The Return of a Man Called Horse (1976)

The English gentleman known as Horse, returns to the American west to save his adopted Indian tribe from extinction.

Director:

Irvin Kershner

Writers:

Jack DeWitt, Dorothy M. Johnson (based upon a character from "A Man Called Horse" by)

Stars:

Richard Harris, Gale Sondergaard, Geoffrey Lewis

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Richard Harris	...	John Morgan
Gale Sondergaard	...	Elk Woman
Geoffrey Lewis	...	Zenas
William Lucking	...	Tom Gryce (as Bill Lucking)
Jorge Luke	...	Running Bull
Jorge Russek	...	Blacksmith
Claudio Brook	...	Chemin De Fer (as Claudio Brooke)
Enrique Lucero	...	Raven
Regino Herrera	...	Lame Wolf
Pedro Damián	...	Standing Bear (as Pedro Damian)
Humberto López	...	Thin Dog (as Humberto Lopez)
Alberto Mariscal	...	Red Cloud
Eugenia Dolores	...	Brown Dove
Patricia Reyes Spíndola	...	Gray Thorn
Ana De Sade	...	Moon Star

Storyline

In the 1840s, trappers with government backing push the Yellow Hands Sioux off their sacred land; they retreat into an apocalyptic spirituality, passively waiting for supernatural wrath to descend on their usurpers. Meanwhile, in England, Lord John Morgan feels his spirit weaken, so he returns to America to live again with the Yellow Hand. Finding them dispirited, he invigorates them as well as himself through self-imposed torture and other rituals. Once he convinces the clan to take direct action, Horse must devise a strategy to take the trappers' fort. The clan's women and boys take on special assignments to aid the assault to regain the sacred land.

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Plot Keywords:

sequel | revisionist western | second part | spaghetti western | horse | 

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Taglines:

Even more incredible...even more shocking than "A Man Called Horse."

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Genres:

Drama | Western

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

First major film role for Gale Sondergaard, after she was blacklisted for refusing to testify before the U.S. House of Representatives Un-American Activities Committee in 1951.

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Goofs

During the sun ceremony, John Morgan (Richard Harris) didn't have any scarring from the first time he underwent the ritual from five years earlier in the original film "A Man Called Horse".

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Alternate Versions

Original UK cinema and video versions suffered identical cuts (1 min 46 secs) to the buffalo hunt and shots of horsefalls in order to secure a lower rating. The BBFC waived some of these for the 2005 DVD release though 17 seconds of horsefalls remain edited.

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Connections

Referenced in The Invincible Armour (1977)

User Reviews

Englishman and Indians?

The English gentleman known as Horse (Richard Harris), returns to the American west to save his adopted Indian tribe from extinction.

According to Roger Ebert, "The film reveals its basic white-chauvinist bias, but it certainly seems to take itself seriously. It's of average length, but paced like an epic. There are four main movements in the plot: Return, Reconciliation, Revenge and Rebirth. If this seems a little thin for a two-hour movie, believe me, it is, even with all that portentous music trying to make it seem momentous." The film as a whole is not remarkable. Allegedly this is the film that convinced George Lucas to hire the director for "Empire Strikes Back", arguably the best of the "Star Wars" franchise. But this movie, I don't know... aside from the race issues (a white man intervening t save the Indians, and the Indians being played almost entirely by whooping, stereotypical white actors) it is just a bland movie. Even by sequel standards. Richard Harris is great, but he can't save this one.

Details

Country:

Mexico USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 August 1976 (USA)

Also Known As:

El regreso de un hombre llamado Caballo

Filming Locations:

Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Estudios Churubusco Azteca S.A., Sandy Howard Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

129 min

Sound Mix:

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

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1