Tuesday, Feb 2025
Director: Sydney Pollack
Screenwriters: John Milius & Edward Anhalt from the Raymond Thorp / Robert Bunker story (Crow Killer) and Vardis Fisher Novel (Mountain Man)
Length: 108 minutes
Released: 1972

jeremiah johnsonThis is a departure from the traditional Western. It is a 1970's nature film produced by top Hollywood talent. If you put yourself in the right frame of mind while watching, you will find yourself anticipating a Uhl Gibbons commercial. The film is set in the mid-1800s, and Redford is an ex-soldier who turns his back on civilization, heads into the Rockies and sets out to become a Mountain Man. He does, and in the process they become as much a part of him as he of them. This movie is well photographed and very atmospheric and the Rockies themselves are probably the primary character in the film.

This is a journey and coming-of-age film in which we slowly witness one man's transformation. It is a Western in which the Indians -- here Crow and Blackfeet -- significantly outnumber the few whites, and one must become somewhat like them and of them in order to survive. For all the moments of solitude, the movie is well-paced and introduces a variety of interesting characters. With its story line of a character immersed in another culture, Jeremiah Johnson lies somewhere between Little Big Man and Dances with Wolves, and in no way pales in comparison to either one. Without a doubt, this unusual Western is a Good View.

Cast:

  • Robert Redford.... Jeremiah Johnson
  • Will Geer.... Bear Claw Chris Lapp
  • Delle Bolton.... Swan
  • Josh Albee.... Caleb
  • Joaquín Martínez.... Paints His Shirt Red
  • Allyn Ann McLerie....Crazy Woman
  • Stefan Gierasch.... Del Gue
  • Richard Angarola.... Flathead Chief Two-Tongues Lebeaux
  • Paul Benedict....Reverend Lindquist
  • Charles Tyner....Robidoux
  • Jack Colvin.... Lt. Mulvey Third Cavalry
Back To Top