User reviews

This is the story of Lord John Morgan, an honest earthy person who is captured by the Sioux in 1825. Abused and treated as an animal he comes to adapt to his life in order to survive. Enduring torture and oppression he must earn their respect in order to be accepted as part of their tribe.

The white man as part of a Sioux tribe story was given a major shot in the arm with Kevin Costner's Oscar bagger, Dances With Wolves in 1990. This picture came out some twenty years before Costner's stylish picture but the two films couldn't be further apart in terms of story telling. Here in Elliot Silverstein's picture, the scenery and scope is certainly lush, but the niceties stop there for this is a harsh, at times painful, story with realism dripping from each frame. Silverstein wanted to get as close as he could to the facts of the Sioux way of life, even bringing in a Sioux historian to oversee the production.

The Sioux are painted on both sides of the canvas, on one side we are shown them to be violent, even sadistic, but Silverstein also portrays them as an intelligent race driven on by intense loyalty to their ways and culture. Richard Harris plays our main protagonist and has a clear license to act with immense verve and vigour, it's a memorable turn that lingers long after the credits roll. Hurting the film is a twee romance between Morgan and the Chiefs daughter (Judith Anderson) and Jean Gascon's fluctuating accents start to grate entering the film's last quarter. But really the plus points far outweigh the little irritants in the piece. The editing from Philip W. Anderson & Michael Kahn is like a whirling paean to hallucinations, and some scenes are from the top draw, most notably the Vow To The Sun ritual that literally is painful to watch. A Man Called Horse may well be of its time, but it's certainly a very interesting and highly intelligent film. 7/10

One of the first films to ever deal with the relationship between white men and Native Americans that wasn't slanted towards the white man, A MAN CALLED HORSE was released during the same year as the excellent Arthur Penn film LITTLE BIG MAN and the ultra-violent SOLDIER BLUE, which also dealt with the white man/Indian conflict. Richard Harris gives a great performance as an Englishman who loses his wagon team to, and is captured by, a group of Sioux Indians in the Dakota territory of the mid-1800s. He soon learns their ways of living, which primitive as they might be to us and to him are very traditional. Though the film is rated 'PG', be forewarned that there are scenes of violence and bloodshed (particularly the Sun Vow sequence) that could have gotten this film an 'R' (or a 'PG-13'), so the film is not exactly for kids. Nevertheless, it is worth seeing.

I have to laugh sometimes when I read otherwise sane comments from amateur reviewers. This film has fairly awkward productions values compared to the present, also many of the actors playing native people are very much NOT native. That aside, this is a BREAKTHROUGH movie for Hollywood circa 1970. This movie is not similiar to Dances With Wolves-it's effectively the other way around. I find it strange so many people make that comment. This movie predates the other by more than THIRTY YEARS!!! Anyway ackward production values aside the presentation of the Lakota is far from the touchy feely view Costner presented,we see the brutal side of their way of doing things also, which is as factual as what we see today just not very PC. This is a great period classic,well worth watching.

This movie offered a different perspective of the Sioux, and although controversial, it is worth a view. Director Elliot Silverstein doesn't glamorize the Indians and he doesn't make them victims of white injustice. He just tells it like it is, and I have to admire him for it. Many activists protested what they believed to be inaccuracies; nonetheless, the film is the other side of "Dances With Wolves" (really, it's more like "Run of the Arrow"). For an in-depth interview with Silverstein and the making of "A Man Called Horse," read "Making the White Man's Indian: Native Americns and Hollywood Movies." It's a great behind-the-scenes read of this and other popular Western pictures.

In 1825, the Sioux, leaded by Yellow Hand (Manu Tupou), capture the English nobleman John Morgan (Richard Harris), while hunting in the United States of America. John is brutally treated like an animal by the Indian, and is given to help Buffalo Cow Head (Judith Anderson), the mother of Yellow Hand, as if he were a horse. Without understanding the language and behavior of the Sioux, he is helped by Batise (Jean Gascon), a white man made prisoner and mutilated by the Indians five years ago. Batise translates and explains the Sioux's culture for John, plotting to escape some day back to the civilization with him. After an undefined long time later, John loses his snobbish behavior and is reasonably integrated to the Sioux. One day, he kills two enemies Shoshones, who were spying and stalking the Sioux, and gains the respect of the Sioux and love of the sister of Yellow Hand, Running Deer (Corinna Tsopei). John marries Running Deer and integrates to their culture, and after a tragic attack of the Shoshones to the Sioux tribe, he becomes their leader. "A Man Called Horse" is a spectacular and powerful classic western of the 70's. The first time I saw this movie, I was a teenager and left the theater completely astonished with such a different story in that time and the violence of the scenes. Two days ago, I bought the VHS and yesterday I saw it again, and it is still a very impressive film, with magnificent performances of the cast, highlighting Richard Harris and Judith Anderson. The production is very careful, being mostly spoken in Sioux, and depicting in a realistic way, the life, the behavior, the common laws and the moral practices of the Sioux. I believe that "A Man Called Horse", with the Sioux, "Soldier Blue", with the Cheyenne and "Little Big Man", all of them from 1970, were among the first movies to show the lives of prisoners of the North American Indians in their tribes. The amazing scene of John Morgan suspended by his chest in an Indian ceremony is unforgettable and very impressive. My vote is ten.

