Soldier Blue
| Soldier Blue | |
|---|---|
StudioCanal DVD cover
|
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| Directed by | Ralph Nelson |
| Produced by |
Gabriel Katzka Harold Loeb |
| Written by |
Theodore V. Olsen (novel Arrow in the Sun) John Gay (screenplay) |
| Starring |
Candice Bergen Peter Strauss Donald Pleasence |
| Music by | Roy Budd |
| Cinematography | Robert B. Hauser |
| Distributed by | Avco Embassy Pictures |
|
Release date
|
August 12, 1970 (New York City) |
|
Running time
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112 min |
| Language | English |
Soldier Blue is a 1970 American Revisionist Western movie directed by Ralph Nelson and inspired by events of the 1864 Sand Creek massacre in the Colorado Territory. The screenplay was written by John Gay based on the novel Arrow in the Sun by Theodore V. Olsen (republished as Soldier Blue after the movie was released). It starred Candice Bergen, Peter Strauss and Donald Pleasence.
A young woman, Cresta Lee (Bergen), and young U.S. private Honus Gant (Strauss) are joined together by fate when they are the only two survivors after their group is massacred by the Cheyenne. Gant is devoted to his country and duty; Lee, who has lived with the Cheyenne for two years, declares that in this conflict she sympathizes more with them. The two must now try to make it to Fort Reunion, the army base camp, where Cresta's fiance, an army officer, waits for her. As they travel through the desert with very low supplies, hiding from the Indians, they are spotted by a group of Kiowa horsemen. Under pressure from Cresta, Honus fights and seriously wounds the group's chief. Honus finds himself unable to kill the chief, and the chief's own men stab him for his defeat and leave Honus and Cresta alone.
Eventually, after being shot at by a white trader (played by Donald Pleasence) who had supplied guns to the Cheyenne, Honus finds himself in a cave where Cresta has left him to get help. She arrives at Fort Reunion, only to discover that her fiance's cavalry plans to attack the peaceful Indian village of the Cheyenne the following day. She runs away on a horse and reaches the village in time to warn Spotted Wolf, the Cheyenne chief. The chief refuses to indulge in warfare and rides out to extend a hand of friendship to the American soldiers using the U.S. flag. The soldiers, however, obey the orders of their commanding officer to open fire at the village. After a cavalry charge decimates the Indian men, the soldiers enter the village and begin to rape and kill the female survivors as Honus attempts to disrupt the massacre. Cresta attempts to lead the remaining women and children to safety, but her group is discovered and massacred while Cresta herself is spared. After the battle, Honus is led away in shackles and Cresta departs with the remaining survivors.
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