One question for someone who knows; when was the movie actually filmed? From the scenery and sunlight I'm guessing fall of 1958 but that may be way off.
One of my all time favourites.
According to a couple of books I have checked,
shooting commenced in late October 1958
Great photo, from a great movie
Bill, thanks for even more!
Great photo Bill,
love the line of horses!
Great photo, once again
No offense to Connie Towers (and I really MEAN that, I'm not just saying it), but I think she was MUCH prettier with her hair DOWN, even though I realize it didn't fit the historical period confines of her character.
You know that crossed my mind when I saw the photo.
She looks so much more natural, and would be in fashion today!
Story Behind Fred Kennedy's Death
by Walter Reed
Newspaper ad for "The Horse Soldiers" starring John Wayne.Walter Reed,
who portrayed a Union officer in “Horse Soldiers”, told Western Clippings,
he disagrees slightly with Hayward’s assessment and vehemently with Burt Kennedy’s account
(in his book HOLLYWOOD TRAIL BOSS) that Fred Kennedy died in Ford’s arms.
Ford liked 48 year old Kennedy and used him whenever he could, altho Kennedy
was out of condition. On this particular day, Ford had pre-arranged a practical joke
on Kennedy involving leading lady Constance Towers. Kennedy was doubling
William Holden near Natchitoches, LA.
There were several of us in a Cavalry charge. I was riding right behind Fred when he died on location.
He starts to do this saddle fall, which he’d done many of in his day, and just as he started to go over,
the horse shied away from this little tiny campfire.
It changed his trajectory and Kennedy landed right on his head. I’m right behind him.
A joke had been pre-planned where Connie Towers ran in to Fred and said,
‘Oh my darling….’ You see, Fred was very bashful and shy.
Anyway, Connie went into her act and picked Fred up and all of a sudden she exclaimed
, ‘There’s something wrong.’ Ford may have gone over then
, but Connie was the one who picked Fred up and started the kidding joke; but he was out.
They put him on the back of a pickup and we listened on the 2-way radio.
When he got there, the hospital pronounced him DOA.
The fall broke his neck, I guess. It upset Ford so much, he said right then,
‘Wrap it up, we’re going home.’ We had two more days but he did ‘em out at Iverson
or somewhere in California.
There’s a picture I have that shows Kennedy falling, with me right behind him.”
Information from Western Clippings- Neil Summers
Victor would have just been alive long enough (he passed away in November 1959)
to have been included in this film, released that same year.
He has always been a favourite of mine.
Pals Of The Saddle- Victor MacLaglen
I have to agree with Robbie.
I don't read anymore into Duke's facial action,
then one's I've seen previously.
Just good acting at the most!
I did notice however that even though
David Buttolph is credited with the Original Music,
many of the scenes particularly between Duke and Constance Towers,
features the theme music from The Searchers
written by Max Steiner
This film has always been one of my top favourites,
and after this latest viewing, it remains so
I am sure we get around to looking at this scene.
However I take the point that it could have well
captured the moment of that fatal fall.
QuoteJohn Ford suspended location filming in Louisiana
after Fred Kennedy was killed performing a riding stunt.
The film was later completed in California.
Nice poster for a great film
Nice photo of Duke and Constance Towers,
and rather than a full 'Pals' on her,
here's a couple of pix,
proving what a real beauty she was!
Memorable Quotes
Major Kendall: Look here, colonel, I didn't ask to be assigned to this mission...
Col. John Marlowe: Kirby, you tangle with me, I'll have your hide.
Sgt. Maj. Kirby: You're welcome to that too sir, if it's in the line of duty.
Major Kendall: Now come off it Colonel, even you were born.
Miss Hannah Hunter: They'll catch up to you and cut you to pieces, you nameless, fatherless scum.
[After Marlowe gets slapped]
Major Kendall: I suggest you see a doctor.
INFORMATION IMDb
Hi,
I noticed from THE SEARCHERS thread,
that members are also interested in the secondary/stunt men,
although, I personally think, in most cases, they should all be credited!!
