![]() Wagon Master and Rio Grande, from 1950, would be enough for many actors to build a reputation on. They were as crucial to his work as any of the larger stars like John Wayne or James Stewart (more of him later). To have the latter two in yet another Ford picture is certainly a fitting remembrance. Under Archer’s command are also numerous steady, career soldiers like Mike Mazurki, Ben Johnson and Harry Carey Jr. It proves equally inimical, if not more so. Other soldiers like Karl Malden’s commander espouse unprejudiced mentalities only to be frozen by the chain of command. In a fine bit of casting, Patrick Wayne plays a young upstart who has waited his whole life to have it out with the Cheyenne, and the circumstances make no difference to him, even if he has to create them himself. Soldiers who are supposed to be peacekeepers, as well as tacticians, are equally suspect. They have no respect for the land, only what they can acquire from it. Because they have to face arrogant, deceitful men who fatuously believe they have a right to everything they touch. This is made apparent and for once in a Ford picture, beyond simply casting a sympathetic eye, the director finally seems to be acknowledging the grievances against the American Indians. ![]() Though the pompous blaggards back east have no concept of their egregious blunder, there’s no question reckoning will come in some form. As they leave the encampment, empty-handed once again, there’s in a sense of unease about it. The only people who don’t show up are the big wigs from Washington, offering yet another rejection and another sign of disrespect. Among them, Deborah Wright (Carroll Baker) and her uncle have made it their life’s work to minister to the Native Americans as suggested by their benevolent Quaker faith. Everyone is there waiting anxiously at the military encampment. In the film’s opening grand gesture, the Cheyenne make the long trek hours early, in preparation for their meeting with the white man - a meeting that was supposed to come through on a wealth of promises. Army, Captain Thomas Archer, far more disillusioned in his post than his predecessor. He also loaded up on a Hollywood cast headlined by Richard Widmark returning after Two Road Together, portraying an officer in the U.S. The extras John Ford used throughout the picture were in fact Navajo, who spoke their native tongue. This is a Hollywood rendition so, obviously, it’s not expected to stick strictly to facts nor does it. If we had to provide a broad sense of Cheyenne Autumn, it would be all about the mass Exodus of the Cheyenne in 1878 as they journey from the arid land they’ve been subjugated to back to the land the white man had promised to return to them all along.
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