When the government agency fails to deliver even the meager supplies due by treaty to the proud Cheyenne tribe in their barren desert reserve, the starving Indians have taken more abuse than it's worth and break it too by embarking on a 1,500 miles journey back to their ancestral hunting grounds. US Cavalry Capt. Thomas Archer is charged with their retrieval, but during the hunt grows to respect their noble courage, and decides to help them.
154 min | Drama, History, Western | 1964 | Color
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The Culmination of Ford's Career (Part 1 of 2)
Another vastly underrated John Ford masterpiece, Cheyenne Autumn is one of his most powerful and poignant. Many see it as an apologia for his career of demonizing the red man, and perhaps there's something to that, but, for the most part, the idea that he demonized Native Americans is a misinterpretation. The modern, PC idea of a Native American is a guy sitting around in a teepee making a dreamcatcher. It's actually more insulting, as many tribes, especially the ones which are depicted in John Ford's Westerns, that is, the Apaches, Comanches, and Cheyenne, were brave and proud warriors with an impeccable talent for fighting. This can be seen very clearly in a film like Fort Apache, which shows the Apache in a very respectful light. You can tell John Ford was in awe of these people. Of course, you also have Rio Grande, which basically does fit all the stereotypes, with the Indians kidnapping a wagon full of children. Of course, historically some tribes did tend to do some pretty nasty things, and the Comanches depicted in The Searchers, the film that most often garners these ill feelings, were a very cruel tribe.
Whatever one's feelings about John Ford's films, Cheyenne Autumn does set out to dispell them. At heart, it is a very didactic film. Whether Ford's films were or were not demonizing the Indians, most of the young people who watched his and others' Westerns weren't likely to see anything but demons. They just don't have the power of interpretation. Cheyenne Autumn is the only Ford film to tell a story from the point of view of the Native American characters. I was about to say that it might have been the first film to do so, but I hate making those kind of statements. When I do so I am inevitably wrong. The story concerns the Cheyenne tribe. Promised a visit by government officials, who were asked to come and view the wretched state of life on a reservation, they decide to jump the reservation and go back home when no one shows up. Little Wolf (Ricardo Montelban, unrecognizable except for his voice) and Dull Knife (Gilbert Roland) lead the tribe. Dull Knife is married to a woman only known as Spanish Woman (Delores del Rio) and their impetuous son, whom I don't think is ever named in the film (in the credits he's listed as "Red Shirt"), is played by Sal Mineo. And, damn, Plato got buff! Accompanying them is a Quaker woman, Deborah (Carroll Baker), who wants to teach them and keep their children safe. We accompany them on their 1,500 mile trek.
About half of the film is told from the Cheyenne's point of view. Most of the rest is told from that of the cavalry ordered to stop them and bring them back to the reservation. Leading them is Capt. Archer (Richard Widmark), who completely understands the tribe's feelings about the matter. He is also worried about Deborah, whom he loves deeply. Tellingly, we never get the idea that he is afraid that the Cheyenne themselves will harm her, and I mean that we don't get that idea from either perspective. He wants to accomplish his task without getting anyone hurt, either Cheyenne or cavalry, or whoever else might wander into the picture. Ford veterans Ben Johnson and Harry Carey Jr. play his scouts, a role which each of them played way back in the Cavalry Trilogy. Archer also has the task of keeping Sec. Lieut. Scott on task. He wants desperately to get in a row with the Cheyenne, as his father died in an earlier battle. Scott is played by Patrick Wayne, yes, the son of John Wayne. This character represents that young child who plays Cowboys & Indians with his friends. "I've been waiting for this chance ever since I was ten," says Scott excitedly. He learns respect for his enemies when he falls into one of their dangerous traps.
Another small thread of narrative concerns the Secretary of the Interior in Washington, played by Edward G. Robinson. Robinson wants badly to help the Cheyenne, inspired by his own fighting on behalf of the abolition of slavery in his youth during the Civil War. At one point, when others are pressuring him to punish the Cheyenne, he sadly asks Abraham Lincoln what he should do.
