Customer Reviews

Cheyenne Autumn [VHS]

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I bought this vcr tape a few months ago. Sure the movie is NOT all correct for Cheyenne dress and habits but John Ford did bring the Cheyenne's plight and disgraceful treatment to the big screen. I view the movie at least once a month and never get tired of it. Excellent movie and beautiful scenes in the movie. Wish John Ford was alive to direct another such movie!
This Northern Cheyenne give this movie 5 stars and a thumbs up.

Legendary director John Ford's last film, while not as good as earlier efforts, does possess some striking photography, a brilliant Alex North score, and good acting. Stalwart Richard Widmark does well as the cavalryman with a conscious; Karl Malden is fine as the duty-bound fort commander; and Edward G. Robinson does his patented perfection as a politician who tries to placate the situation. Even the politically incorrect casting of non-Indians Ricardo Montalban, Delores Del Rio, Sal Mineo, and Gilbert Roland can be excused as a sign of the film making times. Veteran character actor Sean McClory is also quite memorable as the fort doctor who confronts Captain Malden about the mistreatment of the Indian prisoners.

John Ford dealt with one of the long-lasting Indian tragedies in his "Cheyenne Autumn," the wasting away of a tribe in an uncongenial pen called a reservation and its efforts to take matters into its own hands...

Indians, to use a modern term, had become redundant; that was their true tragedy... They were unwanted in what the whites wanted to make of the West and so they were 'placed' and disposed of, thereby suffering the usual 'superfluous' maladies of physical and moral debilitation... Here they are portrayed as the victims of insensitive herding...

The Cheyennes--1,500 miles away in Oklahoma from their Yellowstone home--had seen their numbers depleted from one thousand to less than three hundred in the course of a disease-ridden year... With these sorts of statistics it was as much a matter of simple logic as an act of desperation when they upped and left one night, bound on foot for their old hunting grounds, probably knowing full well that the cavalry would make them hurry, as they did, all the way... An epic in real life. Would the master epic-maker match it? In purely visual terms the answer was 'yes'. Ford vivid1y depicted the starvation and disease plaguing the Cheyenne trek... But somehow Ford never wholly got to the heart of the matter although the intent was there and at times this is a most impressive and moving film...

Carroll Baker appears as a Quaker teacher who tries in vain to he1p the unfortunate migrants... Richard Widmark is the army captain who is as sympathetic as uniform allows, and Arthur Kennedy is razor-sharp in his impersonation of Doc Holliday, who, with Stewart's Earp, is drafted into leading a posse against the Indians... Stewart deliberately re-routes them and the Indians get away... Edward G. Robinson plays a humane and kindly Secretary of the Interior who helps bail out the unlucky Cheyenne.

This is John Ford's last Western, and a film in which he tries to make amends for (in some films) his rather shabby treatment of Native Americans. It is not a typical Ford Western, though. Yes, it's filmed in Monumental Valley, and it boasts some of the greatest cinemtography ever in a Ford film. Yet, it seems rambling, even disjointed at times. It is Ford's longest work (clocking in at, for Ford at least, a long 158 minutes), and it feels like it could have used a little editing. There isn't much humour in it, except for the Dodge City episode, which is awkwardly inserted into the middle of the film. It really seems out of place because the rest of the film is very serious with very little comic relief included. But the episode itself is actually one of Ford's funniest scenes EVER. The banter between James Stewart, Burt Kennedy, John Carradine, and Elizabeth Allen is hilarious. The scene was originally cut out of the initial theatrical version, but then later restored for VHS/DVD releases. Ford seems to be trying something new here, but just not getting it right. This film is missing the poetry that is in many of his other Westerns. The film comes across as rather preachy, ponderous, and lumbering (even though the subject matter is definitely important). Tag Gallagher's book on Ford, he states that Ford wanted to cast actual Native Americans in the roles of Montalban, Mineo, and Roland, treating them like a Greek Chorus unable to communicate with the whites. This idea was rejected by the producers of the film. He reportedly didn't care for Alex North's score, either. Ford films always had a more traditional, folk tinged score that was used sparingly throughout his films. North's score underscores almost every scene, here. It is nice, however, to see this film widescreen. Before, it was only available in wretched, pan and scan versions, which absolutely butchered Ford's compositions. Here we get to see the spectacular photography by William Clothier, who shot this film in 70mm. Ford only completed one more feature film after this (the underrated Seven Women), and this ended up being his final Western. It's worth watching, for sure (especially if you're a Ford admirer), but it is not one of his better films.

