''Cheyenne Autumn'' is a 1964 American

epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film starring

Richard Widmark Richard Weedt Widmark (December 26, 1914March 24, 2008) was an American film, stage, and television actor and producer. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as the villainous Tommy Udo in his debut film, ''Kiss of Death (1947 film ...

, Carroll Baker,

James Stewart James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military aviator. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morali ...

, and Edward G. Robinson. It tells the story of a factual event, the

Northern Cheyenne Exodus The Northern Cheyenne Exodus, also known as Dull Knife's Raid, the Cheyenne War, or the Cheyenne Campaign, was the attempt of the Northern Cheyenne to return to the north, after being placed on the Southern Cheyenne indian reservation, reservatio ...

of 1878–79, told with

artistic license Artistic license (and more general or contextually-specific, derivative terms such as creative license, poetic license, historical license, dramatic license, and narrative license) refers to deviation from fact or form for artistic purposes. It ...

. The film was the last Western directed by

John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), better known as John Ford, was an American film director and producer. He is regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers during the Golden Age of Hollywood, and w ...

, who proclaimed it an

elegy An elegy is a poem of serious reflection, and in English literature usually a lament for the dead. However, according to ''The Oxford Handbook of the Elegy'', "for all of its pervasiveness ... the 'elegy' remains remarkably ill defined: sometime ...

for the Native Americans who had been abused by the U.S. government and misrepresented in numerous of his own films. With a budget of more than $4 million, the film was relatively unsuccessful at the box office and failed to earn a profit for

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

Plot

In 1878, the surviving Cheyenne natives have migrated 1,500 miles (2,414 km) from their

Yellowstone Yellowstone National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located in the northwest corner of Wyoming, with small portions extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U ...

homeland. At her

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

homestead, their plight is witnessed by Deborah Wright, a Quaker school teacher, who takes the Cheyenne children as her students. Their trek has been accompanied by a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...

troop headed by Captain Thomas Archer, who is engaged to Deborah. Nearby, the Cheyenne natives and Archer's troops are waiting for a congressional committee sent by the

Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior, Department of the Interior. It is responsible for im ...

(BIA), but are informed by letter that their trip has delayed and are staying at Fort Reno. Captain Archer calls Dull Knife and Little Wolf, two Native leaders, pledging the BIA will continue to provide for the natives. Angered at the BIA's slow response, Dull Knife withdraws the Cheyenne children from Deborah's school. Later that night, Deborah learns from Spanish Woman that the Cheyenne have decided to migrate back to Yellowstone. She decides to travel with them. The next morning, Archer sees the Cheyenne have left and sends a search party with no artillery. One soldier, Second Lieutenant Scott, cares little for their exodus, as his father was killed in the Fetterman massacre in 1866. Within a canyon, Archer's men have caught up with the Cheyenne. Little Wolf sends Red Shirt, Spanish Woman's son, to fight against the troops. Archer sends two soldiers to search the canyon, but one is shot by Red Shirt. Major Braden takes control and has the soldiers fire two cannons; a brief fight ensues in which nine soldiers, including Braden, were killed. It is then reported in the local newspapers, which deliberately inflate the death count and depict the Cheyenne as savages. News of the attack reaches

Carl Schurz Carl Christian Schurz (; March 2, 1829 – May 14, 1906) was a German-American revolutionary and an American statesman, journalist, and reformer. He migrated to the United States after the German revolutions of 1848–1849 and became a prominent ...

, the Secretary of the Interior, in

Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

. Archers sends Scott to patrol the Cheyenne, but Scott instead proceeds with an attack. Another fight erupts, in which Scott is wounded. After 500 miles (805 km), the Cheyenne begin to approach

Dodge City, Kansas Dodge City is a city in and the county seat of Ford County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 27,788. It was named after nearby Fort Dodge, which was named in honor of Grenville Dodge. The city ...

, only to learn that White settlers have resided there. Meanwhile, news of their arrival spread in the local newspaper, which alarms the townspeople. At a nearby parlor, lawmen

Wyatt Earp Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp (March 19, 1848 – January 13, 1929) was an American lawman in the American West, including Dodge City, Kansas, Dodge City, Wichita, Kansas, Wichita, and Tombstone, Arizona, Tombstone. Earp was involved in the gunfight ...

and Doc Holliday are unconcerned, while the local townspeople organize a war campaign to combat the Cheyenne. Earp and Holliday deliberately lead the campaign in the wrong direction, but head back after a minor scuffle. Months pass, and Archer, still in pursuit of the Cheyenne, recruits Sr. First Sergeant Wichowsky. By wintertime, the Cheyenne are beleaguered from their long journey, and they break into two factions; one half continues their trek, while the other half (led by Dull Knife) surrenders to Captain Henry W. Wessells Jr. at

Fort Robinson Fort Robinson is a former United States Army, U.S. Army fort and now a major feature of Fort Robinson State Park, a public recreation and historic preservation area located west of Crawford, Nebraska, Crawford on U.S. Route 20 in the Pine Ri ...

