Western

Cheyenne Autumn

Ford-Smith Productions

Warner Bros. Pictures

United States of America

English

Richard Widmark

Carroll Baker

Karl Malden

Sal Mineo

Dolores del Río

Ricardo Montalban

Gilbert Roland

Arthur Kennedy

James Stewart

Edward G. Robinson

Patrick Wayne

Elizabeth Allen

John Carradine

Victor Jory

Mike Mazurki

George O'Brien

Sean McClory

Judson Pratt

Carmen D'Antonio

Ken Curtis

Harry Carey, Jr.

Ben Johnson

Mae Marsh

Denver Pyle

Bert Stevens

Chuck Roberson

Chuck Hayward

Al Bain

Walter Baldwin

Bill Borzage

Danny Borzage

Willis Bouchey

Rudy Bowman

Lee Bradley

Joe Brooks

Dan Carr

Dave Dunlop

Jeannie Epper

Stephanie Epper

Shug Fisher

James Flavin

Bob Folkerson

William Forrest

Jerry Gatlin

Donna Hall

Sam Harris

William Henry

Harry Hickox

Bryan 'Slim' Hightower

Harry Holcombe

Nancy Hsueh

Michael Jeffers

Eddie Juaregui

Syl Lamont

Steven Manymules

Ted Mapes

Mathew McCue

Philo McCullough

Joe McGuinn

John McKee

David Miller

Louise Montana

Montie Montana

Charles Morton

Nanomba 'Moonbeam' Morton

Many Muleson

Zon Murray

James O'Hara

Joe Phillips

John Qualen

Walter Reed

John Roy

Bing Russell

Charles Seel

Ted Smile

Dean Smith

Cap Somers

Mary Statler

Harry Strang

Bill Williams

Jack Williams

Carleton Young

John Ford

Howard Fast

James R. Webb

Bernard Smith

Alex North

William H. Clothier

Otho Lovering

David Hawkins

Richard Day

Darrell Silvera

Frank Beetson Jr.

Ann Peck

Norman Pringle

Francis E. Stahl

Loren Janes

Russell Saunders

Wingate Smith

Ralph Webb

Eli Bo Jack Blackfeather

John Epper

Cliff Lyons

Rudy Robbins

Neil Summers

Gerald Perry Finnerman

John R. Hamilton

Doug Mathias

George R. Schrader

Harrold Weinberger

Luster Bayless

Bill Cornford

Henry Brant

Gil Grau

Ray Kellogg

A Cheyenne is a soldier from the first slap on his bottom.

Cheyenne Autumn is directed by John Ford and is a "Hollywood" telling of the Northern Cheyenne Exodus of 1877/9, where the Northern Cheyenne, fed up with lack of food and poor facilities, tried to return to their one time home in the North after having been located in the Southern Reservation by the United States Army. It stars Richard Widmark, Caroll Baker, Dolores del Rio, Karl Malden, Gilbert Roland, Ricardo Montalban, Edward G. Robinson, James Stewart and Arthur Kennedy. Music is scored by Alex North and cinematography by William H. Clothier. It is photographed in Super Panavision 70, in various Utah locations, predominantly Monument Valley.

Does it ever matter who fired the first shot?

John "Pappy" Ford's penultimate film, and his last Western, is epic in scope and production and seen as an honest attempt to redress the balance for years of misrepresentation of Native Americans in Hollywood, though not necessarily his own since he, I believe, isn't on record as saying that to be the case? Thematically it's important and doesn't back off from being sympathetic to the Cheyenne's plight, we root for them and rightly so. Yet it always feels like a film shot through the vision of a white man's eyes, you find yourself wanting more from the Cheyenne perspective, for them to dominate the narrative. It would have been nice to know some of the big players involved in the heroic and tragic trek back to Wyoming. It's also annoying that Ford or the studio chose to interrupt the flow of the story with the pointless light relief section at Dodge City. Which comes across as just an excuse for James Stewart and Arthur Kennedy to play Wyatt Earp & Doc Holliday respectively. And sadly, they are not very successful in doing so either.

As has been noted by many critics over the years, the film ultimately rounds out as an honourable misfire from the great John Ford. The cast, away from the loud and brash Dodge City collective, are mostly fine. Widmark proves to be a watchable axis as the reluctant Captain tasked with returning the Cheyenne to the barren reservation. Baker does a nice line in sexy Quaker, Robinson adds a touch of class late in the day, while Montalban & Roland are excellent as Cheyenne chiefs Little Wolf & Dull Knife respectively. But all pale in the shadow of Clothier's magnificent photography, stunning vistas that dominate the screen, the colours so rich and splendid, Monument Valley an iconic character of nature observing the Cheyenne desperately trying to get back to home comforts.

It's unmistakably a John Ford picture, with some inspired filming techniques, but the heart of the story is lost due to a too long run time, a daft mid point sequence and much extraneous nonsense. 6/10

Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday in Dodge City

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Cheyenne Autumn

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Cast

Richard Widmark

Carroll Baker

Karl Malden

Sal Mineo

Dolores del Río

Ricardo Montalban

Gilbert Roland

Arthur Kennedy

James Stewart

Edward G. Robinson

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