Cheyenne Autumn

I rediscovered "Cheyenne Autumn" recently and must confess to finding the temptation to hail it as almost the greatest of the John Ford Westerns irresistable. I say "almost" as I realise that the claim needs a certain amount of caution. When set beside the formal perfection of "The Searchers", "My Darling Clementine" and even "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon", "Cheyenne Autumn" has a few weak moments and certainly some longeurs. And yet it has a monumental sweep that somehow outstrips them all. Ford's final Western is an apologia for the white Americans' treatment of the American Indian and his own depiction of them as the bad guys in so much of his previous work. Here the Cheyenne are the victims of White oppression, forced to live far to the south of their natural homeland and desperate to return. Depleted in number mainly through illness and starvation they set out on the long trek north, beset on all sides by alien landscape conditions and the American cavalry in pursuit. These pathetic remnants of a once noble tribe now consist of little more than a group of women and children - very few of the male warriors are left - accompanied by a white Quaker woman who has befriended them. One American cavalry officer (Richard Widmark in one of his best performances) recognises their dilemma and does all he can to summon official awareness of their plight. In a sense this is one of the finest of all road movies, the protagonists forced to face the long journey home across a seemingly endless wilderness. Only through an inner determination are the remnants of the tribe able to make it. It is also one of cinema's most powerful documentations of man's inhumanity to man, not light years away from "Come and See" and Ford's own "The Prisoner of Shark Island". The film is badly flawed by the intrusion of a semi-comic interlude depicting Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday more intent on card play in Dodge City than in what is happening around them. This only serves to slow the pace of a film that is often prone to encompass peripheral detail to the detriment of moving purposefully forward. But who can quibble when the end result encompasses one magnificent image after another in William Clothier's splendid 'scope photography and the only music score - by Alex North - that ever did real justice to a Ford picture. For once we actually get away from those endless medleys of sentimental hymn and folk melodies with an astringency of style that matches the serious content of the 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...

Historical and overlong movie recounting the legendary Cheyenne trek led by the Indian chiefs , Little Wolf and Dull Knife . The picture is an epic portrait of the historic story about celebrated Cheyenne (they are actually Navajo , telling dirty jokes in their native tongue) and their legendary feat leading the tribe on a journey to freedom , uprooting them from the Yellowstone and resettling them in distant Oklahoma . This majestic flick illustrates the callous disregard with which the government treated the Cheyenne in the 1880s as the US agency fails to deliver even the meager provisions due by peace treaty to the stubborn tribe in their stark desert reserve without proper supplies for survival ; then the starving Indians have taken more abuse than it's worth and break it too by embarking on a 1,500 miles trek back to their ancestral hunting grounds , being led by Little Wolf and Dull Knife (Ford was urged by producers to cast first stars as Richard Boone and Anthony Quinn , as both had Native American blood ; however , Ricardo Montalban and Gilbert Roland, who were of Mexican descent , were cast instead) . Meanwhile , proud Cheyenne tribe square off US cavalry commanded by Thomas Archer (Richard Widmark) who leads his army on a wild chase across the barren plains in this saga of the old west . Red Shirt (played by Sal Mineo , though John Ford would not allow him to speak any English dialog in the picture due to the actor's Bronx accent) , a rebel Indian does the first shot against cavalry . Captain Thomas Archer goes to deal with Secretary of Interior Schulz about the unfortunate Indians (Spencer Tracy was first cast , but had a stroke and was replaced by Edward G. Robinson, , including the background had to be done with screen process and whose scenes were entirely photographed in studios) , taking place a climatic meeting scene between Shultz and the Cheyenne chiefs . The tribe refuses to surrender in this chronicle of a bitter fight between the tribe and the US cavalry in the struggle for the west . Now the mightiest true adventure of all! Filmed by 6-time Academy Award winner John Ford...with a massive all-star cast! .1,500 miles of heroism and incredible adventure!

