Very well executed

Undescribable Perfection

Simply Perfect

Brilliant and touching

This may be John Ford's worse movie. Weak script. Mediocre acting. Miscast.

A possibly well-meaning examination of a tragic part of US history that is turned into a pretentious bore of a film. This is little more than a lecture disguised as a movie. It goes on way too long with not much to show for it. John Ford, one of the all-time greats, commits the rookie director's mistake of thinking that solemn subject matter and excessive length automatically equal 'epic.' They do not. It's a film with more than a few stars but very few of them (such as Edward G. Robinson) get anything to do. Ultimately it's Richard Widmark's show and he grits his teeth through the whole thing, spitting out every line to further emphasize how disgusted he is with all the injustice. Unfortunately, the result of such a performance is it makes the audience (or me, at least) want to root against him.The most bizarre thing about this is the Jimmy Stewart part. After an interminably long and preachy first hour and half about the plight of the Cheyenne and the conflict with the white man, the movie abruptly shifts direction and turns into a comedy with Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday, played by Stewart and Arthur Kennedy. This lasts fifteen or twenty minutes before the film returns to the main story. What the hell was that even about?!? It's really not an enjoyable experience. White guilt movies aren't among my favorites but there have been some intelligent, thought-provoking ones that didn't put me to sleep or have me rolling my eyes. This is just an overlong sententious bore with a wasted cast, made by a director past his prime. Avoid unless you're a Ford completist or you're young and still in that "I just heard about all this bad stuff that happened a really long time ago and I'm angry about it" phase.

Nearly every shot in CHEYENNE AUTUMN is breathtaking in its beauty. It's unfortunate that the movie itself is so inconsistent. Starting out as the noblest of ventures, John Ford establishes that his last western is going to be decidedly pro-Indian. The Cheyenne, forced from their land and held on a government controlled reservation decide to move back. Cavalryman Richard Widmark attempts to stop them. In the middle, the film comes to a grinding halt for a very bizarre and very "out of left field" episode involving Dodge City, Wyatt Earp, some hookers and a comic cowboys and Indians scene. Still, the movie has a lot to offer, not the least of which is Widmark's excellent performance. He's conflicted in his desire to follow orders but also very well aware of how cruel his orders are. Carroll Baker is a Quaker who gives him a run for his money. As Indians, the seemingly implausibly cast Ricardo Montalban and Gilbert Roland actually come across as well rounded and very intelligent. Sal Mineo has a nearly silent role as a hot headed Indian and the legendary Dolores Del Rio plays his mother. James Stewart pops up as Wyatt Earp in the aforementioned Dodge City sequence, but he, along with Arthur Kennedy as Doc Holliday, are wasted. Featuring another great music score by Alex North.

Unfortunately, given the subject matter and the director, "Cheyenne Autumn" fails to achieve the greatness of its aspirations. Injustice to Native Americans has along tragic history, and the topic deserved a soaring film that brought those crimes to a broad audience. After years of depicting Native Americans as the villains, John Ford was certainly the right director to cast a sympathetic eye on their plight, and the film has many grand sequences that are reminiscent of Ford's finest westerns. The brilliant camera work of William Clothier captures the majesty of Monument Valley and often bathes the mountains and characters in the warm glow of sunsets.For some reason, Ford felt that Latino actors were appropriate for the roles of Native Americans, and Ricardo Montalban, Gilbert Roland, and Dolores del Rio do achieve a measure of dignity as members of the long-suffering Cheyenne tribe. While Carroll Baker tries hard as a Quaker woman who accompanies the Cheyenne on an arduous trek back to their homeland, her bleached blonde hair, immaculate make-up, and voice undercut her efforts. The work of composer, Alex North, also sounds out of place. Best known for his scores for "Spartacus" and "Cleopatra," North's music here evokes Roman legions rather than the U.S. cavalry.However, the biggest flaw in the film is a misconceived episode in the middle that features James Stewart, Arthur Kennedy, and John Carradine. As Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday, Stewart and Kennedy perform a comedy routine that jars with the solemnity of the previous scenes. Indeed, the entire Dodge City sequence is a western comedy, and viewers would be justified in thinking that some film reels were mislabeled and an entire sequence from another film had been inserted accidentally. Whatever dignity and concern was established in the film's first hour are destroyed when the action moves from the Cheyenne to Earp and Dodge City."Cheyenne Autumn" was likely conceived as a follow-up to the successful "How the West Was Won." John Ford was one of the directors of that Cinerama film; Carroll Baker, Karl Malden, James Stewart, and Richard Widmark are featured in both films; and the ads for the two westerns are strikingly similar. Widmark anchors "Cheyenne Autumn" and provides a narration much as Spencer Tracey did for "How the West Was Won." However, the earlier movie was a rousing adventure with a great score and an uplifting theme of westward expansion. Despite an overture and intermission, "Cheyenne Autumn" is a small, sober tale of racial injustice that has been stretched out and embellished with a jarring music score and a schizophrenic mix of comedy and tragedy that lays waste to some fine epic moments.