MovieChat Forums > Sergeant Rutledge (1960) Discussion > This is a great movie!

This is a great movie!

posted 17 years ago by iluvshirley
5 replies | jump to latest

I love John Ford movies. They always stand out because of the details he adds. How many other western movies do you see dogs running randomly, kids When I saw this movie as a kid, my Mom tried to keep me from seeing the ending. I couldn't really understand it but I knew that it was rare to see something like this on an afternoon Western movie. I have always loved big, gentle Woody Strode because of this movie. What an impressive man! It was rare to see black people as the star of a movie and he was my favorite part of this movie. I also loved Jeffrey Hunter because I knew him from Star Trek. The girl is the same one from "The Horse Soldiers" and was wonderful in this too.

What a tough subject matter for that time? I liked that this movie discussed a mature theme without having to show all the seamy details. This may be my all time favorite western!

[–] film-guy 17 years ago

Nice post iluvshirley. It's one of my favorite westerns as well. Ford's films are superb and I'm a big fan of Strode.

[–] phantomsever 16 years ago

Also a big Woodie Strode fan. Check out "The Last Voyage" and "Pork Chop Hill" to see more of his work.

Six Actual......OUT!

[–] bradford-1 16 years ago

I originally saw this with my parents at a drive-in. (yes, you could actually see first-run pictures at drives-ins.)I had no idea about John Ford or his reputation, but was gripped by the storyline and the eerie, shuttling to past past from present. I find it kind of rickety now, but would die to see some of those panoramic shots on a big screen again. Too bad this came so late in Ford's career. I'd loved to have seen a 10th Cav trilogy akin to FORT APACHE, et al.

[–] jdstewart1 9 years ago

I watched it on TCM tonight, excellent movie. Constance Towers and Woody Strode were really good.

[–] karnevilelp 9 years ago

Pluses: Woody Strode, the black soldiers were largely stereotype free, the scene at the river is well done and Jeffrey Hunter and his blue eyes are smokin' hot.

Minuses: the usual Ford lame attempts at humor (i.e. the Cordelia Fosgate character), the poorly done rushed revelation of Who Done It, the lack of attention paid to the title character after he is found innocent, the cliched smooch at the end.

6/10, I think Ford did much better.