This sprawling epic film displays Western action , shootouts , drama and spectacular battles . It's a thoughtful piece for its time that had an original tragic ending and imbued with moments of sensitive poetry . This nice Western contains interesting characters , full of wide open space and dramatic moments . This classic , sturdy picture ranks as one of the most sentimental of John Ford's work . Thought-provoking , enjoyable screenplay portraying in depth characters and brooding events with interesting issues running beneath script surface and suggested by Mari Sandoz in "Cheyenne Autumn¨ with screenplay by James R. Webb and based on a novel titled Last Frontier by Howard Fast who also wrote Spartacus . This excellent film featuring a magnificent performance by the whole main cast , including a top-notch supporting cast . Awesome Richard Widmark in a larger-than-life character along with a gorgeous Carrol Baker and a magnificent Karl Malden as deranged captain Wessels . In the film appears , as usual , Ford's favourite actors such as : Ben Johnson , Harry Carey Jr. , Mike Mazurki , George O'Brien , Mae Marsh , Patrick Wayne , Dolores Del Rio , Ken Curtis , Elizabeh Allen , Willis Bouchey , and , of course , James Stewart as obstinate sheriff Earp . Ford added the segment with Stewart in place of an intermission , in spite of the film was overlong , and so he came up with the Wyatt Earp segment , giving Stewart an awesome interpretation , as usual . Outdoors are pretty gorgeous and well photographed in Super Panavision 70mm by William H. Clothier , Ford's regular , and filmed on location in Moab, Utah ,Fort Laramie, Wyoming, Monument Valley, Utah , Gunnison Canyon , Colorado . Rousing and an impressive musical score by Alex North who composed other masterpieces as Spartacus and Cleopatra.

This may not be Ford's best Western , as many would claim , but it's still head ad shoulders above most big-scale movies . You'll find the ending over-dramatic according to your tastes , though it's lovingly composed by John Ford who really picks up battle , drama and sensibility towards the ending . Rating : Better than average , worthwhile watching . The motion picture well produced by Bernard Smith was brilliantly directed by John Ford at his last film . This powerful movie will appeal to Indian Western fans .

The first half hour of Cheyenne Autumn promises a moving western akin to How the West Was Won. There's a great romance, family tensions, and a large promise broken to the Native Americans. When the white government officials promise to meet the Indian chiefs and discuss the terms of an already broken treaty, everyone in the tribe walks the great distance to the white settlement. They stand for hours in the sun, waiting in vain. It's very sad, but it starts off a compelling drama. Richard Widmark is in love with a Quaker schoolteacher, Carroll Baker, and he writes her an absolutely adorable marriage proposal on the chalkboard of her classroom. Since he loves her, he wants her to leave for safety instead of traveling with the Indians to the new territory.

The rest of the long movie really disappoints. I tried to forgive the bad casting of Carroll as a Quaker, but she certainly didn't act like an unworldly woman. Karl Malden gave his usual intense, penetrating stare, but little else. Ricardo Montalban and the remarkably well-preserved Gilbert Roland play Native Americans; you'd think that by 1964 Hollywood would stop putting dark makeup on actors. Sal Mineo, also playing an Indian, strutted around with his shirt off to impress a tribal girl - but that made no sense, since Native Americans always ran around bare-chested. Why were there blushes and giggles exchanged? And randomly, there was a chunk of time in the middle of the movie that included Wyatt Earp (played by James Stewart) and Doc Holliday (played by Arthur Kennedy) in a saloon playing poker. They don't add to the story, and there's no acting required. Jimmy throws a few winks among his jokes, and Arthur keeps up. I can't imagine why this comic relief section was included in this drama. Edward G. Robinson also has a small role in the movie. Can't imagine him in a western? He plays a government official, so no cowboy hat for him. Keep an eye out for cutie pie Patrick Wayne, though, which is fun.

This movie is very long, and at times it does drag. The middle section is uneven, and after a while, you forget how the beginning even started. If you watch it, it won't hurt you, but it's not as good as it seems.

This honestly needed a page one rewrite. Apparently born of some college research Richard Widmark did and offered up to John Ford years before, the story of the Cheyenne trek from the Southwest back to the Dakotas is a movie without a center. The actual story belongs to the Cheyenne making the trek, but I would assume that studio executives balked at the idea of funding a Western epic with only Cheyenne characters as the main characters, or maybe Ford felt like he couldn't tell the story of the Cheyenne himself. He needed a crutch in the form of a cavalry officer through which to see the story. Whatever the reason, though, the central point gets muddled to no end, eventually introducing some thematic ideas about duty to orders made from ignorance that would have also been a nice central idea. Instead, it's a split film, never able to fully dedicate itself to a single concept, but at least Ford still knew how to make a movie.

In Oklahoma Territory, the remnants of the Cheyenne nation await a delegation from Washington DC to negotiate the terms of the treaty that was broken and left the Indians fifteen hundred miles from their home. When the DC delegation doesn't even bother to show up, their chief, Tall Tree (Victor Jory), makes the decision to simply take his people back. Ordered to bring them back is Captain Thomas Archer (Widmark), an officer who feels sympathy for the Cheyenne and their plight. There's also a Quaker woman, Deborah (Carroll Baker), who has been teaching the Cheyenne orphans to read and speak English who decides to go with the Cheyenne when they sneak out in the night.

