Cheyenne Autumn Overview:

Cheyenne Autumn (1964) was a Drama - Historical Film directed by John Ford and produced by John Ford and Bernard Smith.

SYNOPSIS

The last Western from director Ford and a farewell to his familiar Monument Valley locations. After portraying Indians as villains in many of his classic Westerns, Ford cast them in a compassionate light in this rueful, elegiac film. The story follows the Cheyenne Indians as they flee their squalid Oklahoma reservation and return to their traditional homeland along the Yellowstone River in Wyoming. Cavalry officer Widmark gets the call to return the tribe to the reservations, but, after he sees the starvation and sickness endured by his quarry, he questions the government's decision. A cast of great stars (including a brief nod from Stewart as Wyatt Earp), and available in a restored version with additional footage.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

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Academy Awards 1964 --- Ceremony Number 37 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best CinematographyWilliam H. ClothierNominated
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BlogHub Articles:

Cheyenne Autumn (1964): John Ford’s Western Swan Song

By 4 Star Film Fan on Jan 10, 2021 From 4 Star Films

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. This is a Hollywood rendition so, obviousl... Read full article


Cheyenne Autumn (1964)

By Beatrice on May 20, 2018 From Flickers in Time

Cheyenne Autumn Directed by John Ford Written by James R. Webb, suggested by “Cheyenne Autumn” by Mari Sandoz 1964/USA Warner Bros./Ford-Smith Productions First viewing/Netflix rental This beautiful movie represents the peak of John Ford’s later career. It is 1878. ?The Cheyenne In... Read full article


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Quotes from

Doc Holliday: Forgive me, mademoiselle.
Miss Plantagenet: What the hell kind of talk is that?
Wyatt Earp: Now, as I understand it, a mademoiselle is a madam who ain't quite made it yet - only younger and friskier. I'd call it a compliment.


Deborah Wright: Dull Knife, the old chief is much too sick. He'll never make such a trip. Listen...
Dull Knife: If he lives to ride even a mile closer to home, he will die as a man should. There will be no more dying in this place.


Wyatt Earp: Say, you're the doctor around here. How come I always have to perform all the complicated operations?
Doc Holliday: You know I am a dentist, not a doctor. Wait until somebody shoot him in the teeth.


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Facts about

The usually puritanical John Ford contemplated filming a nude scene with Carroll Baker bathing in a river, but ultimately it wasn't shot.
According to both John Ford and James Stewart, Ford added the segment with Stewart in place of an intermission. Ford didn't want people leaving the auditorium to go the bathroom or concessions counter, even though the film was long, and so he came up with the Wyatt Earp segment. He later quipped to Stewart that the actor was the "best intermission" in the movies.
The "Cheyenne" are actually Navajo, telling dirty jokes in their native tongue.
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Best Cinematography Oscar 1964











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