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Cheyenne Autumn (1964)
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Reviews Counted:9
Fresh:6
Rotten:3
Average Rating:6.1/10
Runtime: 2 hrs 38 mins
Genre: Westerns
Synopsis: Plagued by ill health and hampered by the obtuse decisions of dull-witted studio chiefs, John Ford had reached a point in his life not unlike that of the tribe he depicts in CHEYENNE AUTUMN, his... Plagued by ill health and hampered by the obtuse decisions of dull-witted studio chiefs, John Ford had reached a point in his life not unlike that of the tribe he depicts in CHEYENNE AUTUMN, his final Western. A large majority of the remaining 1000 members of the Cheyenne tribe forced onto an Oklahoma reservation in the 1870s have been killed by disease and starvation while waiting a year for promised government aid. Driven by the need to survive, the last 250-odd Indians begin an arduous 1,500 mile trek to their ancestral lands in Wyoming, accompanied by Quaker schoolteacher Deborah Wright (Carroll Baker). The army dispatches Capt. Thomas Archer (Richard Widmark), Deborah's fiancé, to pursue the Cheyenne, a task for which he has little liking. En route, the hot-blooded Red Shirt (Sal Mineo) battles with army troops, and the incidents are exaggerated by the press, which calls for a vigorous response to the "marauding savages." As the journey continues, the stoic Cheyenne must endure the rank stupidity and malign indifference of their Caucasian usurpers. The star-studded cast, including James Stewart, Edward G. Robinson, Karl Malden, Ricardo Montalban, Dolores Del Rio, and Arthur Kennedy, perform admirably in a film graced by William Clothier's epic photography of the awe-inspiring Monument Valley, a location immortalized by Ford's earlier films and here providing the perfect backdrop for the legendary director's delicate, rueful, and tremendously moving farewell to the West. [More]
Starring: Richard Widmark, Carroll Baker, Karl Malden, Sal Mineo
Starring: Richard Widmark, Carroll Baker, Karl Malden, Sal Mineo, Ricardo Montalban, James Stewart, Edward G. Robinson, Dolores Del Rio, Gilbert Roland, Arthur Kennedy
Director: John Ford
Director: John Ford
Screenwriter: James R. Webb
Producer: Bernard Smith
Composer: Alex North
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Reviews for Cheyenne Autumn
Flawed on several levels, Ford's perception of a proud people seen through a white man's eyes is ultimately a highly compelling and deeply personal apologia.
Somewhere in the telling, the original premise of the Mari Sandoz novel is lost sight of in a wholesale insertion of extraneous incidents which bear little or no relation to the subject.
The film is often described as Ford's apology to the Indians for their stereotypical portrayal in previous films, but though they are treated more sympathetically, they still emerge as members (or symbols) of a mass rather than flesh and blood individuals
Over-long, often clichéd and uneven (there are comic interludes complete with cameo performances), but still imbued with moments of true poetry, thanks largely to William Clothier's magnificent Panavision landscapes.
Cheyenne Autumn is a strong film, grandly directed and expertly played by a large cast.
Ford's compositions (he was 69 at the time) are as noble as ever, but a feeling of fatigue hangs over the whole enterprise.
Latest News for Cheyenne Autumn
September 05, 2007:
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