Common wisdom has it that Cheyenne Autumn is a well-intentioned failure, and while his last Western is certainly far from John Ford's best, it is one of those films that becomes more impressive on repeated viewings. Although seen by many as an apologist epic made as an act of contrition by Ford for so many decades of stereotyping Native Americans, he always denied this, and it has to be said that, Two Rode Together apart, his Westerns generally had a bit more respect for the various tribes than his contemporaries. Instead its appeal seems partially as a good yarn, albeit one compromised by budgetary concerns, and one of his sporadic shots at an important message picture with a social conscience. Although it's not an unqualified success, his often spectacular retelling of the Cheyenne tribe's epic trek from their rundown reservation back to their original homeland has a lot to recommend it. While it's hard today to see the main Cheyenne characters played by the likes of Sal Mineo and a predominantly Latin-American cast - Ricardo Montalban, Dolores Del Rio and Gilbert Roland among them - and have most of the film seen through the eyes of white characters like Richard Widmark's conflicted cavalry officer, Carroll Baker's school ma'am and many familiar faces from the Ford stock company (including a surprisingly unbilled Ben Johnson and Harry Carey Jr in virtual reprises of their Rio Grande roles), it was a major achievement at the time to even tell a story about the callous treatment of the Native American tribes: feelbad epics had never been a good bet at the box-office.

Certainly at times you get the feeling that Warner Bros. were trying to save money wherever possible. Many of the more dramatic incidents of the real trek were cut from the script to save money, one key section is obviously shot on a soundstage rather than on location and there is some crude backprojection at the end (perhaps necessitated by having to replace Spencer Tracey with Edward G. Robinson), often leaving the film looking rather disjointed. The biggest misstep is the Dodge City sequence, which was Ford's idea of a comic relief intermission. While mildly amusing, it's a massive shift of tone that adds nothing to the story aside from an opportunity to add a little starpower with James Stewart's comical Wyatt Earp and cronies Arthur Kennedy and John Carradine and which could easily be removed from the film entirely without anyone noticing (indeed, it was cut from many prints after the film opened to get more shows in). Nonetheless, there are still many powerful sequences, from the Cheyenne standing all day in the baking sun to welcome a Senate Committee that can't be bothered to travel the dusty road to the reservation to a prolonged episode in a fort when Karl Malden's self-aggrandizing and ambitious commander sees them more as an opportunity than as starving and freezing human beings. There's certainly much to like, from William H. Clothier's fine widescreen photography of Monument Valley (this would be Ford's last film in his favorite location), a good score from Alex North and a nicely underplayed proposal scene in a schoolhouse. If it never quite gels, it's still a noble attempt at popularising difficult subject matter.

Warners 2.35:1 widescreen DVD is the fully restored version of the film, including a vintage 20-minute documentary on the real trek, the theatrical trailer and an often amusing audio commentary by Ford biographer Joseph McBride - apparently the extras can often be heard swearing in their own language secure in the knowledge that none of the crew had a clue what they were really saying!

Granted, it might not be a glorious John Ford movie as his earlier works, but in this one attempt one might recognize the soul of the director, a troubled soul.

He had always depicted the native Americans as being merely a detail in American history, and now, having reached the sunset and the winter of his own life - and probably some wisdom as well, he comes out in the open and seems to ask for forgiveness.

It is a touching attempt at redemption and as such it should be considered. Ford was deeply religious, even though he never openly admitted it and here it shows.

Of course it is at times naive, at times superficial and at times kitsch, but this is also the the true and touching opening of an old man who has realized that his own world has changed and the views of the people have changed.

He is desperately trying to get in touch and in synchrony with this new world and admits the faults and mistakes that some of his forefathers have committed against defenseless and hopeless people.

This movie is probably more his own introspection before his death and at the same time is the heritage he wanted to leave us before his demise.

This is why I wouldn't be so harsh as to trash it so swiftly.

Even though somewhat naive in its views, the story of the Lakota/Dakota tribes being deported and so shamelessly persecuted by the American Government in those far away days is absolutely true.

It is a piece of American history that so many Americans would like to see being forgotten but occasionally pops up to hunt us as a reminder that any civilization can produce unspeakable horrors, especially when it feels socially superior.

What I would mostly criticize is the fact that all American native parts were cast with other minorities, especially of hispanic origin (Gilbert Roland and Ricardo Montalban, two of the best and finest actors of Latin origin who, unfortunately for those years, were so many times misused and typecast).

