Jeremiah Johnson (1972)

A mountain man who wishes to live the life of a hermit becomes the unwilling object of a long vendetta by Indians, and proves to be a match for their warriors in one-on-one combat on the early frontier.

Director:

Sydney Pollack

Writers:

Vardis Fisher (novel), Raymond W. Thorp (story "Crow Killer")

Stars:

Robert Redford, Will Geer, Delle Bolton

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Robert Redford	...	Jeremiah Johnson
Will Geer	...	Bear Claw
Delle Bolton	...	Swan
Josh Albee	...	Caleb
Joaquín Martínez	...	Paints His Shirt Red (as Joaquin Martinez)
Allyn Ann McLerie	...	Crazy Woman
Stefan Gierasch	...	Del Gue
Richard Angarola	...	Chief Two-Tongues Lebeaux
Paul Benedict	...	Reverend Lindquist
Charles Tyner	...	Robidoux
Jack Colvin	...	Lieutenant Mulvey
Matt Clark	...	Qualen

Storyline

During the mid-nineteenth century, Jeremiah Johnson, after a stint in the US Army, decides that he would prefer a life of solitude and more importantly peace by living with nature in the mountains of the frontier of the American west. This plan entails finding a piece of land upon which to build a house. This quest ends up being not quite what he envisioned as he does require the assistance of others to find his footing, and in turn he amasses friends and acquaintances along the way, some who become more a part of his life than he would have imagined. Perhaps most importantly, some of those people provide him with the knowledge of how to co-exist with some of the many Indian tribes, most importantly the Crow, on whose land in Colorado Jeremiah ultimately decides to build his home. But an act by Jeremiah upon a request by the US Cavalry leads to a chain of events that may forever change the peaceful relationship he worked so hard to achieve with his neighbors and their land.

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Plot Keywords:

native american | mountain man | trapper | hermit | rocky mountains | 

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Taglines:

His Mountain. His Peace. His Great Hunts. His Young Bride. With All That, It Should Have Been Different.

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Western

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Certificate:

GP

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Crow French

Release Date:

10 September 1972 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Crow Killer

Filming Locations:

Kayenta, Arizona, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,100,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$47,742,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sanford Productions (III),Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min 116 min (long)

Sound Mix:

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

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Principal photography began in January 1971, but unexpected changes in weather threatened production. Even after Sydney Pollack mortgaged his home to make up for budgetary constraints, production was very limited as threat of going over budget loomed. "The snows of St. George in southern Utah were terrible," said Pollack, "and we were using Cinemobiles as the lifelines. There was no way I was going to let it overrun, and [Robert Redford] was a superb partner in keeping us tight. In the end it was the greatest way to learn production, because I was playing with my own money." Struggling with weather and budgetary concerns, very rarely was there time or money to shoot any second takes.

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Goofs

The Crow, Blackfoot and Flathead Indian tribes were up around what later became Montana. The Colorado territory, where Johnson is supposed to be, had the Arapaho and the Cheyenne.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: His name was Jeremiah Johnson, and they say he wanted to be a mountain man. The story goes that he was a man of proper wit and adventurous spirit, suited to the mountains. Nobody knows whereabouts he come from and don't seem to matter much. He was a young man and ghosty stories about the tall hills didn't scare him none. He was looking for a Hawken gun, .50 caliber or better. He settled for a .30, but damn, it was a genuine Hawken, and you couldn't go no better. Bought him a good ...

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Alternate Versions

DVD release restores the overture and the exit music which were deleted from the VHS releases.

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Connections

Referenced in Mindwarp (1992)

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Soundtracks

An Indian Says
(uncredited)
Written by John Rubinstein,Tim McIntire

User Reviews

To connect with nature and find your place in the world.

Jeremiah Johnson is unlike most films of its kind, which is a subgenre of the adventure film that follows a lone mountain man disillusioned by society who escapes to the frontier in order to become one with nature and reinvigorate himself. Strange how women never do this. Anyways, Robert Redford is surprisingly effective as the quiet, tough and determined title character who remains focused on his ultimate goal of remaining aloof and alone from all connections to anyone.

Unfortunately, he is bamboozled into a most peculiar family situation involving a mute son of a crazy pioneer woman and the daughter of a French-speaking Native American chief. In the end, what director Sydney Pollack is all about is showcasing how nature can indeed salve some of our pain and make us feel more comfortable with our situations. Nevertheless, true relationships with people cannot be substituted. Beautiful photography, strong performances and a most intriguing storyline all help create a very interesting film that is worth multiple views and considerable think time.