Cheyenne Autumn (1964)

Director:

John Ford

Writers:

Mari Sandoz (novel)
James R. Webb (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

3 October 1964 (USA)

Genre:

History | Western

Tagline:

LAND-GRABBING DOLLAR PATRIOTS!

Plot:

When the government agency fails to deliver even the meager supplies due by treaty to the proud Cheyenne tribe in their barren desert reserve...

Plot Keywords:

Journey | Cavalry | Doc Holliday | Teaching English | Reservation

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Richard Widmark	...	Capt. Thomas Archer
Carroll Baker	...	Deborah Wright
Karl Malden	...	Capt. Wessels
Sal Mineo	...	Red Shirt
Dolores del Rio	...	Spanish Woman (as Dolores Del Rio)
Ricardo Montalban	...	Little Wolf
Gilbert Roland	...	Dull Knife
Arthur Kennedy	...	Doc Holliday
Patrick Wayne	...	Second Lieut. Scott
Elizabeth Allen	...	Miss Plantagenet
John Carradine	...	Jeff Blair
Victor Jory	...	Tall Tree
Mike Mazurki	...	Sr. First Sergeant
George O'Brien	...	Major Braden
Sean McClory	...	Dr. O'Carberry
Judson Pratt	...	Mayor Dog Kelly
Carmen D'Antonio	...	Pawnee Woman
Ken Curtis	...	Joe
James Stewart	...	Wyatt Earp
Edward G. Robinson	...	the Secretary of the Interior
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Walter Baldwin	...	Jeremy Wright (Deborah's uncle) (uncredited)
Danny Borzage	...	Trooper (uncredited)
Willis Bouchey	...	Colonel at Victory Cave (uncredited)
Lee Bradley	...	Cheyenne (uncredited)
Harry Carey Jr.	...	Trooper Smith (uncredited)
Dan Carr	...	Trooper (uncredited)
Jeannie Epper	...	Entertainer (uncredited)
Stephanie Epper	...	Entertainer (uncredited)
Shug Fisher	...	Skinny (Texas cattle drover) (uncredited)
James Flavin	...	Ft. Robinson sergeant of the guard (uncredited)
William Forrest	...	Senator (uncredited)
Donna Hall	...	Entertainer (uncredited)
Sam Harris	...	Dodge City townsman (uncredited)
Chuck Hayward	...	Trooper (uncredited)
William Henry	...	Infantry captain (uncredited)
Harry Hickox	...	Bartender (uncredited)
Harry Holcombe	...	Senator (uncredited)
Nancy Hsueh	...	Little Bird (uncredited)
Ben Johnson	...	Trooper Plumtree (uncredited)
Steven Manymules	...	Point man (uncredited)
Ted Mapes	...	Trooper (uncredited)
Mae Marsh	...	Woman (uncredited)
Philo McCullough	...	Man (uncredited)
John McKee	...	Trooper (uncredited)
David Miller	...	Trooper (uncredited)
Louise Montana	...	Woman (uncredited)
Nanomba 'Moonbeam' Morton	...	Running Deer (uncredited)
Many Muleson	...	Medicine Man (uncredited)
James O'Hara	...	Trooper (uncredited)
Denver Pyle	...	Sen. Henry (uncredited)
John Qualen	...	Svenson (uncredited)
Walter Reed	...	Lt. Peterson (Ft. Robinson) (uncredited)
Chuck Roberson	...	Jessie (Texas trail boss) (uncredited)
Bing Russell	...	Braden's Telegraph Operator (uncredited)
Charles Seel	...	Newspaper publisher (uncredited)
Mary Statler	...	Entertainer (uncredited)
Carleton Young	...	Aide to Carl Schurz (uncredited)

Directed by
John Ford

Writing credits
Mari Sandoz		(novel "Cheyenne Autumn")
James R. Webb		(screenplay)
Howard Fast		(novel "The Last Frontier") uncredited

Produced by
Bernard Smith	....	producer
John Ford	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Alex North

Cinematography by
William H. Clothier		(as William Clothier)

Film Editing by
Otho Lovering
David Hawkins		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Richard Day

Set Decoration by
Darrell Silvera		(as Darryl Silvera)

Costume Design by
Frank Beetson Jr.		(uncredited)
Ann Peck		(uncredited)

Makeup Department
Norman Pringle	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Russell Saunders	....	assistant director (as Russ Saunders)
Wingate Smith	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Francis E. Stahl	....	sound

Special Effects by
Ralph Webb	....	special effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Eli Bo Jack Blackfeather	....	stunts (uncredited)
Steven Burnett	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jeannie Epper	....	stunts (uncredited)
John Epper	....	stunts (uncredited)
Stephanie Epper	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jerry Gatlin	....	stunts (uncredited)
Donna Hall	....	stunts (uncredited)
Chuck Hayward	....	stunts (uncredited)
Bryan 'Slim' Hightower	....	stunts (uncredited)
Loren Janes	....	stunts (uncredited)
Eddie Juaregui	....	stunts (uncredited)
Cliff Lyons	....	stunts (uncredited)
Ted Mapes	....	stunts (uncredited)
John McKee	....	stunts (uncredited)
Louise Montana	....	stunts (uncredited)
Montie Montana	....	stunts (uncredited)
Rudy Robbins	....	stunts (uncredited)
Chuck Roberson	....	stunts (uncredited)
Dean Smith	....	stunts (uncredited)
Neil Summers	....	stunts (uncredited)
Bill Williams	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jack Williams	....	stunts (uncredited)

Music Department
Alex North	....	conductor
Henry Brant	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Gil Grau	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Ray Kellogg	....	associate director
David Miller	....	technical advisor: Indians (as David H. Miller)
Bill Cornford	....	location manager (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures (presents)
• Ford-Smith Productions (as A John Ford - Bernard Smith Production)

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1964) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1964) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1964) (France) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1968) (USA) (TV)
• Warner Home Video (2000) (Germany) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2007) (Germany) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)

Also Known As:

John Ford's Cheyenne Autumn (UK) (complete title) (USA) (complete title)
The Long Flight (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

154 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (RCA Sound System) (70 mm prints) | Mono (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | West Germany:12 | USA:Approved (certificate #20635) | Canada:PG (video rating) | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:11 | Argentina:13 | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Arches National Park, Moab, Utah, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The final duel between Little Wolf and Red Shirt was shot on the day that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, TX. Though legends say that John Ford, so saddened by the death of the first Irish president of the nation, mourned his death by halting the shoot on that day, production documents actually show that it was the only scene to be shot that day, and they moved from Utah in the afternoon as originally scheduled.

Goofs:

Factual errors: James Stewart and Arthur Kennedy are clearly both far too old to be Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday.

Quotes:

Capt. Thomas Archer: Scott, tell me something.
2nd Lt. Scott: Sir?
Capt. Thomas Archer: What put the blood in your eyes?
2nd Lt. Scott: It's just a private matter, sir.
Capt. Thomas Archer: Nothing that affects an officer's conduct is private.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Domicile conjugal (1970)

More impressive than its reputation implies

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 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 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!