Cheyenne Autumn

In 1964 John Ford made his last Western, an elegy (and perhaps an apology) to the Native Americans who had been the enemy in so many of his pictures. This film is interesting more in its historical perspective than it is as a piece of art or entertainment, because it signals a shift in the thinking of Hollywood about Indians. Not coincidentally made in the year when civil rights was on the mind of all Americans, this is one of the first films that portray Indians as victims of racism and aggression, and white Americans, particular soldiers, as villainous.

It is after the Indian Wars have largely ended, after Little Bighorn. The Cheyenne have been herded onto a reservation in Oklahoma, where they are ill-fed and have inadequate medical care. A Captain Archer, played by Richard Widmark, is sympathetic, but his commanding officer is unmoved, defiantly saying he wants to "stick to his own knitting." A Quaker schoolteacher, Carroll Baker, whom Widmark is sweet on, teaches the Indian children.

When a congressional delegation does not show up as planned to see the Cheyenne's sad situation, their leadership has had enough and leaves the reservation, headed back to their ancestral homeland in Wyoming. Widmark and his troops follow, as the Indians will violate a treaty if they cross a certain river (of course criticizing Indians for violating a treaty is a rich irony). Widmark is conflicted, not wanting any harm to come to anyone. His second lieutenant, Patrick Wayne, hates Indians because they killed his father.

Eventually the Cheyenne come under the thumb of Karl Malden, as a Prussian-born officer who is a stickler for orders (oh, those Germans!) Predictable outrages take place, until Widmark heads to Washington to gain the ear of a sympathetic Secretary of the Interior, Edward G. Robinson.

The film was unsuccessful, and it's easy to see why. It almost breaks under the weight of its earnestness. Though the Panavision photography shows off the scenery magnificently (it was filmed in Ford's favorite place, Monument Valley) it moves glacially. There is also an almost embarrassingly bad sequence set in Dodge City, with James Stewart and Arthur Kennedy as Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday. Historically, it is so wide of the mark to be laughable, and has nothing to do with the rest of the film. It seems to be some sort of comic relief, but is far from funny. I wasn't surprised to read that Warner Brothers cut the thirteen-minute sequence from the film, but it has been restored to video and DVD versions.

And though the plight of Native Americans were finally being recognized at this time, they were still not being played by actual Indians. Anyone vaguely ethnic in a swarthy way could play Indians, except for real Indians. Ricardo Montalban and Gilbert Roland play the Cheyenne chiefs, in that noble stoic way that rings of stereotype. Worst of all is having Sal Mineo as a fiery warrior (I don't believe he has a line of dialogue, but the damage is done).

Cheyenne Autumn's legacy is that it opened the way for other films that would turn the dynamic of the Indian Wars in cinema on its head, from Soldier Blue to Little Big Man to Dances With Wolves. It's a shame it wasn't a better film.