El capitán búfalo

I first caught the tail end of this John Ford masterpiece on AMC during Black History month, and couldn't wait for it to pop up on the schedule again so I could see the whole thing. I couldn't believe I had never heard of this film before, and after I did some research and discovered how reviewers in 1960 had dismissed it, I understood why. They went expecting To Kill A Mockingbird and got Breaker Morant instead. Ford was WAY ahead of his time with this one. Woody Strode, who plays the title character, helped break the color barrier in professional football years before Jackie Robinson did so in baseball. And he broke some huge barriers in this film, too. Every young black man -- heck, every young American male today -- should be required to watch this film. As Strode later said, Ford and script writers "put classic words in my mouth." Words that would be echoed three years later by Dr. Martin Luther King in his immortal "I Have A Dream" speech at the Lincoln memorial.

When I was scannning the reviews of this excellent movie, I found one comment that really flipped me out... REMAKE A JOHN FORD CLASSIC like Sergeant Rutledge????? Good Lord, what are you thinking. I am basically opposed to most remakes anyway,but this film in particular has stood the test of time just fine.... As another reviewer said,it is NOT a typical John Ford film,but it has to be one of his best. Woody Strode,one of the most under rated black actors of his generation is superb as in the title role. I would have to do some research to see how many films he did for Ford..in this film he is amazing. Jeffrey Hunter as defense attorney Tom Cantrell also turns in an excellent performance,caught between the proverbial rock and hard place when he is 'forced' to defend Rutledge. Constance Towers as Hunter's conscience, the school teacher, Mary is also quite good. Comic relief is provided by Billie Burke(Glinda the good) as the commanding general's wife,who cannot understand why she cant sit in the front row.

I have drawn a complete blank as to the actor who plays the prosecutor at Rutledge's courtmartial, but he is also very good... shades of Hamilton Burger. As much as I respect Denzel Washington as an actor ,I can't imagine him agreeing to remake this excellent film.... as for Ben Affleck as Cantrell, NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS. As I said in a previous review, if it ain't broke,don't fix it.....Bearing in mind that Ford, Hunter and Strode are all gone, it just wouldnt be right.

This movie was a wonderful piece of social history. It was filmed during a turbulent time in the United States when Civil Rights marches were really making headlines. It was a well crafted and movingly brave attempt to address in celluloid what the Civil Rights movement was addressing on placards.

Throughout the trial, colour isn't mentioned at all until near the end, but the underlying issue is one of race and how easy it would have been to jump to the wrong conclusion and ‘Hang ourselves a nigger'. It was also incredibly brave to show how the protagonist, Sergeant Rutledge, (beautifully played by Woody Strode) was helped by a white woman; again very rare at that time.

This is a hidden gem of a movie, and although the dialogue gets a little stilted at times, it doesn't detract from the central issue. Judging by his performance when under oath, Woody Strode is up there with the best of the marvellous Black actors that have changed the face of social America.

I rate this 10 out of ten.

Western is not my favorite genre, but good character studies are, and Ford specialized in these in the 50's and 60's to a greater extent that most moviegoers realize. The boundaries of what Strode is willing to share with Hunter and what cannot be broached are fascinating enough, but Ford takes us deeper into all the characters and their motivations. I agree with an earlier observation comparing it with Breaker Morant and saying it was more than 20 years ahead of its time; I would say a mix between some of the most compelling aspects of Breaker Morant and A Soldier's Story. Watch this film.

One of two late career atonement projects, the other being "Cheyenne Autumn", from John Ford to make up for racism toward African and Native Americans in his earlier films. Of the two this is clearly the superior. It is crisply paced, as opposed to the too rambling and drawn out "Autumn", and darker as well since it introduces, on top of racial prejudice, the evil of sexual perversion, definitely uncharted territory for a film maker whose attitude toward women was protective and gallant to a fault. So it's interesting to see how Ford deals with this uncomfortable material which he does, in my opinion, fairly forthrightly, and without too much histrionics.

My criticism of this film is, like its pace, crisp: Too little Woody Strode, too much Jeffrey Hunter, and WAY too much Billie Burke (as in "go back to that Victor Fleming movie you wandered in from"). Give it a B.