Wordiezett So much average

Lawbolisted Powerful

Protraph Lack of good storyline.

FeistyUpper If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Ed-Shullivan Simply put , I liked it. Former decathlete athlete and football star Woody Strode plays Sergeant Rutledge accused of raping and murdering a young girl. The film is mostly shot inside what appears to be a kangaroo court, but as in any true hero's story the truth must prevail. Woody who plays a black Sergeant in the U.S. infantry, sits strong and proud of his military career and although there are many doubters in the courtroom as to his innocence of the crimes of rape and murder, the film's illustrious director, John Ford, provides Woody Strode with a terrific movie vehicle to shine in. And shine Woody Strode does.I wouldn't dare to compare Sergeant Rutledge to the better known classic 1962 three time Academy award winner "To Kill A Mockingbird" starring Gregory Peck as the defense lawyer of the accused black man of rape played by Brock Peters. I do feel though that Sergeant Rutledge stands up well some 58 years later as a decent court room western, which utilizes flashbacks by the various court witnesses to explain why Sergeant Rutledge is either guilty or innocent.We the audience can play judge and jury in this decent western, and I judge Woody Strode's and actress Constance Towers who plays Mary Beecher the love interest of Lt. Tom Cantrell (played by Jeffrey Hunter) performances as more than passing the smell test. I enjoyed Sergeant Rutledge as a full drama and action filled western.I give the film a 6 out of 10 rating

edwagreen Well, Woody Strode was finally given the opportunity to act in this 1960 film and acted he did in an especially emotionally charged court scene.As for the picture itself, it's routine fanfare. It's 1881 in the Arizona territory and the good sergeant has been accused of raping a young girl and killing her father. While this has occurred, the Apaches are on the attack.Jeffrey Hunter played Rutledge's fellow soldier who defends him at his trial. The young girl had a young admirer with the roving eye. The ending couldn't even be thought up by Perry Mason. Wait to you see who the real killer was.Billie Burke, with that sing-song voice is just a little too much out of place as the wife of the court administrator. The guys handling the trial break to play cards. Burke's outfit is appropriate for the period, but you will get very hot just looking at it in a rather benign cold film.Constance Towers is the love interest of Hunter who arrives back in Arizona after 12 years, only to find her father dead at the hand of the Apaches. Having met and been with Rutledge, when the stage master was killed, she testifies on his behalf.

romanorum1 Unlike most of Director John Ford's Westerns that feature much action, "Sergeant Rutledge" is mainly a courtroom drama told mainly in flashback. The time is 1881. The gist of the story is a black Ninth US Cavalry sergeant accused in the rape and murder of a teen-aged white girl Lucy Dabney (Toby Michaels) and also the murder of her father. Woody Strode ably plays the role of the sergeant, Braxton Rutledge. When he tells his enlisted men about "white woman's business" we know he is talking about serious trouble. Rutledge's capable courtroom defender is Lt. Tom Cantrell (Jeffrey Hunter), whose job is to piece together the facts, despite constant badgering by the prosecutor, Captain Shattuck. In a highly emotional setting, Shattuck likes to make racial innuendos although he is dealing with a military court of savvy men. Complicating matters is an Apache Mescalero outbreak of hostilities. Later in the film there are two interesting engagements between the Buffalo soldiers and the Apaches. The movie is fine enough despite two drawbacks: (1) It is too long and (2) the weak trial resolution. The confession by the real murderer is over-dramatic and contrived. It is doubtful that anyone in US court has made such a strange confession, especially when the evidence was hardly circumstantial ("I had to have her!"). Perhaps the real killer had a change of conscience. But, despite its drawbacks, the film was groundbreaking in its day and still is enjoyable today. On-location shooting in Monument Valley (and Mexican Hat: note the hat rock formation in the background shots) is always spectacular. A nice shot is that of the troopers standing firm in line of battle with the Indians. "Captain Buffalo" is a moving western song about the soldiers. Lt. Cantrell explains to Mary Beecher (Constance Towers) the origin of the name "Buffalo soldiers." To stay warm in winter the black troops wore coats and hats made of Buffalo hides. As they thus appeared like buffaloes the Indians dubbed them "Buffalo soldiers." There is another origin (not mentioned in the movie): The name relates to African hair that looked to the Indians like the shaggy buffalo coat in winter. In the feature, quite a few Buffalo soldiers have speaking parts, and future Olympic gold medal winner Rafer Johnson plays an army corporal. Sgt. Skidmore (Juano Hernandez) has a funny line, "Trouble come double, sir." Rutledge has the best line in the movie when he tells Mary Beecher: "Lady, you don't know how hard I'm trying to stay alive."Billie Burke (Glenda the good witch, 1939) was at 76 years, as usual too old for her part as Cornelia, the wife of Col. Otis Wingate (53 year-old Willis Bouchey). Here she shows her real age as she is fluttered and genuinely shocked when a teen-aged girl rides her horse astride and not side-saddle (with legs close together), as some ladies did back in olden times. She is also none too pleased when white women speak to black men. She certainly played the giddy one. Postscript: Obviously after the period of the movie 65 years had to pass before four major events of the civil rights movement occurred: (1) integration of interstate commerce in 1946, (2) desegregation of the armed forces by Pres. Truman, 1948, (3) Brown vs. Topeka Board of education in 1954, and (4) the Montgomery bus strike (1955).

magneta This is a movie that was not generally recognized when released, but which has over time become a cult favorite. John Ford once again returns to Monument Valley to give us a tale of soldiering, military justice, and who-done-it, with a strong racial overtone. The film is a good one, with an unusual mystery angle, and survives by overcoming the handicap of some very bad acting. Jeffery Hunter and Constance Towers are fine in their roles, Juano Hernandez is believable as an old soldier whose friend has been accused of a heinous crime, and Woody Strode handles the title role with dignity and appealing intensity. Strode once remarked that in this film John Ford "put some good words in my mouth," and he certainly did. The anchor that this film drags is in the deplorable acting by most of the supporting cast. The murdered young girl and her boyfriend are uncredited, and deservedly so. The usually dependable Willis Bouchey blusters and stumbles through his role as the president of the court-martial, while the other court members engage in what can only be called slapstick. Billie Burke, in her final role, is plain silly, and Carleton Young is irritatingly overbearing as the chief prosecutor. The Razzie for this film, though, goes to Fred Libby as the post sutler, who chews the scenery completely up in the film's climax, a performance that is painful to watch. The film, despite this major drawback, is worth seeing. Ford, who had approached the subject of racism four years earlier in "The Searchers," is less subtle in his approach here, but handles the subject expertly, telling the story of the Ninth Cavalry's "Buffalo Soldiers" with the respect that their place in history deserves.