The Horse Soldiers Overview:

The Horse Soldiers (1959) was a Adventure - War Film directed by John Ford and produced by John Lee Mahin and Martin Rackin.

SYNOPSIS

Union colonel Wayne leads a daring commando raid 300 miles into Confederate territory in an attempt to destroy a railway hub. Along the way, he butts heads with Holden, a doctor with misgivings about the mission. Ford's only Civil War movie.

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

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BlogHub Articles:

The Horse Soldiers (1959)

By 4 Star Film Fan on May 8, 2019 From 4 Star Films

The Horse Soldiers is the one and only teaming of John Wayne and William Holden in a story based on the raids of Colonel Benjamin Grierson during the Civil War. John Ford casts the story as a brand of folklore carried through the air by the songs sung on the trail by a regiment riding in their forma... Read full article


The Horse Soldiers (1959)

By Beatrice on Dec 10, 2016 From Flickers in Time

The Horse Soldiers Directed by John Ford Written by John Lee Mahin and Martin Racklin from a novel by Harold Sinclair 1959/USA The Mirisch Corporation/Mahin-Racklin First viewing/Netflix rental This is an OK civil war flick with good performances from John Wayne and William Holden. ?I expect somethi... Read full article


The John Ford Blogathon: THE HORSE SOLDIERS

By Dan Day Jr. on Jul 8, 2014 From The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog

The legendary John Ford was a huge Civil War buff. He was fond of telling people that several of his ancestors fought in the conflict, and he even went so far to say that some of them fought on both sides. The Civil War is touched upon in a number of Ford's films, but it wasn't until 1959 that Ford ... Read full article


The John Ford Blogathon: THE HORSE SOLDIERS

By Dan Day Jr. on Jul 8, 2014 From The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog

The legendary John Ford was a huge Civil War buff. He was fond of telling people that several of his ancestors fought in the conflict, and he even went so far to say that some of them fought on both sides. The Civil War is touched upon in a number of Ford's films, but it wasn't until 1959 that Ford ... Read full article


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Quotes from

Col. John Marlowe: [after knocking out the deserters and giving Goodbody a pistol. Bows low] Compliments of Miss Hannah Hunter of Greenbriar.


Matthew Brady: Roses are red, violets are blue, the camera is looking right at you... oh, I simply must have another; that man in the white coat moved.
Col. John Marlowe: That's not all he's gonna be moving.


Dunker, Yankee Soldier Amputee: Hey, lookee here, the sun, it comes up in th' east every time, don't it?
Cpl. Wilkie: It do in Missouri.
Dunker, Yankee Soldier Amputee: Well, then if that's th' east, we ain't headed north, we're goin' south.
Cpl. Wilkie: Smack dab inta reb country!


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Facts about

The film marked the beginning of mega-deals for Hollywood stars. John Wayne and William Holden received $775,000 each, plus 20% of the overall profits, an unheard-of sum for that time. The final contract involved six companies and numbered twice the pages of the movie's script. The film, however, was a financial failure, with no profits to be shared in the end.
Director John Ford's only feature film set during the Civil War, although he did direct a segment of How the West Was Won that was set during the Civil War.
The quote at the Greenbriar dinner, "And yet your fair discourse hath been as sweet as sugar making the hard way sweet and delectable" is from "Richard II", Act II Scene 3 by William Shakespeare.
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Also directed by John Ford




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Also released in 1959




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