STUNTS
Jim Burk .... stunts (uncredited)
Everett Creach .... stunts (uncredited)
Chuck Hayward .... stunts (uncredited)
Tom Hennesy .... stunts (uncredited)
John Hudkins .... stunts (uncredited)
Fred Kennedy .... stunts (uncredited)
Cliff Lyons .... stunts (uncredited)
Dean Smith .... stunts (uncredited)
Ted White .... stunts (uncredited)
QuoteOriginally posted by Jay J. Foraker@Dec 27 2005, 04:37 PM
Bing Russell was the father of Kurt Russell, who has become more famous than his father. Bing Russell was very recognizable, even if his name was not readily recalled.
Cheers - Jay[snapback]24362[/snapback]
Hi Jay,
Thanks, I think your snippet of information, is really interesting,
I will make a point of looking closer the next time I watch the film!
Best Wishes,
The Horse Soldiers is a 1959 DeLuxe Color war film, set in the American Civil War,
directed by John Ford, starring John Wayne, William Holden and Constance Towers.
The film was based on Harold Sinclair's novel of the same name.
The team of John Lee Mahin and Martin Rackin
both wrote the screenplay and produced the movie.
The movie is based on the true story of Grierson's Raid and the climactic Battle of Newton's Station,
led by Colonel Benjamin Grierson who, along with 1700 men, set out from northern Mississippi
and rode several hundred miles behind enemy lines in April 1863 to cut the railroad
between Newton's Station and Vicksburg, Mississippi.
Grierson's raid was part of the Union campaign, culminating in the Battle of Vicksburg.
The raid was as successful as it was daring, and remarkably bloodless.
By attacking the Confederate-controlled railroad it upset the plans
and troop deployments of Confederate General John C. Pemberton.
What I can't work out is this??
John Ford made FOUR cavalry films,
but we only ever hear of a trilogy!!!
In my mind, The Horse Soldiers was the other one!!
I've always liked this one,and is high amongst my favourites.
In fact since this film, I have always been wary of stoves in the lounge!!!
The film started off well, and was pushed along by Uncle Jack's enthusiasm, for Civil War films.
However, sadly, the film falls away towards the end, as Jack lost interest,
due to the untimely death, in the making of the film, of one of his stuntmen, of some 25 years.
QuoteThis is noticeable in detail, and as screenwriter Mahin, quoted,
It was awful,they charged across that damed bridge,, and not one guy fell off the saddle
I still, rate this film, as one of my favourites
User Review
QuoteDisplay MoreHolden and Wayne earn their pay
30 May 2004 | by driver_8 (the Greater Southwest)
The Horse Soldiers is one of many John Ford and John Wayne collaborations.
Moreover, it is one of their better. The story involves a daring mission by union troops into the heart of the confederacy, in order to cut supply lines. Wayne is leading the daring plan. However, also going on the mission are an insolent
surgeon (played by William Holden) and a Southern Belle, complete with slave
(played by tennis star Althea Gibson). Where this film shines are in the excellent performances turned in by the big two stars. Rumor was that this film had many shutdowns and stoppages, the kind of thing that can make someone hornery.
Well, you see that in the relationship between the Holden and Wayne
characters, they genuinely despise each other. To me, this was one of Wayne's most underrated performances. He shows real emotion in his rather complex
character. As usual, Holden is excellent. Being a Ford film, the story and
scenery are both epic. Moreover, it does not take the Hollywood path towards
the obvious. I really enjoyed this film and was anxious to see just how it would end.
THE HORSE SOLDIERS
DIRECTED BY JOHN FORD
PRODUCED BY JOHN LEE MAHIN/ MARTIN RACKIN
MIRISH CORPORATION
UNITED ARTISTS
Photo with the courtesy of lasbugas[/align]
Information from IMDb
Plot Summary
A Union Cavalry outfit is sent behind confederate lines in strength
to destroy a rail/supply centre.
Along with them is sent a doctor who causes instant antipathy between
him and the commander.
The secret plan for the mission is overheard by a southern belle
who must be taken along to assure her silence.
The Union officers each have different reasons for wanting to be on the mission.