Title (Brazil): "Um Homem Chamado Cavalo" ("Spectacular Classic Western")

A MAN CALLED HORSE (4 outta 5 stars)

Classic western epic stars Richard Harris as an English nobleman on holiday in the American wilderness who gets taken captive by a band of American Indians. He is brutally treated at first but his captors come to accept him as one of the tribe as he gains more knowledge of their different way of life... where one needs to earn his/her place in the hierarchy... unlike British aristocracy. Harrowingly violent scenes may make this film tough to watch for some... but Harris gives one of his usual great performances and the movie provides an atypically (for its time) sympathetic depiction of the Native American people. Much more realistic but just as sincere as that other 70s classic "Little Big Man."

at the beginning of this movie,there is a blurb about how the events portrayed are taken directly from historical documents of the period.the South Dakota Sioux Indians also had a lot of input into the movie.so,we can assume it is fairly accurate.one thing it does is show the Native American Indians as being just like any other people.this movie took awhile to get going,in my mind,but once it does,it's action packed,and it's very well acted.Richard Harris is the title character.he is a British Lord who is captured by the Sioux in the mid 1800's.first he is treated with disdain,as nothing more than a servant to the aging mother of the chief.gradually,though,things change,though,and he becomes much more.this is a very touching and heart breaking movie.it's also very thought provoking.overall,i give A Man Called Horse a 6/10

If you liked Dances With Wolves, this is the movie that spawned the stories of Native Americans from their perspective. The majesty of the great American West unspoiled before the westward movement pushed the mighty races into obscurity and off their lands is presented here with unparalleled grandeur. The acting from Richard Harris to the many natives in the film is magnificent and lends itself mightily in portraying the triumphs & tragedies of life at its basics, that is, survival. A must see if you are a student of the American Indian culture. Great cinematography and if you have never heard of the ritual "Ceremony of the Sun" it is given here as realistic as it gets. Outstanding to preserve heritage is this film in its efforts.

A Moore

GOOD - This was a fairly interesting story that included some nice photography in spots. The movie does a good job of making one feel part of what it must have been like to be a Sioux Indian during the early 19th century, with all their customs and ways of life. This is an intense at times, too.

BAD - Whitle the aforementioned intenseness keeps your attention, it also means there are some very unpleasant scenes in here, especially when Harris must undergo tests of courage and pain. This movie is not always enjoyable to watch.

The film also has too much Sioux dialog with no interpretations (subtitles) of what the Native Americans are saying.

Although this film appeared to be a western for the 1970's, the story was not new. The writer, Dorothy M. Johnson, originally wrote it for the T.V. series Wagon Train (1957-65). Ralph Meeker was cast then in the Richard Harris role, and an excellent job he made of it, in his quiet way. A good story will always stand the test of time, as this proves.

I liked this film because of how Richard Harris blended in well with the Lakota people. What makes this one so unique is how similar this film is to "Dances with Wolves" and with "Little Big Man" in that a white has lived among Natives for a period of time and has managed to find himself as a human being. Just like the way Lt. John Dunbar did in "Dances with Wolves" and the way Jack Crabb did in "Little Big Man", Mr. Harris lived life in a different perspective with the Indians.

But anyway............. that's the reason why I gave "A Man Called Horse" a 6 out of 10.

I was recommended this film in the early 70s by a friend who was older than me (15 to my 11 or so), after he saw it at the local cinema. I've watched it now, at the age of 44, upon his recommendation, and enjoyed it. There's certainly an element of expecting and hoping to like it, after all these years, but I recognise the element of historical document about the film, not great, but necessary in the absence of sufficient others. As a Welshman, I'm interested in the choice of the Welsh name Morgan for the main protagonist, an English aristocrat, a choice made by the author of the book upon which the film is based, Dorothy M. Johnson. I know nothing of her, nor the reason for her choice of naming the protagonist. I have always wondered, having known enough about the film for 30 or so years, whether there was a basis in fact to the story. The Welsh, despite not being as well known in the States as our cousins the Irish (including Richard Harris)or our close neighbours the English, were the earliest to move over to your beautiful country from these islands. I know nothing about native American culture apart from what films have shown me, and that is to my loss, but have been re-enthused to enquire more as a result of watching this film.

richard harris is great in this picture . a new view of indian/white man relationships. some extended realistic violence in this movie. one has to get a feel for the indian culture and richard harris plays part with realism and he really carries entire movie.

