In Pursuit of Honor
| In Pursuit of Honor | |
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| Directed by | Ken Olin |
| Produced by | E. Barry Mansur |
| Written by | Dennis Lynton Clark |
| Starring |
Don Johnson Craig Sheffer Gabrielle Anwar Bob Gunton Rod Steiger |
| Music by | John Debney |
| Distributed by | HBO Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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89 minutes (TV) 109 minutes (DVD) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $8.4 million |
In Pursuit of Honor is a 1995 made-for-cable movie directed by Ken Olin. Don Johnson stars as a member of a United States Cavalry detachment refusing to slaughter its horses after being ordered to do so by General Douglas MacArthur. The movie follows the plight of the officers as they attempt to save the animals that the Army no longer needs as it modernizes toward a mechanized military. The movie claims to be based on a true story but without firm evidence to support the claim.
The movie opens in 1932 when World War I veterans are protesting and rallying in Washington D.C. for war bonuses they were promised but never received from the government, a true event known as the Bonus March. U.S. cavalry and infantry are present for crowd control. The mounted cavalry is ordered by Major John Hardesty (Bob Gunton), to present their sabers in order to hold back the protesters. First Sergeant or "Top" John Libbey (Don Johnson), along with three fellow soldiers, refuse to draw their swords because the demonstrators were men they served with during the war. As a consequence, their military careers are tarnished and they are relegated to duty at a remote post in the American Southwest.
Two years later, Lieutenant Marshall Buxton (Craig Sheffer), arrives at his new post, where it is discovered during his interview with retiring Colonel Stuart (Rod Steiger) that he was so assigned because of a fight and that many of the others there are also because of insubordination. Lt. Buxton meets Sergeants Libbey, Quinlain (Neil Melville), Mulcahey (John Dennis Johnston), and Shattuck (Robert Coleby), who together manage the herd of remounts.
Col. Stuart is replaced as post commander by Col. Hardesty, (on promotion). Hardesty's mission is to aid in the transition to a mechanized army. To accomplish this, the horses at the outpost will have to be destroyed. Buxton is ordered to escort the animals to slaughter. While watching the first hundred horses being helplessly shot in a mass grave, Lt. Buxton decides, with the concurrence of Libbey and the other Sergeants, to end the massacre and drive the remaining herd to safety.
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