7th Cavalry (film)
Encyclopedia
7th Cavalry is a 1956 Technicolor
American
Western film
directed by Joseph H. Lewis based on a story by Glendon Swarthout
set after the Battle of the Little Big Horn. It starred Randolph Scott
and was filmed in Mexico.
and his Regiment, the 7th Cavalry. Benson is mystified when he sees the fort apparently deserted with the colours not flying. Exploring the vacant post he is met by the hysterical Charlotte Reynolds whose husband replaced Benson as commander of his "C" Company and was killed at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Only a small group of misfits and guardhouse
prisoners led by an old sergeant remain who have held a wake
by being drinking themselves into oblivion.
Once the commands of Major Marcus Reno
and Captain Frederick Benteen
have returned, they and the widows hold Benson in contempt not only for not being at the battle in command of his men, but what they perceived as Custer's like of him and Benson's non West Point background and his career as a gambler until commissioned into the Regiment.
Martha's father Colonel Kellogg comes to the post to conduct a Board of Inquiry into Custer's actions that Benson sees as a smear against a man he admires who can not defend himself.
Held in contempt by his Regiment, when the President of the United States orders the recovery of the slain officers and the burial of the cavalrymen who fell in the battle, Benson takes his misfits and military prisoners into Indian Territory to perform the task.
The Indians have made the land sacred ground and do not want to see the enemies they respected taken away from their burial site. A standoff develops as the cavalry insist on leaving the battleground with the dead officers' bodies. As the situation becomes tense a cavalryman is shot dead with an arrow whilst trying to escape. Then Custer's horse appears, surprising everyone with the fact that it has survived the battle that killed its master. The bugler blows the call to charge and the horse gallops towards the cavalry's position. The Indians are said to believe that Custer's spirit has returned and allow the cavalry to leave the field.
Back at the camp Captain Benson is reconciled with his father-in-law.
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
American
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
Western film
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
directed by Joseph H. Lewis based on a story by Glendon Swarthout
Glendon Swarthout
Glendon Fred Swarthout was an American writer.-Life:Glendon Swarthout was the only child of Fred and Lila Swarthout, a banker and a homemaker. Swarthout is a Dutch name from the area around Groningen, in the Netherlands, and his mother’s maiden name was Chubb, from English farmers of Yorkshire...
set after the Battle of the Little Big Horn. It starred Randolph Scott
Randolph Scott
Randolph Scott was an American film actor whose career spanned from 1928 to 1962. As a leading man for all but the first three years of his cinematic career, Scott appeared in a variety of genres, including social dramas, crime dramas, comedies, musicals , adventure tales, war films, and even a few...
and was filmed in Mexico.
Plot
Captain Tom Benson has been granted a furlough to bring his bride-to-be Martha back to Fort Abraham LincolnFort Abraham Lincoln
Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park is located seven miles south of Mandan, North Dakota. The park is home to On-A-Slant Indian Village, the blockhouses and the Custer house...
and his Regiment, the 7th Cavalry. Benson is mystified when he sees the fort apparently deserted with the colours not flying. Exploring the vacant post he is met by the hysterical Charlotte Reynolds whose husband replaced Benson as commander of his "C" Company and was killed at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Only a small group of misfits and guardhouse
Military prison
A military prison is a prison operated by the military. Military prisons are used variously to house prisoners of war, enemy combatants, those whose freedom is deemed a national security risk by the military or national authorities, and members of the military found guilty of a serious crime...
prisoners led by an old sergeant remain who have held a wake
Wake (ceremony)
A wake is a ceremony associated with death. Traditionally, a wake takes place in the house of the deceased, with the body present; however, modern wakes are often performed at a funeral home. In the United States and Canada it is synonymous with a viewing...
by being drinking themselves into oblivion.