Once the Cheyenne cross the river that marks the northern boundary of the reservation, Archer, encouraged by his commanding officer, Major Braden (George O'Brien), must attack the Cheyenne position. However, when Braden is killed in the fight, Archer takes command and loses the ensuing battle when his lieutenant Scott (Patrick Wayne) launches an unauthorized and ill-advised attack on the left flank that the Cheyenne easily fight off. This gives the Cheyenne the time to get away, starting a hundreds mile chase through the wilderness of the West up through Nebraska.

One of the interesting ideas that simply doesn't get enough screentime (indicative to me of a story trying its best to include as much of the history as possible whether it fits the story dramatically or not) is that the newspapers of the day operated on rumor, conjecture, and outright lies to help either incite or encourage sympathy for people. We get little vignettes further back east with newspaper men angrily shouting that they're changing their coverage simply to be different from everyone else to help sell more newspapers.

And then there's what could simply be described as an extended comedic sketch set in Dodge City, Kansas where Wyatt Earp (Jimmy Stewart) plays cards with Doc Holliday (Arthur Kennedy) and Jeff Blair (John Carradine), talks with people about the news of the Cheyenne, tries to remember if he had actually ever met the pretty Ms. Plantagenet (Elizabeth Allen), and then organizes a loosely knit band of militia when news reaches them that the Cheyenne were heading towards Dodge City with every intention of raping and pillaging. Earp takes them in the exact opposite direction to comedic effect. This was apparently designed by Ford as a sort of Intermission since the film was already kind of long (though without it, the movie would probably only be about 140 minutes which isn't that long).

Then the film gets serious again as the Cheyenne must get through an army blockade around a railroad, and the nation splits in two in the snow as the two heirs to Tall Tree, after his death, decide on different paths. Little Wolf (Ricardo Montalban) wants to keep going to the Dakotas and their ancestral home while Dull Knife (Gilbert Roland) wants to give up at the nearest army fort to find food and shelter from the wilderness. This conflict of visions would have been a great thing to build this whole movie on, you know?

We end up following Dull Knife to Fort Robinson, commanded by Captain Wessels (Karl Malden, complete with odd accent that seems to be Russian). Archer shows up immediately afterwards, and then we get another idea that would have been great to build the film on: the question of following orders from those with no real knowledge of the facts on the ground. Wessels has orders to put the Cheyenne under restraint, so he locks them all up in a warehouse. Archer sees this as inhumane, especially when combined with the idea that Wessels will follow his orders strictly and send them right back south in the middle of winter, all but guaranteeing their deaths. Archer takes two weeks leave to go to Washington where he meets the Secretary of the Interior, Carl Schurz (Edward G. Robinson), to let him know of the situation.

The finale of the film is the set up to a battle between the Cheyenne who have escaped and met up with their other half further north and the army, stopped by the sudden arrival of Archer and Schurz. They negotiate a peace that allows the Cheyenne to stay. Oh, and then we have a finale where Little Wolf kills Dull Knife's son because he had stolen one of Little Wolf's wives, and then Archer and Deborah probably get married because, why not?

Really, this did need a page one rewrite. Focus on either the Cheyenne or Archer, or extend this at least another half hour (sans Wyatt Earp comedic interlude), and give it the full epic treatment while finding a way to contrast the duty of Little Wolf to his people and deceased leader with the duty of Archer to his government.

Also, recast Archer. I really dislike Richard Widmark as a leading man. He's a charisma vacuum with a single scowl that represents the outer edges of his acting range. He has no affable charm like John Wayne. He's just grating. The rest of the cast is largely quite good, though. Malden, for all his silly accent, really just needs more time with his character, going somewhat mad with his orders bumping up against his conscience. Baker is soulful and concerned as the good Quaker woman dedicated to the most vulnerable of a vulnerable population. Montalban plays Little Wolf with an inner strength appropriate to a character who refuses to break. It's also nice to see some of the reliable acting troupe of Ford's popping up like Harry Carey Jr. And Ben Johnson as a pair of troopers. Edward G. Robinson brings gravitas to his role as the Secretary, even if his health forced the final negotiation to look fake because he couldn't go on location.

The end result, the movie I actually have instead of the one I imagine in my head, is a mixed bag of half-formed and abandoned ideas with beautiful cinematography, largely solid acting, and a couple of exciting action sequences. Also, for how starkly the Wyatt Earp sequence clashes with the more serious film around it, it is pretty amusing.