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Soldier Blue

From Alfawiki
Soldier Blue
Company typeFilm
IndustryMotion picture
Founded1970; 56 years ago (1970)
FounderRalph Nelson (director), John Gay (screenwriter)
ProductsFilm

Soldier Blue is a 1970 American revisionist Western film directed by Ralph Nelson, featuring performances by Candice Bergen, Peter Strauss, and Donald Pleasence. The screenplay, written by John Gay, is adapted from Arrow in the Sun by T.V. Olsen. The storyline draws heavily from the 1864 Sand Creek massacre that occurred in the Colorado Territory. Both Nelson and Gay intended the film as an allegory reflecting the ongoing Vietnam War.

Premiering in August 1970, the movie attracted significant attention due to its explicit depiction of violence, especially in its concluding scenes. It has been viewed variously as a critique of America's traditional "archetypal art form [the Western]" and as either an anti-war statement or an exploitation film.

Plot

Set in 1877 within the Colorado Territory, the narrative follows Cresta Lee and Private Honus Gant, who are the only survivors after their group falls victim to a Cheyenne attack. Honus remains steadfastly committed to his country and military duty, whereas Cresta—having lived among the Cheyenne for two years—expresses contempt for him, dubbing him "Soldier Blue" and showing empathy toward the Native Americans. Their goal is to reach Fort Reunion, where Cresta’s fiancé, an army officer, awaits them. While navigating the desert with scarce resources and evading Native American patrols, they encounter Kiowa warriors. Honus wounds their leader but chooses not to kill him; however, the chief is subsequently slain by his own men, leaving Honus and Cresta alone. Throughout their journey, their differing perspectives on society become increasingly pronounced.

They are pursued by a corrupt arms dealer who supplies weapons to the Cheyenne—Honus had recently destroyed one of his shipments. After being wounded, Honus is left hidden in a cave by Cresta as she seeks assistance. Upon reaching Fort Reunion, Cresta learns that her fiancé’s cavalry unit plans to assault a peaceful Cheyenne village. She warns Spotted Wolf, the chief of the Cheyenne, who approaches under a U.S. flag of truce in an attempt at diplomacy. Despite this gesture, soldiers acting under orders from a ruthless commander open fire with artillery.

The cavalry charge results in heavy casualties among the Native men. Following this, soldiers invade the village and perpetrate brutal acts against Cheyenne women. Honus attempts to intervene but is arrested on charges of treason. Cresta guides surviving villagers toward safety but is ultimately captured following another massacre. Both are detained while few Cheyenne survivors remain, facing bleak prospects.

Cast

Production

This film represents the first cinematic portrayal of the Sand Creek massacre, a notorious incident in American frontier history where Colorado militia led by Colonel John M. Chivington attacked and destroyed a defenseless Cheyenne and Arapaho settlement on Colorado’s Eastern Plains. The story weaves this historical atrocity into a broader fictional account focusing on two white survivors fleeing an earlier Cheyenne assault on U.S. Cavalry forces, with historical figures’ names altered for narrative purposes. Director Nelson acknowledged drawing inspiration from contemporary conflicts such as the Vietnam War and events like the Sơn Mỹ massacre.

Filming commenced on October 28, 1969, with location shoots taking place in Mexico. Early in production, cinematographer Arthur J. Ornitz was replaced by Robert B. Hauser. According to Bergen, extensive prosthetic effects—including artificial limbs and animatronic devices—were employed during battle scenes. Additionally, amputees from Mexico City were cast as extras for the final massacre sequence to enhance realism.

Release

Soldier Blue debuted in New York City on August 12, 1970, with its Los Angeles premiere occurring two days later on August 14.

Box office

In 1971, the movie secured the third position among British box office successes and earned $1.2 million from rentals across the U.S. and Canada. The film’s theme song, composed and performed by Buffy Sainte-Marie, achieved top ten status in the UK as well as several other international markets during the summer of 1971.

Contemporaneous

Numerous reviewers remarked that Soldier Blue brought to mind the My Lai massacre, which had been publicly disclosed the year before. In September 1970, Dotson Rader of The New York Times described it as "one of the most significant, brutal and honest American films ever made."

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times characterized the film as "savage" and deliberately positioned it as a pro-Native American statement, connecting it to a dark chapter in U.S. history. Nonetheless, he considered it too erratic to function effectively as a serious Vietnam War allegory. The Time Out film guide labeled it "a grimly embarrassing anti-racist Western," criticizing its exploitative depiction of violence alongside an overly stylized romantic subplot.

The film also provoked adverse reactions; Joseph Running Wolf McCandless, who claimed to be a survivor of the Wounded Knee Massacre, described viewing it as "the most horrifying experience of my life."

Contemporary

Today’s critics often categorize Soldier Blue as a revisionist western, anti-American, and exploitation picture. In 2004, the BBC recognized it as "one of the most significant American films ever made." Author P.B. Hurst highlighted its pioneering use of graphic violence and its radical portrayal of the U.S. Cavalry as ruthless oppressors—an approach that challenged long-standing myths and contributed to its commercial disappointment domestically despite international acclaim.

Retrospective evaluations place Soldier Blue alongside early 1970s films such as Ulzana's Raid that address military atrocities against civilians amidst politically charged environments. However, modern commentators have criticized its explicit brutality as exploitative.

In 2005, Uncut described it as a "bloody 1970 exploitation western" with gore on par with Cannibal Holocaust. Meanwhile, TV Guide awarded it one star out of five, noting weak acting performances but acknowledging its unsettling parallel between the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre and Vietnam’s My Lai event, along with its attempt to transcend Hollywood’s Native American clichés.

Film historian Christopher Frayling observed that Soldier Blue was "much more angry" than other Westerns of its era, confronting traditional genre conventions. He commended its innovative camerawork, including complex zoom shots and distinctive framing techniques that delve into themes such as innocence and conquest.

Lead actress Candice Bergen reflected that although flawed, the film was "a movie whose heart, if nothing else, was in the right place."

In culture

The 2010 artwork titled "Soldier Blue" by artist Andrea Carlson integrates text and imagery drawn from various cannibal films that were popular during the 1970s and 1980s.

See also

Works cited

  • Frayling, Christopher (2006). Spaghetti Westerns: Cowboys and Europeans from Karl May to Sergio Leone. I.B. Tauris. ISBN 978-1-845-11207-3.
  • Huebner, Andrew J. (2008). The Warrior Image: Soldiers in American Culture from the Second World War to the Vietnam Era. University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-0-807-83144-1.
  • Hurst, P.B. (2008). The Most Savage Film: Soldier Blue, Cinematic Violence and the Horrors of War. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-3710-8.
  • Indick, William (2008). The Psychology of the Western: How the American Psyche Plays Out on Screen. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-786-43460-2.
  • Maddrey, Joseph (2016). The Quick, the Dead and the Revived: The Many Lives of the Western Film. McFarland. ISBN 978-1-476-62549-2.

External links

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