cheyenne Autumn" is a beautiful film, with a good story, great visual beauties, and, in particular, an excellent acting by the whole cast. But it is tough for me to face John Ford's desperate vision. After all, what I most like in the movie is to see, once again, Ben Johnson and Harry Carey Jr on horse-back, in their blue uniforms (by the way: why are they uncredited?). They are both aged and bulkier compared with their look in the great Ford's western-epics of their youth. Never mind: they are almost dearer to me for this very reason...

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 December 1964 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Long Flight

Filming Locations:

Janss Conejo Ranch, Thousand Oaks, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$4,200,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$10,980

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ford-Smith Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

154 min

Sound Mix:

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

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1