and are confined to a barracks. Archer's troops arrive at Fort Robinson, as well, where Archer reunites Deborah, but Wessels intends for the Cheyenne to return to Oklahoma. Angered, Archer goes to Washington, DC, to Secretary Schurz's office, where he pleads on behalf of the Cheyenne. Schurz agrees. Wessells is removed from his post for drunkenly behavior, and is confined to his quarters. Before relief arrives, Dull Knife's Cheyenne faction ambush the stationed troops, leaving Wessells stunned. Sometime later, Archer and Schurz meet with Little Wolf and Dull Knife to negotiate a treaty permitting the Cheyenne to return to their homeland. Once there, Red Shirt and Little Wolf engage in a pistol duel, in which Red Shirt is killed. Little Wolf, having broken his vow never to kill another Cheyenne, ventures into self-exile. With the Cheyenne back in their homeland, Archer and Deborah decide to remain there with them.

Cast

as Capt. Thomas Archer * Carroll Baker as Deborah Wright *

Karl Malden Karl Malden (born Mladen George Sekulovich; March 22, 1912 – July 1, 2009) was an American stage, movie and television actor who first achieved acclaim in the original Broadway productions of Arthur Miller's '' All My Sons'' and Tennessee Will ...

as Capt. Henry W. Wessells Jr., a Fort Robinson commander * Sal Mineo as Red Shirt * Dolores del Río as Spanish Woman, Red Shirt's mother * Ricardo Montalbán as Little Wolf *

Gilbert Roland Luis Antonio Dámaso de Alonso (December 11, 1905 – May 15, 1994), known professionally as Gilbert Roland, was a Mexican-born American film and television actor whose career spanned seven decades from the 1920s until the 1980s. He was twice no ...

as Dull Knife * Arthur Kennedy as Doc Holliday * Patrick Wayne as Second Lieut. Scott * Elizabeth Allen as Miss Plantagenet *

John Carradine John Carradine ( ; born Richmond Reed Carradine; February 5, 1906 – November 27, 1988) was an American actor, considered one of the greatest character actors in American cinema. He was a member of Cecil B. DeMille's stock company and later J ...

as Jeff Blair * Victor Jory as Tall Tree * Mike Mazurki as Sr. First Sergeant Wichowsky * George O'Brien as Major Braden *

Sean McClory Séan Joseph McClory (8 March 1924 – 10 December 2003) was an Irish actor whose career spanned six decades and included well over 100 films and television series. He was sometimes billed as Shawn McGlory or Sean McGlory. Early years Mc ...

as Dr. O'Carberry * Judson Pratt as Mayor Dog Kelly * Carmen D'Antonio as Pawnee Woman * Ken Curtis as Joe *

* Edward G. Robinson as

, the Secretary of the Interior

Production

Development

John Ford long wanted to make a movie about the Cheyenne exodus. As early as 1957, he wrote a treatment with his son Patrick Ford, envisioning a small-scale drama with non-professional Indian actors. Early drafts of the script drew on Howard Fast's novel ''The Last Frontier''. However, the film ultimately took its plot and title from Mari Sandoz's ''Cheyenne Autumn'', which Ford preferred due to its focus on the Cheyenne. Elements of Fast's novel remain in the finished film, namely the character of Captain Archer (called Murray in the book), the depiction of Secretary

and the

scenes. Reluctantly abandoning the docudrama idea, Ford wanted

Anthony Quinn Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca (April 21, 1915 – June 3, 2001), known as Anthony Quinn, was an American actor. He was known for his portrayal of earthy, passionate characters "marked by a brutal and elemental virility" in over 100 ...

and Richard Boone to play Dull Knife and Little Wolf as well-known actors with some Indian ancestry. He also suggested Afro-Indigenous actor

Woody Strode Woodrow Wilson Woolwine Strode (July 25, 1914 – December 31, 1994) was an American athlete, actor, and author. He was a decathlon, decathlete and American football, football star who was one of the first Black American players in the National ...

for a role. The studio insisted on Ford's casting Ricardo Montalbán and

Filming

The film was photographed in Super Panavision 70 by William Clothier, whose work was nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

earned a

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Janua ...

nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Editing

The original version was 158 minutes, Ford's longest work. Warner Bros. later decided to edit the "Dodge City" sequence out of the film, reducing the running time to 145 minutes, although it was shown in theaters during the film's initial release. This sequence features

and Arthur Kennedy as Doc Holliday. Some critics have argued that this comic episode, mostly unrelated to the rest of an otherwise serious movie, breaks the flow of the story. It was later restored for the VHS and subsequent DVD releases.

Shooting locations

Much of the film was shot in Monument Valley Tribal Park on the Arizona-Utah border, where Ford had filmed scenes for many of his earlier films, especially ''

Stagecoach A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...

'' and ''

The Searchers ''The Searchers'' is a 1956 American epic Western film directed by John Ford and written by Frank S. Nugent, based on the 1954 novel by Alan Le May. It is set during the Texas–Indian wars, and stars John Wayne as a middle-aged Civil War v ...

''. Parts of the film also were shot at the San Juan River at Mexican Hat, Professor Valley, Castle Valley, the

Colorado River The Colorado River () is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The river, the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), 5th longest in the United St ...