It is one of the rare films about American Indians that is not at all concerned by their extermination by Custer and company. But it is in fact a lot deeper than that. It shows from inside the functioning, the culture, the rites and rituals of Sioux Indians when a white English Lord is captured and turned into a slave for some time. It shows how he manages to become a warrior by killing two Shoshone assailants. Then he marries the sister of the chief and eventually becomes the chief after a war with the Shoshones who attack the village that he defends successfully. And then they move. It shows how hard they are with old women when their sons have disappeared. It shows how hard they are with their warriors who have to go through very cruel rites. Pain is the deliverer of the soul. It shows the basic motivation of wars between tribes: to loot the others, in other words to survive by doing nothing productive but appropriating what is not theirs but the others'. It could be considered as light anthropologically but when it came out in 1970 it was a real revolution in the sympathy and empathy it conveyed about the Indians, but also about the fact that cruelty and pain were never looked for per se but always to prove the courage and the strength of the person. In other words it is the proof that Sioux Indians had a high level of morality based on proved physical endurance and courage. It also proved that love was a real dimension among them governing the relations among fellow human beings in the tribe and between men and women, though their love was not necessarily expressed the way we would romantically adorn it.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines

RELEASED IN 1970 and directed by Elliot Silverstein, "A Man Called Horse" chronicles events in 1825-1826 when an English aristocrat on a hunting expedition in the Dakotas (Richard Harris) is captured by the Lakota Sioux. As the months pass he starts to understand their way of life and is eventually embraced as part of the tribe. Manu Tupou plays the Lakota chief while Jean Gascon appears as a "crazy" Flathead captured by them, who just so happens to speak fluent French and English (Why Sure!). Corinna Tsopei plays the chief's sister while Judith Anderson is on hand as a cantankerous aged Native.

People say that this was the precursor to the great "Dances With Wolves" (1990) and, while this is true, it's the obvious progeny of Westerns like "Broken Arrow" (1950) and, especially, "Run of the Arrow" (1957). Nevertheless, you have to respect a Western that totally eschews the common staples of the genre (quint Western towns, saloons, sheriffs, gunfights, cavalries, stampedes, forts, etc.) and focuses solely on life in-and-around a Native teepee village in the early 1800s.

One obvious problem is the fact that a handful of the key Natives are played by Caucasians, but it's hard to hold that against a film made in 1969 and, besides, many of the cast are Native American. Another problem is that the movie purports to take place in what is now western South Dakota or thereabouts, but with the exception of establishing shots at Custer State Park, South Dakota, the movie was shot in Arizona and Mexico 700-1200 miles away! This wouldn't be so bad, but anyone who's been to the Dakota region can tell the difference.

Anyway, critics nitpick this or that detail, but the movie effectively puts you in a Native village in the first half of the 19th century. The Sun Dance ceremony is a highlight with its fascinating depiction of the excruciating Vow to the Sun. Again, nitpickers criticize the details, but the Sun Dance was a real ceremony practiced by the Plains culture Natives back then.

One thing I really respect is that the filmmakers refused to whitewash the Lakota Sioux in the name of idiotic political correctness. Their first appearance, for instance, shows them ruthlessly murdering several white hunters and stealing their horses and supplies. Moreover, they're plainly shown in a state of brutal war with other tribes. Needless to say, the American West was a far cry from the Garden of Eden before Europeans, etc. came and settled it, which is how eye-rolling liberal academics try to paint it. Aduh.

THE FILM RUNS 114 minutes. WRITERS: Jack DeWitt, Dorothy M. Johnson & Gregory Crosby.

GRADE: B

Interesting career paths for Richard Harris and Manu Tupou... in 1966, Harris had the caucasian lead, who moves into the territory occupied by native hawaiians, led by Tupou. A couple years later, in Horse, Harris is the brit aristocrat who accidentally stumbles into the early american leader's land, led by Tupou. This time, he is captured by the native americans, who keep him as a worker. Once he proves his prowess and bravery, he is accepted, and can marry the chief's sister. Some rough stuff in here, so not for the faint of heart. Scalping and intense ceremonies, which are described as authentic at the beginning, with very specific references provided. At first, all Morgan (Harris) can think of is escaping and going home, but he comes to like his captors. With the help of fellow prisoner Batise, who miraculously speaks english, he proves himself, and becomes an important part of the group. It's pretty good. Directed by elliot silverstein, who had just done cat ballou. Based on a story by dorothy johnson.