Cheyenne Autumn [DVD] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

This is a review of the standard Region 1 DVD from Warner Brothers. But here's the thing: our copy came from the US to the UK, and it is marked as a Region 1-only DVD. However, we watched it on a Region 2 Blu-ray player without ANY problem. I have also seen it advertised as multi-region, so maybe it is. Caveat emptor!’Cheyenne Autumn’, the Western swansong of arguably the greatest Director of Westerns, John Ford, is also his most controversial. Made in 1964, it was Ford’s heartfelt attempt to amend the portrayal he and so many others had provided over the years, of Indians as uncivilised, bloodthirsty, butchers of innocents. It also set out to show clearly, the uncivilised and brutal treatment of them by individual whites, American society and the American government.This film certainly succeeds in all of this. The uncaring and uninformed in government, vie with the grasping, greedy, grabbers of Indian lands. The newspapers peddling the myth of massacres carried out by imaginary savage hordes vie with cowboys anxious to ‘Kill me an Indian’. The ‘I am only following orders’ Prussian-born officer (as he locks the starving Cheyenne up in freezing conditions - more than a nod towards the Nazi’s Final Solution?) vies with the one prepared to train artillery on women and children. And as counterpoint, there is a middle section which debunks another myth of the Hollywood West, by showing Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday as louche and lazy, living high on the proceeds - and enjoying the wares in - a gambling joint and whorehouse. This short section set in Dodge City is often criticised as out of keeping with the rest of the film, and artistically, it is. But when the film is viewed as a political statement, it becomes relevant.It is certainly true that the film is not subtle. Ford uses a very big hammer to drive home his apology. And not all his apology is perfect, as he uses well-known non-Native American actors such as Sal Mineo and Dolores del Rio to portray Cheyenne protagonists. However, to put this in context, this was 1964, the year when 3 civil rights activists were murdered by White Supremacists in Mississippi. The world has changed beyond recognition since then.All this said, the film is beautifully shot, with massive use of Ford’s beloved Monument Valley. The locations, skies and sets are a delight. Richard Widmark is measured and authoritative, as the voice of sanity and fair play. And the non-Indian Indians are dignified and emotionally engaged. It is long, and it is flawed, but as an apology and an elegy, this film merits attention.

The Warner Bros DVD is a very good transfer widescreen (bars top and bottom), with clear good colour picture and good sound, plus English subtitles. Extras are a commentary and a trailer. I don't think Ford ever made a "bad" film, and it is probably true to say this isn't his best...It's too long, has the irrelevant and silly "Dodge City" sequence, a script that comes and goes, and a pretentious Overture and Interval music and sadly the music here is unimpressive. But I like the film. Beautifully shot, nearly all on location by William Clothier, the story is moving, with humour and action to keep us on our toes. The humour comes from Ford's choice of his favourite Character actors led by the terrible two Ben Johnson and Harry Carey Jnr as Privates Plumtree and Smith/Jones/Brown etc respectively, and Mike Mazurki as Sgt Wichowski whose drunk scenes with Widmark aren't quite up to Wayne and Mclaglen, but still fun. Judson Pratt has a good role but Denver Pyle is wasted. Other Wayne/Ford Favourites Ken Curtis and Chuck Roberson have telling roles as drunken cowpunchers. I felt the script fell down by not giving the Cheyenne enough dialogue tho Montalban, Roland and del Rio do their best. Which brings me to Widmark and Baker, and rather to my surprise both are very very good, Widmark in particular (I wondered if Wayne should have had the role, but decided "No"). I want to finish on a very prudish note - and you have to see the film to understand. Why did Ford include the line "She's right! I did know her in Wichita" said by James Stewart looking at a spread legged Elizabeth Allen? Funny - Yes - but perhaps in a different film/context.

I have read the reviews about John Fords 'Cheyenne Autumn'. John Ford tried in this film I believe to highlight the truth about the american indians,the true native americans, not the different cultures who claimed to be americans. He tried to highlight the plight of the native americans and how they were forced from their native lands onto reservations where nothing except weeds would grow. They couldn't hunt buffalo because they like the indians had been hunted and killed almost to the point of extinction.In the 60's when the film had been made all the news had been about the civil rights movement and the rights of the black american citizens. John Ford tried to remind the american public that there was another race of people in America who weren't receiving any civil/human rights and were still living on reservations in inhumane conditions. John Fords last movie ' Cheyenne Autumn' was like all his previous films a great movie and a lasting tribute to a great director and an indictment of how americans and their goverment had mistreated the true american people.

The story for this film, was written by Marie Sandoz, who as a young girl, grew up on the edge of a Cheyenne Reservation. Her books are based on conversations she had with warriors who actually lived through, and took part in the saddest days of their glorious history.If you skip the usual Hollywood absurdities contained in the Wichita Kansas segment, you may well enjoy the images captured by the use of the 70mm Panavision cameras, used to capture the sheer majesty of the landscape, the land that once belonged to these noble people.No doubt this film could be remade today, and be far more authentic, but the original locations are probably covered in concrete now. Still, it's worth a watch, if you make the necessary allowances.

The Old Westerns are the best 👌

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