Once the commands of Major Marcus Reno
Marcus Reno
Marcus Albert Reno was a career military officer in the American Civil War and in the Black Hills War against the Lakota and Northern Cheyenne...
and Captain Frederick Benteen
Frederick Benteen
Frederick William Benteen was a military officer during the American Civil War and then during the Black Hills War against the Lakota and Northern Cheyenne. He is notable for being in command of a battalion of the 7th U. S...
have returned, they and the widows hold Benson in contempt not only for not being at the battle in command of his men, but what they perceived as Custer's like of him and Benson's non West Point background and his career as a gambler until commissioned into the Regiment.
Martha's father Colonel Kellogg comes to the post to conduct a Board of Inquiry into Custer's actions that Benson sees as a smear against a man he admires who can not defend himself.
Held in contempt by his Regiment, when the President of the United States orders the recovery of the slain officers and the burial of the cavalrymen who fell in the battle, Benson takes his misfits and military prisoners into Indian Territory to perform the task.
The Indians have made the land sacred ground and do not want to see the enemies they respected taken away from their burial site. A standoff develops as the cavalry insist on leaving the battleground with the dead officers' bodies. As the situation becomes tense a cavalryman is shot dead with an arrow whilst trying to escape. Then Custer's horse appears, surprising everyone with the fact that it has survived the battle that killed its master. The bugler blows the call to charge and the horse gallops towards the cavalry's position. The Indians are said to believe that Custer's spirit has returned and allow the cavalry to leave the field.
Back at the camp Captain Benson is reconciled with his father-in-law.
Cast
- Randolph ScottRandolph ScottRandolph Scott was an American film actor whose career spanned from 1928 to 1962. As a leading man for all but the first three years of his cinematic career, Scott appeared in a variety of genres, including social dramas, crime dramas, comedies, musicals , adventure tales, war films, and even a few...
as Capt. Tom Benson - Barbara HaleBarbara HaleBarbara Hale is an American actress best known for her role as legal secretary Della Street on more than 250 episodes of the long-running Perry Mason television series and later reprising the role in dozens of made-for-TV movies....
as Martha Kellogg - Jay C. FlippenJay C. FlippenJay C. Flippen is an American character actor who often played police officers or weary criminals in many films of the 1940s/'50s....
as Sgt. Bates - Frank FaylenFrank FaylenFrank Faylen was an American movie and television actor.Born Frank Ruf in St. Louis, Missouri, he began his acting career as an infant appearing with his vaudeville performing parents on stage...
as Sgt. Kruger - Jeanette NolanJeanette NolanJeanette Nolan was an American radio, film and television actress. Nolan was nominated for four Emmy Awards.-Early life:...
as Charlotte Reynolds - Leo GordonLeo GordonLeo Vincent Gordon was an American movie and television character actor as well as a screenplay writer and novelist. He specialized in playing brutish bad guys during more than forty years in film and television....
as Vogel - Denver PyleDenver PyleDenver Dell Pyle was an American film and television actor. He is best remembered for playing Uncle Jesse in The Dukes of Hazzard .-Early life:...
as Dixon - Harry Carey Jr. as Cpl. Morrison
- Michael PateMichael PateMichael Pate was an Australian actor, writer and director.-Early life:He was born Edward John Pate in Drummoyne, Sydney...
as Capt. Benteen - Donald Curtis as Lt. Bob Fitch
- Russell HicksRussell HicksRussell Hicks was an American film actor. He appeared in nearly 300 films between 1915 and 1956. His first appearance was an uncredited role in The Birth of a Nation . He often appeared as a smooth talking confidence man, as in the W.C. Fields film, The Bank Dick...
as Col. Kellogg - Frank WilcoxFrank WilcoxFrank Reppy Wilcox was an American character actor who made over 150 film appearances and almost 200 TV appearances...
as Maj. Reno - Pat HoganPat HoganPat Hogan was an American actor.- Career :Born in Oklahoma, U.S. to Native American family. He has appeared in many western television series and a few movies. Onstage, he starred in Arrowhead , The Last Frontier , . Indian Paint starred his brothers-in-law, Johnny Crawford and Robert "Bobby"...
as Young Hawk