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Jeremiah Johnson
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Synopsis
Years before Kevin Costner danced with wolves, Robert Redford headed to the mountains to escape civilization in Sydney Pollack's wilderness western. Around 1850, ex-soldier Johnson (Redford) decides that he would rather live alone as a mountain man in Colorado than deal with society's constraints. After a series of setbacks, he meets grizzled mountain veteran Bear Claws (Will Geer), who teaches him how to survive. Jeremiah strives to live as peaceably as possible in the rugged environment, trading with the native Crow tribe, adopting a boy (Josh Albee) after his family is massacred, and even marrying the daughter (Delle Bolton) of a Flathead chief in order to avoid confrontation. He settles into a mountain home with his family, but the U.S. cavalry, complete with a puritanical Reverend, interrupt the idyll to compel Jeremiah to lead them over the mountains and through a Crow burial ground to rescue white settlers. After the Crow kill his family in retaliation, Jeremiah's frenzied moment of payback precipitates a long-running vendetta, turning him into a legendary Indian killer at the expense of his original ideals, on the way to a final moment of grace. Spectacularly shot on location in Utah, the film captures both the appeal and the challenge of the landscape that Jeremiah chooses over civilization. With an unglamorous performance by Redford and a story that questioned white colonialism while mythologizing the man of nature, Jeremiah Johnson appealed to its 1972 audience and became one of the biggest hits of the year. Wavering between heroicizing Jeremiah for surviving and damning him for killing, Jeremiah Johnson took its place among the Vietnam-era cycle of critical westerns, like Arthur Penn's Little Big Man (1970) and Robert Altman's McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971), that condemned civilization for corrupting the wilderness and preventing individuals from going pacifistically native. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

Cast

Josh Albee Caleb
Delle Bolton Swan
Stefan Gierasch Del Gue
Joaquin Martinez Paints His Shirt Red
Allyn Ann McLerie Crazy Woman
Charles Tyner Robidoux
Robert Redford Jeremiah Johnson
Will Geer Bear Claws

Production Crew

Vardis Fisher Book Author
Andrew Callaghan Cinematographer
Duke Callaghan Cinematographer
John Rubinstein Composer (Music Score)
Tim McIntire Composer (Music Score)
Kenneth Lee Consultant/advisor
Sydney Pollack Director
Thomas G. Stanford Editor
Gary D. Liddiard Makeup
Ken Chase Makeup
Joe Wizan Producer
Mike Moder Producer
Edward S. Haworth Production Designer
Edward Anhalt Screenwriter
John Milius Screenwriter
Ray Molyneaux Set Designer
Raymond W. Thorp Short Story Author
Raymond W. Thorp Short Story Author
Robert Bunker Short Story Author
Robert Bunker Short Story Author
Year: 1972
Runtime: 110
Country: USA
MPAA Rating:
Category: Feature

Genre
Western

Produced by
Warner Brothers
Warner Communications