Full Cast
John Wayne .... Col. John Marlowe
William Holden .... Maj. Henry 'Hank' Kendall (regimental surgeon)
Constance Towers .... Miss Hannah Hunter of Greenbriar
Judson Pratt .... Sgt. Maj. Kirby
Hoot Gibson .... Sgt. Brown
Ken Curtis .... Cpl. Wilkie
Willis Bouchey .... Col. Phil Secord
Bing Russell .... Dunker, Yankee Soldier Amputee
O.Z. Whitehead .... Otis 'Hoppy' Hopkins (medical assistant)
Hank Worden .... Deacon Clump
Chuck Hayward .... Union captain
Denver Pyle .... Jackie Jo (rebel deserter)
Strother Martin .... Virgil (rebel deserter)
Basil Ruysdael .... The Reverend (Jefferson Military Academy)
Carleton Young .... Col. Jonathan Miles, CSA
William Leslie .... Maj. Richard Gray
William Henry .... Confederate lieutenant
Walter Reed .... Union officer
Anna Lee .... Mrs. Buford
William Forrest .... Gen. Steve Hurlbut
Ron Hagerthy .... Bugler
Russell Simpson .... Acting Sheriff Henry Goodbody
Althea Gibson .... Lukey (Hannah Hunter's maid)
Sarge Allen .... Union officer (uncredited)
Danny Borzage .... Ned (uncredited)
Richard H. Cutting .... Gen. William T. Sherman (uncredited)
Fred Graham .... Union soldier (uncredited)
Sam Harris .... Passenger to Newton Station (uncredited)
Stuart Holmes .... Passenger to Newton Station (uncredited)
Stan Jones .... Gen. Ulysses S. Grant (uncredited)
Fred Kennedy .... Soldier (uncredited)
Roy Kennedy .... Wrangler (uncredited)
Jack Pennick .... Sgt. Maj. 'Mitch' Mitchell (uncredited)
Charles Seel .... Newton Station bartender (uncredited)
Jan Stine .... Union General (uncredited)
William Wellman Jr. .... Bugler (uncredited)
Writing Credits
Harold Sinclair (story)
John Lee Mahin (screenplay) and
Martin Rackin (screenplay)
Original Music
David Buttolph
Cinematography
William H. Clothier
Stunts
Jim Burk .... stunts (uncredited)
Everett Creach .... stunts (uncredited)
Chuck Hayward .... stunts (uncredited)
Tom Hennesy .... stunts (uncredited)
John Hudkins .... stunts (uncredited)
Fred Kennedy .... stunts (uncredited)
Cliff Lyons .... stunts (uncredited)
Dean Smith .... stunts (uncredited)
Ted White .... stunts (uncredited)
Trivia
John Ford suspended location filming in Louisiana after Fred Kennedy was killed performing a riding stunt. The film was later completed in California.
The film marked the beginning of mega-deals for Hollywood stars. John Wayne and William Holden received $775,000 each, plus 20% of the overall profits, an unheard-of sum for that time. The final contract involved six companies and numbered twice the pages of the movie's script. The film, however, was a financial failure, with no profits to be shared in the end.
The film is based on the true-life raid by Col. Benjamin Grierson who, as shown in the movie, began his expedition--known as Grierson's Raid--from LeGrange, Tennessee, in April of 1863.
When John Wayne (Col. Marlow) first meets William Holden (Maj. Kendall), he accuses him of being out of uniform because he is not wearing his sidearms. In that particular scene, Marlow is wearing a cavalry sword. But throughout the rest of the film, Marlow does not wear any sidearms. Even when the Confederate forces are charging through the street and one of his junior officers offers him a pistol, he waves it off.
The quote at the Greenbriar dinner, "And yet your fair discourse hath been as sweet as sugar making the hard way sweet and delectable" is from "Richard II", Act II Scene 3 by William Shakespeare.
Director John Ford's only feature film set during the Civil War, although he did direct a segment of How the West Was Won (1962) that was set during the Civil War.
Goofs
* Anachronisms: Union soldiers are using Springfield breech-loading carbines, but these didn't appear until at least 1871, five years after the war's end.
* Anachronisms: Although the film takes place in 1863, Dr. Kendall is shown boiling surgical instruments to prevent them from infecting patients, a process that was not developed until 1879, by Dr. Louis Pasteur.
* Anachronisms: At the film's end, Dr. Kendall tells Col. Marlowe that he has decided to stay behind with the wounded Union soldiers. Col. Marlowe replies, "Even if it means Andersonville [a notorious Confederate POW camp]?" Andersonville did not exist in 1863, when this film was set; it was established in 1864.
* Continuity: When Doc Kendall examines the soldiers in line, he walks from left to right. When he is seen from behind the soldiers, he is walking the opposite way.
