Cheyenne Autumn (1964)

Based on a factual event, the film tells the story of the Northern Cheyenne Exodus of 1878. Two Indian chiefs (Ricardo Montalban, Gilbert Roland) leave their Oklahoma Territory reservation and march on foot to their traditional home of Yellowstone in Wyoming. A sympathetic U.S. Cavalry Captain (Richard Widmark) is forced to lead his troops to stop the tribe. Loosely based (or perhaps inspired would be a better word) on the non fiction book by Mari Sandoz and directed by John Ford (THE SEARCHERS). Ford's final western seems to be a cinematic apology for the mistreatment and stereotyping of Native Americans in the Hollywood western including some of Ford's own movies. The film's intentions are noble and visually, it's a stunning film thanks to William Clothier's Oscar nominated 70 millimeter cinematography which utilizes Ford's beloved Monument Valley location. The film is overlong because it's padded out by an irrelevant sequence in Dodge City with James Stewart as Wyatt Earp and Arthur Kennedy as Doc Holliday that's played for humor. The sequence was later cut from the film for general release but I viewed the uncut Roadshow version (including overture, intermission and entr'acte) which restores the sequence. The large cast includes Carroll Baker, Edward G. Robinson, Karl Malden, Dolores Del Rio, Sal Mineo (who's just awful), Ben Johnson, Elizabeth Allen, Victor Jory, John Carradine and Mike Mazurki in his best performance since MURDER MY SWEET (1944).