But all this does not come as a surprise if one consider that certain racial practices were still in effect in those days. We are four years away from 1968 and Martin Luther King and the road to parity for American natives will be even longer than that...

The film is slow paced on purpose, in order for the audience to absorb the atrocity of the situation in which the American natives, in this case the Cheyennes, are forced to live.

The U.S. Government is not depicted as one homogeneous force as it may have been later on in history, but rather as a bunch of newly arrived groups of Europeans who intend to take a foothold on the American Continent in order to pursue an all out colonization of the Land.
A very similar situation to that of the British confronted with the Zulus in South Africa.

Right or wrong is not contemplated in this movie. History here is what it was, crude and cruel. It's the affirmation of one Society over another. People don't count...

But this is exactly where this movie is highly revealing: the people involved. History is just a poor excuse to handle people as cattle.

It's the interior conflicts of the people that appear in this work that make it so worthwhile. Whites, as well as American natives, seem uncomfortable with the situation at hand and struggle uneasily against the winds of Power.

A Power always felt but never seen. An Evil force that drives people to do what they do because they are meant to do it. But this evil force is never clearly seen and never takes a firm foothold in one or more people.

This is why everything in this movie seems to be at once so confused and at the same time so desperate. The movie asks who these people really are and what they really want from life, but also shows us that they all are pawns in this immense chess game and no one can really do what he would like to do.

Here, John Ford's image of his interior struggle taking place is very clearly recognizable. It's as if he's trying to tell us that he has always tried to do what was right but never really what he truly wanted to do... and that he was probably sorry never to be able to unchain himself from the system.

The true message to us and the legacy he is trying to convey is not to allow others to take us as hostages but rather to fight such people with all our strength because otherwise we might land up as slaves.

In as much, the movie is revolutionary for its times. In other words this is a multilayered work of art that is well worth watching in its subtle net of subplots that hide messages reserved to those who can read them.

It's much less a Western than a History lesson, but so much more a last "J'accuse" from the author of the most memorable Westerns ever made and the most controversial director of his times.

If you know how to read John Ford, then this movie will reveal him to you like none other before.
If you're out for another conventional John Ford movie than this is certainly not it.

It's up to you, but remember, great directors reveal themselves in movies that are usually atypical from their regular genres or themes.

I remember seeing this film in the movies as a kid and I did not think much of it. I saw it on DVD last night for the first time in many years and really enjoyed it. Filmed mostly in Monument Vally in 70mm, this is Ford's most beautiful film since "The Searchers." Almost every scene is a pleasure to look at. The film has been remastered for DVD and looks great.
The film is a sympathetic portrayal of the Cheyenne Indian 1500 mile trek from their reservation in Arizona to their original location. It stars Richard Widmark as a sympathetic Army Captain assigned to bring them back. We sometimes forget what a fine leading-man Widmark was and he is terrific here. (Ford used so many great Hollywood leading men in his films: The great Duke Wayne, of course, James Stewart, Henry Fonda, etc. Widmark and Stewart previously co-starred in Ford's "Two Rode Together.") Widmark's love-interest is played by Carroll Baker, one of my favorite actresses of the 1960s. The indians are portrayed by all non-indians: three hispanic actors: Ricardo Montalban, Gilbert Roland and Dolores Del Rio, an Italian-American: Sal Mineo, and a fine character-actor: Victor Jory. Edweard G. Robinson is very good as the Secretary of the Interior, Carl Schurz. The one major-misfire is a long-winded comedy sequence with James Stewart seriously miscast as an idiotic Wyatt Earp and Arthur Kennedy even more-miscast as a quiet-spoken Doc Holliday. It also feature Ken Curtis, (Ford's son-in-law,) a/k/a Festus Haggen on "Gunsmoke" as a sadistic indian-killer. This entire scene is very out of place and hurts the film.
The music is by Alex North, one of the greatest film composers. (He did one of my all-time favorite scores for "Spartacus.") The DVD features the overture and intermission music.
If you want to spend a relaxing evening watching an extremely well-made epic western featuring a fine cast of actors who, for the most part are no longer with us, you could do far worse than this film