, Fisher Canyon, and

Arches An arch is a curved vertical structure span (engineering), spanning an open space underneath it. Arches may support the load above them, or they may perform a purely decorative role. As a decorative element, the arch dates back to the 4th mill ...

in Utah. Although the principal tribal leaders were played by Ricardo Montalbán and

(as well as Dolores del Río and Sal Mineo in major roles), Ford again used numerous members of the

Navajo The Navajo or Diné are an Indigenous people of the Southwestern United States. Their traditional language is Diné bizaad, a Southern Athabascan language. The states with the largest Diné populations are Arizona (140,263) and New Mexico (1 ...

tribe in this production.

Native language issue

Ford used

Navajo people The Navajo or Diné are an Native Americans in the United States, Indigenous people of the Southwestern United States. Their traditional language is Navajo language, Diné bizaad, a Southern Athabascan language. The states with the largest Din ...

to portray the Cheyenne. Dialogue that is supposed to be in the "

Cheyenne language The Cheyenne language (, , informal spelling ) is the Native American language spoken by the Cheyenne people, predominantly in present-day Montana and Oklahoma, in the United States. It is part of the Algonquian language family. Like all other ...

" is actually

. This made little difference to white audiences, but for Navajo speakers the film was amusing because the Navajo actors were openly using ribald and crude language that had nothing to do with the film. For example, during the scene where the treaty is signed, the chief's solemn speech just pokes fun at the size of the colonel's penis.

Delays

According to the TCM podcast ''The Plot Thickens'', Ford twice delayed production of the film: the first came when Ricardo Montalbán received a long-distance phone call that his eldest son had injured his neck while filling in for his youngest on his paper route. Ford and Montalbán traveled back to Los Angeles to visit his son and returned to Monument Valley the next day. Some time later, Ford paused production upon hearing news of assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963.

Reception

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though some ...

for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' praised the film highly, calling it "a beautiful and powerful motion picture that stunningly combines a profound and passionate story of mistreatment of American Indians with some of the most magnificent and energetic cavalry-and-Indian lore ever put upon the screen." He was disappointed, however, that after the humorous (if "superfluous") Dodge City sequence, "the picture does not rise again to its early integrity and authenticity", and the climax is "neither effective and convincing drama nor is it faithful to the novel". '' Variety'' disagreed, however, calling it "a rambling, episodic account" in which "the original premise of the Mari Sandoz novel is lost sight of in a wholesale insertion of extraneous incidents which bear little or no relation to the subject." ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' (often abbreviated as ''TNR'') is an American magazine focused on domestic politics, news, culture, and the arts from a left-wing perspective. It publishes ten print magazines a year and a daily online platform. ''The New Y ...

Stanley Kauffmann Stanley Kauffmann (April 24, 1916 – October 9, 2013) was an American writer, editor, and critic of film and theater. Career Kauffmann started with ''The New Republic'' in 1958 and contributed film criticism to that magazine for the next 55 ye ...

wrote "the acting is bad, the dialogue trite and predictable, the pace funereal, the structure fragmented, the climaxes puny". A review in ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine stated, "''Cheyenne Autumn'' has everything it takes to make a great western epic, except greatness ... In this wayward, 3-hr. movie version, Director John Ford dehydrates history and tosses in some sappy ideas of his own. The worst of them asserts that the Indians were accompanied by a conscientious Quaker lass (Carroll Baker) obviously all done up to join a grand ole opry." In a retrospective review, Richard Brody of ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'' cited the "rueful, elegiac grandeur of John Ford's final Western". The September 1965 issue of '' MAD'' satirized it as "Cheyenne Awful." The film is recognized by

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...

in these lists: * 2008:

AFI's 10 Top 10 AFI's 10 Top 10 honors the ten greatest American films in ten classic film genres. Presented by the American Film Institute (AFI), the lists were unveiled on a television special broadcast by CBS on June 17, 2008. In the special, various actors ...

: ** Nominated Western Film

Award nominations

* Nominated: Academy Award for Best Cinematography: William H. Clothier * Nominated: Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture:

Documentary short

Before the release of ''Cheyenne Autumn'', a 19-minute documentary, '' Cheyenne Autumn Trail'', was put into production. Narrated by

, the short featured clips from the feature, recounting the historical events depicted in the film, depicting memorials to Little Wolf and Dull Knife and presenting life on the reservation in 1964 for descendants of the Cheyenne who participated in the

. ''Cheyenne Autumn Trail'' is included as an extra feature on the ''Cheyenne Autumn'' DVD issued in 2006.

References

External links

* * * * {{Authority control 1964 films 1964 Western (genre) films American Western (genre) films 1960s English-language films Films about Native Americans Films based on American novels Films set in 1878 Films shot in Utah Films adapted into comics Warner Bros. films Films directed by John Ford Films scored by Alex North Films with screenplays by James R. Webb Cheyenne in popular culture Cultural depictions of Wyatt Earp Cultural depictions of Doc Holliday Northern Cheyenne Tribe Revisionist Western (genre) films 1960s American films Films shot in Monument Valley American Western (genre) epic films English-language Western (genre) films