Jeremiah Johnson (1972)

A mountain man who wishes to live the life of a hermit becomes the unwilling object of a long vendetta by the Crow tribe and proves to be a match for their warriors in single 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 burial ground | wolf | death of wife | alone | mountain | 

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Taglines:

A man of peace driven wild!

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Western

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Certificate:

GP

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of seven pictures director Sydney Pollack made with actor Robert Redford.

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Goofs

The rescue party tells Johnson they have been watched all the way from the Gila River. The Gila is 400 miles south of the Colorado border.

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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... 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

Featured in Film Extra: Sydney Pollock (1973)

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Soundtracks

The Way that You Wander
(uncredited)
Written by John Rubinstein, Tim McIntire

User Reviews

FANTASTIC

This has been reported to be Redford's personal favorite of his films. Treat yourself and watch it. I'm a sucker for a film that has Indians like this (Black Robe, Little Big Man, Last of the Mohicans).

Will Geer is great and so are the rest of the cast. Redford says little but conveys much.

I read that Pauline Kael says that the final shot is Jeremiah "giving the finger" to the crow. I thought it was defiant but also a show of respect and not an insult. ...and some folks say...he's up there still

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)

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