| The Horse Soldiers | |
|---|---|
1959 movie poster |
|
| Directed by | John Ford |
| Produced by | John Lee Mahin Martin Rackin |
| Written by | John Lee Mahin (screenplay) Martin Rackin (screenplay) Harold Sinclair (novel) |
| Starring | John Wayne William Holden Constance Towers Althea Gibson |
| Music by | David Buttolph |
| Cinematography | William H. Clothier |
| Editing by | Jack Murray |
| Studio | The Mirisch Company |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
| Release date(s) | June 12, 1959 |
| Running time | 115 min. |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
The Horse Soldiers is a 1959 DeLuxe Color war film, set in the American Civil War, directed by John Ford, starring John Wayne, William Holden and Constance Towers. The film was based on Harold Sinclair's novel of the same name.
The team of John Lee Mahin and Martin Rackin both wrote the screenplay and produced the movie.
The movie is based on the true story of Grierson's Raid and the climactic Battle of Newton's Station, led by Colonel Benjamin Grierson who, along with 1700 men, set out from northern Mississippi and rode several hundred miles behind enemy lines in April 1863 to cut the railroad between Newton's Station and Vicksburg, Mississippi. Grierson's raid was part of the Union campaign, culminating in the Battle of Vicksburg. The raid was as successful as it was daring, and remarkably bloodless. By attacking the Confederate-controlled railroad it upset the plans and troop deployments of Confederate General John C. Pemberton.
Contents |
A Union cavalry brigade, led by Colonel John Marlowe (John Wayne), is sent on a raid behind Confederate lines to destroy a railroad and supply depot at Newton Station. Ironically, before the war, Marlowe had been a railroad building engineer. With the troop is a new regimental surgeon, Major Henry Kendall (William Holden) who seems to be constantly at odds with his commander. Kendall is torn between the duty and the horror of war.
Complicating matters, while the unit rests at Greenbriar Plantation, Miss Hannah Hunter (Constance Towers), the plantation's mistress, and her slave Lukey (Althea Gibson) eavesdrop on a staff meeting wherein Marlowe discusses his plans. To protect the mission, Marlowe is forced to take the two women with him. Initially hostile to her Yankee captor, Miss Hunter gradually warms to him. In addition to Miss Hunter, Marlowe also has to continually contend with Col. Phil Secord who doubts Marlowe's orders and command decisions.
Several battles later, including a fire-fight which results in the death of Lukey, and a skirmish with Boy Cadets from a local military school (based on the real-life Battle of New Market),[1] and with Confederate forces in pursuit, Marlowe and his command reach a bridge which must be stormed in order to access the Union lines. Dr. Kendall is forced to choose between remaining behind with some badly wounded men (and being captured with them), or leaving the men without medical care until the Confederates arrive. Marlowe and the remainder of his troop escape back to Northern lines.
The Horse Soldiers was filmed on location in Natchitoches Parish Louisiana along the banks of Cane River Lake and in and around Natchez, Mississippi. John Ford cut the film's climactic battle scene short when Fred Kennedy, a veteran stuntman and bit player, was killed in a horse fall. Ford was so upset he closed the set and had to film the rest of the scene later in the San Fernando Valley. The scene with the fatal fall remains in the film.[2]