John Ford's Cheyenne Autumn - missing footage from 1964 release

This is the seven-plus minutes excised by Warner Bros. from John Ford's Cheyenne Autumn when the film went into general release. These "Dodge City" sequences are followed by 3 minutes of intermission and entr'e acte music. The full version is now available on DVD.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• john ford
• cheyenne autumn
• roadshow
• westerns

[tomkes100douchebag]

@83survivor Why didn't Ford like Sal? Pain in the ass, how so?

[tomkes100douchebag]

Don't understand what was going on with Sal Mineo at the end. Someone please send me a pm to prevent spoiler explaining hat happened. Thanks.

[henson001]

With respect, this was in the theatrical release in the United Kingdom in 1964. The other scenes were shot but removed, I seem to remember, because the studio thought it was too long for audiences to sit through. Ford didn't want an intermission with people leaving their seats. Dodge City was meant to be a safety valve to allow recovery from the bleakness of the story.

[velmawallenrod]

@yogafan6500 I'm not a fan of this sequence, either, but Ford was constantly veering into comedy – sometimes very broad comedy – throughout his whole career. Those jarring shifts are part of what he did.

[velmawallenrod]

@henson001 You're describing a different kind of "missing". Those scenes were excised before release at all, whereas the stuff I posted was taken out after premiere.

[henson001]

This was in the print I saw on release in the UK in 1964. The real missing footage includes a scene where Carroll Baker has to deal with a problem with her horses as well as a scene where the Cheyenne come across a settler (John Carradine) with his pregnant wife and leave them unmolested. These scenes are referred to in the literature dealing with Ford. I also read them in a copy of the script in the BFI library.

[83survivor]

True, but Ford didn't like Sal Mineo being such a pain in the ass, which was the reason why Ford didn't give Sal any dialogue. He also didn't think of Sal as part of Ford's family key players at all. I think he really wanted a real Native American to play that role, but Warner nixed him on that notion and he was disappointed with the results. I also think this was the reason for Sal's downfall, not just his homosexuality. Also, Edward G. Robinson was'nt the original choice. It was Spencer Tracy.

[cshirsch]

The poker scene standing alone apart from the rest of the film is classic. Unfortunately they included the inane 'Indian fight' in the scene. Ford included the Dodge City segment for entertainment during the intermission. Not a great idea but the poker scene was fun.

[yogafan6500]

The reason why that segment was cut from the re-release of Cheyenne Autumn,Is because it slowed down the movie. It suppose to be a serious western not a Billy Wilder comedy with Jack Lemmon. I sure wish they'll do a remake of this underappriciated western classic. But without the comedy sequence that looks like a Jerry Bruckheimer produced Nicolas Cage starred movie E.G. National Treasure. John Ford sure knows That a funny scene does'nt belong in a epic western like this. So there.