* Continuity: When Col. Marlowe asks a soldier for Maj. Kendall, his neckerchief knot is under his chin. When he enters in the colored people's shack, where Maj. Kendall is, his neckerchief knot is turned to his left shoulder.
* Continuity: When Doc Kendall is examining Dunker's leg, there is a soldier holding a lamp with his left hand. Between shots the lamp is in his right hand.
* Continuity: Deacon Clump talks to Col. Marlowe holding his hat in front of him. In the next shot, when Marlowe leaves, his hat is in his head.
* Anachronisms: The Confederate flags used in the movie are Army of Tennessee pattern and did not come into use until March of 1864.
* Factual errors: The 1st Michigan Cavalry Regiment served in the Eastern theater in 1863, most notably in the Army of the Potomac during the Battle of Gettysburg, and so would not be in a brigade within General Grant's army.
* Anachronisms: The saddles used on the horses are a mix of "Western" style and Army "McClellan" saddles. However, the McClellan saddles used are brown and of the 1904 pattern, whereas the 1859 McClellan that was in use was a black saddle.
* Continuity: In the hotel bar at Newton Station Col. Kirby breaks a bottle of whiskey tucked in the front of Sgt. Kirby's trousers . The trousers are already wet from a previous take.
* Factual errors: The film is set in the Spring of 1863 as part of Grant's campaign against Vicksburg, which fell on July 4, 1863. The soldiers discuss their fear of being captured and sent to the notorious Confederate prison at Andersonville, the construction of which started in December, 1963.
* Factual errors: Although listening through stove pipes at Greenbriar helped move the plot along , it was merely a contrivance . Southern plantation houses at that time were not heated by cast iron stoves but by wood-burning fireplaces through chimneys at each end of the house.
* Anachronisms: Early in the movie, Ken Curtis is shown playing a fretted banjo. Frets were not added to banjos until the 1880s. When they were first added, most players tried to file them off.
* Anachronisms: Although the story is set in 1863, all the soldiers are wearing 1872 pattern cavalry uniforms.
* Factual errors: The Jefferson Military Academy was fictitious. The scene was filmed at the old Jefferson College campus. The civilian college was closed during the civil war.
* Factual errors: The national flag seen in the opening scene is incorrect. Either a cavalry guidon with the national colors or a square flag would be more correct for a cavalry regiment.
* Crew or equipment visible: In the house at Greenbrier after Major Kendall, Miss Hunter, and Lukey come down the stairs, shadows are visible on the landing above and behind them. The shadows are not in line with any visible light source, suggesting the presence of a spotlight hidden behind the chair at the right of the scene.
* Anachronisms: At the end of the officers' conference Colonel Marlow states; "No glory hunting Richards. Anything knock this into a cocked hat it'll be a firefight." The term "firefight" did not come into use until the end of the 19th century.
* Anachronisms: In the scene where Sgt. Kirby is about to shoot the head of the Jefferson Military Academy, he referred to the Reverend as a "Holy Joe". The term did not come into being until approximately 1875.
* Anachronisms: In many scenes, Hannah is clearly wearing a bra, a garment invented in the 1890s and finally patented in 1913. Moreover, her bras are the "pointed" style popular in the 1950s.
* Factual errors: The movie exteriors appear to have been shot in the fall, but the raid takes place in April 1863.
* Continuity: When the rebels from the train charge up the street the flag bearer is shot and a man with a beard and green jacket picks it up. Shortly after wards the flag bearer is in shot again but its a younger man and the man with the beard and green jacket picks it up again.
* Anachronisms: The artillery guns shown in the last two battles (military academy and bridge crossing) are not Civil War era pieces, being far too old.
* Anachronisms: At the beginning of the engagement with the boys from the military academy, Colonel Marlow orders "Assembly" be sounded. It is clear from the immediately preceding shot, that many of the troops are not only not mounted, but the horses are not even saddled. Therefore, the correct bugle call would have been "Boots and Saddles".
Filming Locations
Alexandria, Louisiana, USA
Homochitto River, Mississippi, USA
Jefferson Military College - Highway 61, Washington, Mississippi, USA
(cadet school)
Louisiana, USA
Mississippi, USA
Natchez, Mississippi, USA
Natchitoches, Louisiana, USA
Texas, USA
The Lot - 1041 N. Formosa Avenue, West Hollywood, California, USA
(studio)
Washington, Mississippi, USA
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