Based upon Mari Sandoz's book Cheyenne Autumn (Second Edition), which was actually an early example of what Truman Capote called a "nonfiction novel," this final Western by director John Ford (he made only two more films before retiring and died nine years later) fictionalizes and broadens the original while still sticking closely to the basic events. It's 1878, and the Northern Cheyennes have languished for a year in the arid Indian Territory, dying of measles and malaria and insufficient food. When a Congressional committee that was supposed to come and hear their grievances fails to appear, the three chiefs--Tall Tree (Victor Jory), Dull Knife (Gilbert Roland), and Little Wolf (Ricardo Montalban)--resolve to lead their people back to their northern-plains homeland, and an epic flight begins. Pursuing the fugitives is Capt. Thomas Archer (Richard Widmark), the chief security officer at the Reservation, who has fought them and respects them as warriors, and, like many long-time frontier officers, is disgusted by the Government's cavalier way of ignoring or breaking its promises to the Indians; travelling with them, in hopes of helping the many orphan children, is Deborah Wright (Carroll Baker), the Quaker schoolteacher. As the Indians' flight stretches through weeks and months, even young Lt. Scott (Patrick Wayne), who begins with a fire-breathing urge to avenge his father (killed in the Fetterman Massacre of 12 years earlier) on Indian--any Indians--comes to feel respect and compassion for them, and when they surrender to by-the-book Prussian-born Capt. Wessells (Karl Malden) of Fort Robinson and are faced with the prospect of a murderous winter march back to the Territory, Archer takes a wild gamble and heads for Washington to seek help from Interior Secretary Carl Schurz (Edward G. Robinson in a pivotal role).

Some viewers may take issue with the casting of non-Indians in the major Indian roles--Jory, Roland, Montalban, Sal Mineo as Dull Knife's impulsive young warrior-son Red Shirt, Dolores Del Rio as his mother (though she at least is established early on as not an Indian by blood, but a Mexican captive named Spanish Woman who has become Cheyenne herself over her many years with the tribe)--but it's worth keeping in mind that in the 1960's there really weren't very many Indian actors in Hollywood to choose from, and at least Ford does use the Navajos of Monument Valley, who knew him well, as extras. (It's sad that Ford stalwarts Ben Johnson, as Pvt. Plumtree, and Harry Carey, Jr., as Pvt. Smith, aren't credited; several of Plumtree's lines are reminiscent of Johnson's turn as Sgt. Tyree in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon.) The presence of Widmark and Baker as sympathetic POV characters helps to emphasize the raw deal the Indians got, and though the Monument Valley scenery isn't quite right for the facts of the journey, it's magnificent as always. There are also several good battle scenes and two really excellent quieter ones--the night departure of the Indians from the reservation, and their creative circumvention of a railroad line in their path. Though perhaps not a perfect example of the Fordian oeuvre (the whole Dodge City sequence could probably have been dispensed with), it's a good closing piece for the famed director and an affecting story.

This is a grand sentimental epic that no doubt tries the patience of know-it-alls who want their liberal heart strings pulled with historically accurate depictions of suffering. John Ford, a myth-maker, was not the man for the job, but this fictionalized account accomplishes what many if not most documentaries would have failed at, namely, initiating the revision of white America's image of itself as a good people. Here we see what by now is part of every school teacher's curriculum, but 30 years ago, this was a radical retelling of how the West was won. Now we are depicted as the Cossacks, now we are seen as the bad guys, now we are shown to be the ruthless,heartless killers that the 'Indians' had always been accused of. Here we see the American cowboy brutally shoot an Indian in the back and then scalp him for fun. It is a daring, brave film made by a great movie director who loved the land and the people in it.

veteran western director john ford has killed hundreds of indians in his stories over the golden days of hollywood westerns, so maybe it was fitting that he should be the one lamenting at the passing of one of the proudest tribes in western history. CHEYENNE AUTUMN (Warner Bros) is the actual story of the long, hard trek of the Cheyenne people to what they were told was a better life. The story stars the ever dependable Richard Widmark as the sympathetic cavalry officer who is assigned to oversee the journey. He is assisted on this quest by Carroll Baker as a teacher who has taught the young indians, and has become trusted among them. This film, although maybe a little overlong, is a sprawling addition to the epic western genre. Beautifully photographed by the great William Clothier, it also stars Ricardo Montalban and Gilbert Roland as the two main chiefs, who seek peaceful harmony with the whites but are constantly wronged by their warring relation Sal Mineo.(not a very convincing indian). The film also has an interval with James Stewart as Wyatt Earp and Arthur Kennedy as Doc Holliday in a comedy sketch, which should really have been left on the cutting room floor. CHEYENNE AUTUMN rates 4 out of 5 with me because it is a little too long but when it sticks to the story it is good entertainment.