Cheyenne Autumn (1964)
This is John Ford's final western and it stars Richard Widmark and Carroll Baker with a cameo from James Stewart. Based on historic events in 1878 the Cheyenne leave their reservation in the south to return the land of their ancestors.
Like several of Ford's other westerns this film is shot largely Monument Valley which provides an excellent back drop as always. Other locations in the Nebraska section have some have some great snowy landscapes as well, all in all the films looks as good as you would expect from a John Ford western. The plot and characters are good as well providing a counter point to the earlier use of Indians in Ford's film, here the Indians are not bloody thirsty savages but cheated, starved and mistreated by the US government.
The only real down side to the film is the out of place section featuring James Stewart as Wyatt Earp. Completely out of tone and not really anything to do with the plot of the rest of the film the Dodge City scenes form a real hiccup in the middle of the film that was actually cut by studio executives for the cinema release. Why this part of the film has been restored for later releases is beyond me and it does put a blemish on an otherwise really good film.
4/5
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