Cheyenne Autumn
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Cheyenne Autumn is a 1964 western starring Richard Widmark, Carroll Baker, James Stewart, and Edward G. Robinson. The film was the last western to be directed by John Ford, who claimed it to be a sort of elegy for the Native Americans who had been abused by the American government and misinterpreted by many of the director's own films. With a budget of more than four million, the epic film was relatively unsuccessful, failing to earn a profit for its distributor, Warner Bros.
Cheyenne Autumn garnered an Academy Award nomination for Best Cinematography (William H. Clothier) and a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor (Gilbert Roland).
The original version was 158 minutes, Ford's longest work. Warner Brothers later decided to edit the "Dodge City" sequence out of the film, reducing the running time to 145 minutes, although it was shown in theatres during the film's initial release. This sequence, with James Stewart as Wyatt Earp, and Arthur Kennedy as Doc Holliday, is considered by many Ford aficionados to be one of his best sequences. It was later restored for the VHS and subsequent DVD releases.
Plot
In 1878, chiefs Little Wolf (Ricardo Montalban) and Dull Knife (Gilbert Roland) lead over three hundred starved and weary Cheyenne from their reservation in the Oklahoma territory to their home in Wyoming. The government sees this as an act of rebellion, and the sympathetic Captain Thomas Archer (Richard Widmark) is forced to lead his troops in an attempt to stop the tribe. As the press misrepresents the native's motives and goals for their trek as malicious, the Secretary of the Interior Carl Schurz (Edward G. Robinson) tries to prevent violence from erupting between the army and the natives. Also featured were James Stewart as Wyatt Earp and Carroll Baker as a pacifist school teacher and Archer's (Widmark) love interest.Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Richard Widmark | Capt. Thomas Archer |
| Carroll Baker | Deborah Wright |
| James Stewart | Wyatt Earp |
| Edward G. Robinson | Carl Schurz |
| Karl Malden | Capt. Oscar Wessels |
| Sal Mineo | Red Shirt |
| Dolores del Rio | Spanish Woman |
| Ricardo Montalban | Little Wolf |
| Gilbert Roland | Dull Knife |
| Arthur Kennedy | Doc Holliday |
| Patrick Wayne | Second Lt. Scott |
| Elizabeth Allen | Guinevere Plantagenet |
| John Carradine | Maj. Jeff Blair |
| Victor Jory | Tall Tree |
| Mike Mazurki | 1st Sgt. Stanislaus Wichowsky |
| George O'Brien | Maj. Braden |
| Sean McClory | Dr. O'Carberry |
| Judson Pratt | Mayor Dog Kelly |
External links
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