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It would be good to have some sources about the Dodge City sequence being considered one of John Ford's best. Actually, I just saw the movie, read some reviews, and find this claim quite debatable. While the sequence does have its merits, it is completely unrelated to the rest of the pictures and provides a drastic change in tone which can prove annoying, as it is a comedy sequence inserted in an otherwise deadly earnest picture. Just imagine you're watching "Lethal Weapon" and then being forced to watch 20 minutes of "The Naked Gun" in the midst of it ! I can pretty much understand why it was cut from many prints, as it can be seen as distracting and harmful to the film's pacing and quite frankly, I would have liked to see it erased from MY copy. So I guess a reliable online source would be useful to back that statement. Wedineinheck10:07, 2 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The Dodge City sequence does indeed jar badly, being played as deliberate comedy (totally out of place), but it does appear to have one ancillary purpose - it gives some judicial resolution (sic) to an earlier scene in which four cowboys had shot dead one of two starving nameless Cheyenne who had approached the cowboys asking for food. The Dodge City sequence includes the reappearance of the four cowboys, now in town, who take exception to Wyatt Earp not believing their tale of being "attacked by Indians". One of them draws on Earp, who shoots the cowboy in the foot and then takes the bullet out on request! With Dodge included, the film seems to suggest "don't shoot passing Indians in cold blood, you'll suffer a minor inconvenience in consequence". Without the Dodge sequence, the viewer might feel one can shoot passing Indians with no comeback at all, no consequence whatsoever - which was far closer to the truth of the times. I wouldn't be surprised if the shortened version excluded both the Dodge sequence and the preceding "I've never shot me an Indian before... I wonder what it's like?" scene (the Wiki article doesn't say). I can't help feeling the Dodge sequence was added as an afterthought (it has absolutely no bearing on the film's narrative) just to add extra starpower (James Stewart, Arthur Kennedy - both badly miscast - and John Carradine), whereupon the four Dodge cowboys routine plus their preceding "I've never shot me an Indian before... I wonder what it's like?" scene were added to try a make a better link to the Cheyenne story. I suspect the studio's shortened version excluded both the Dodge sequence and the preceding "Cowboys kill a starving Indian" scene (as too powerful, too anti-cowboy on its own). I wish the Wiki article had more detail about Ford's decision to include the Cowboys-&-Dodge elements, what his thinking was etc, because the film demonstrates something quite rare - an "auteur", a supposed cinematic "master" etc, who got a whole section badly wrong, and a studio who chopped his work and got it just about right! Pete Hobbs (talk) 16:09, 30 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]
This movie is actually based on a novel by the same name, by Mari Sandoz. She has a pretty extensive Wikipedia article, but none for the book. CClio333 (talk) 18:51, 5 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I had to read that book in college, and from what I can tell by the description of the movie, it doesn't sound like the movie & the book were related. I've never actually seen the movie though. The book definitely needs an article here, and a disambiguation link in this article. Dcs002 (talk) 07:25, 13 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
The on-screen closing credits, however, list only the names of the first 18 cast members, omitting James Stewart and Edward G. Robinson. Below is a reproduction of the form in which the cast is depicted in the closing credits:
