Major Dundee (1965)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Sam Peckinpah

Writers:

Harry Julian Fink (story)
Harry Julian Fink (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

15 March 1965 (Denmark)

Genre:

Adventure | War | Western

Tagline:

THE EPIC STORY OF THE GREAT SOUTH-WEST !

Plot:

During the last winter of the Civil War, cavalry officer Amos Dundee leads a contentious troop of Army regulars...

Plot Keywords:

Apache | Confederate | Prisoner | Mexico | Prisoner Of War

Cast

Charlton Heston	...	Major Amos Charles Dundee
Richard Harris	...	Captain Benjamin Tyreen
Jim Hutton	...	Lieutenant Graham
James Coburn	...	Samuel Potts
Michael Anderson Jr.	...	Trooper Tim Ryan
Senta Berger	...	Teresa Santiago
Mario Adorf	...	Sergeant Gomez
Brock Peters	...	Aesop
Warren Oates	...	O.W. Hadley
Ben Johnson	...	Sergeant Chillum
R.G. Armstrong	...	Reverend Dahlstrom
L.Q. Jones	...	Arthur Hadley
Slim Pickens	...	Wiley
Karl Swenson	...	Captain Waller
Michael Pate	...	Sierra Charriba

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence and some sensuality. (2005 re-issue)

Runtime:

123 min | 136 min (2005 restored version) | Spain:117 min | USA:152 min (unreleased director's cut)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French | Spanish

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | Singapore:PG | Iceland:16 | West Germany:12 | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:PG-13 (re-release) (2005) | USA:Approved (Certificate #23829)

Filming Locations:

Chilpancingo, Guerrero, Mexico

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

L.Q. Jones narrates the trailer for the re-release of the extended version.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Prior to the final battle, Captain Tyreen is shown inserting cartridges into what should be a muzzle loading pistol.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: In the territory of New Mexico towards the end of the Civil War, an Indian, Sierra Charriba, and his Apache warriors raided, sacked and looted an area almost three times the size of Texas.

Movie Connections:

References Red River (1948)

Soundtrack:

Major Dundee March

Good But Not As Great As It Could Have Been

The first half of "Major Dundee" is gripping and fascinating. The problem is that the second half doesn't deliver on the build-up. The whole point is supposed to be the pursuit of the Apache, yet the film spends more time getting sidetracked from all this, in particular the scenes of Dundee's injury and descent into drunkenness (and did we really need Senta Berger, since her role is really pointless, despite the visual scenery she adds?) and when the Apache is found, it happens too abruptly. Fascinating supporting characters disappear or are downplayed too much in the second half, and the ending is too abrupt as well. Since the expedition ends up returning after the surrender of Lee and the end of the War, I was surprised there was no scene of Dundee returning to the Fort and offering a final reflection on Tyreen. The film literally cried out for it.

Charlton Heston felt that Dundee should have been more about the issues of the Civil War and had they stuck to this approach all through the film we might have had a great film instead of a merely good one.