The landmark “Sergeant Rutledge” gets a Warner Archive 4K remaster
BLU-RAY REVIEW / SDR SCREENSHOTS
Woody Strode plays the respected Sergeant Rutledge of the all-black Buffalo Soldiers, Ninth Cavalry, who’s accused of a double murder and rape.
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“SERGEANT RUTLEDGE: WARNER ARCHIVE COLLECTION”
Blu-ray, 1960, Unrated
Best extra: TCM host Ben Mankiewicz and author Donald Bogle discuss ‘Sergeant Rutledge’
CHARACTER ACTOR Woody Strode stood out among men, standing six feet, four and a half inches, with a square jaw and large muscles. He played collegiate football at UCLA with baseball legend Jackie Robinson. After serving in the Pacific during World War II, he returned to Los Angeles and played one season with the L.A. Rams in the team’s first NFL season.
Strode then switched to professional wrestling and landed small roles in “Androcles and the Lion” (1952) and as a gladiator in “Demetrius and the Gladiators” (1954). Hollywood started to take notice, and his screen time increased with “The Ten Commandments” (1956) as the King of Ethiopia and co-starred with Gregory Peck in the Korean War film “Pork Chop Hill” (1959). Then, as Draba, the gladiator who defeats Spartacus, played by Kirk Douglas, in Stanley Kubrick’s sword-and-sandal epic (1960). Strode received a Golden Globe Best Supporting Actor nomination as Draba.
But the same year, Strode was lured to John Ford’s (“The Searchers,” “The Grapes of Wrath”) Western “Sergeant Rutledge,” a racially charged courtroom drama. Strode plays the respected Braxton Rutledge, a member of the all-black Buffalo Soldiers, Ninth Cavalry, who’s falsely accused of a double murder and rape. The studio originally wanted higher-profile actor Sidney Poitier or Harry Belafonte to play Rutledge. Ford reportedly said, according to Strode, the two actors weren’t “tough enough.”
(1&2) Right, Lt. Tom Cantrell, who will defend Sgt. Rutledge, is shocked that the court-martial panels’ wives are in the courtroom. (3) Cantrell tells Mary Beecher (Constance Towers) that she will be first on the witness stand. (4) Colonel Otis Fosgate (Willis Bouchey) presides over the court-martial. (5&6) Sgt. Rutledge is escorted to the courtroom, while a group of men yells for his hanging.
Clearly, the story has shades of Harper Lee’s 1961 Pulitzer Prize winner “To Kill a Mockingbird,” in which Gregory Peck won an Academy Award as attorney Atticus Finch in the motion picture adaptation, defending Tom Robinson, the Black man falsely accused of raping a white woman. In this film, Lieutenant Tom Cantrell, played by Jeffery Hunter, defends Rutledge during his court-martial trial.
Strode’s career continued for decades and had a major role in Ford’s classic “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” (1963) with John Wayne and James Stewart. Also, during the adventurous Western “The Professionals” (1966) with an ensemble cast including Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan, and Jack Palance, a cameo in the opening sequence of Sergio Leone’s classic Western “Once Upon a Time in the West” (1968) and in his last American film, Sam Raimi’s Western “The Quick and the Dead” (1995) with Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, and Russell Crowe.
VIDEO/AUDIO
Warner painstakingly scanned the original 35mm camera negative in 4K resolution, and the overall results are first-rate. The natural film grain is exhibited across the screen, but down a notch from what would’ve been expected from a 4K UHD disc – with more defined grain. All the marks and scratches from a six-decade-old negative have been digitally removed.
The color fidelity is solid, with a slight red push at times in the facial toning. An HDR grading would’ve been a nice addition. The exterior visuals from cinematographer Bert Glennon (“Stagecoach,” “Rio Grande”) are stunning from Ford’s favorite movie set, Monument Valley, near the Utah and Arizona border.
The original Mono soundtrack has been digitally restored and presented via a DTS-HD 2.0 track, with everything front and centered.
(1) Mary Beecher tells her flashback story of when she arrived at the train depot. (2) Lt. Tom Cantrell had escorted her to the depot, but left on the train. (3) Mary discovers the depot manager has been killed by an Apache arrow. (4) Rutledge tries to keep Mary quiet, so the Apaches won’t return. (5) Rutledge pours whiskey onto his wound. (6) We return to the courtroom, and Mary Beecher says, “Sgt. Rutledge saved my life.”
EXTRAS
“TCM host Ben Mankiewicz and author Donald Bogle discuss ‘Sergeant Rutledge’” (15 mins.) – during an audio interview recorded six years ago. They explore the cultural significance of the film, as Strode became the first African American actor to lead a Western cast, even though he didn’t receive top billing. “There’s a masculinity to Woody Strode that strikes you from the moment you see him on screen,” says Mankiewicz. Bogle agrees, “Visually he’s a tower of strength and endurance.”
Released during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, “Sergeant Rutledge” did not succeed at the box office but has endured over the decades, and so has Strode, says Bogle. The racial tension reaches a peak during the first act, when Rutledge appears from nowhere and puts his hand over the mouth of Mary Beecher, a young white woman, to keep her quiet from an Apache attack at a train depot. “I imagine audiences in 1960 reacted…and Ford uses that reaction to make the audience question their own stereotype believes,” says Mankiewicz.
“Hopalong Casualty” (1960) (6 mins.) – a 1080p color Looney Tunes cartoon from director Chuck Jones, starring The Road Runner and the Coyote.
“West of the Pecos” (1960) (6 mins.) – a 1080p color Looney Tunes cartoon from director Robert McKimson, starring Speedy Gonzales and Sylvester the Cat.
“This is a good picture – thoughtful, well-acted, biting, interesting and stimulating – with the steady hand of an old pro like Mr. Ford evident every step of the way.” – New York Times, May 26, 1960.
– Bill Kelley III, High-Def Watch producer
(1-3) Heading the prosecution, Captain Shattuck (Carleton Young), who questions Mrs. Cordelia Fosgate (Billie Burk), who witnessed Sgt. Rutledge speaking to Lucy Dabney (Toby Michaels). Lucy had given Rutledge the nickname Brax, after he taught her to ride a horse. (4&5) Then Mrs. Fosgate said the last time she saw Rutledge was after she heard two gunshots and saw Sgt. Rutledge stumble out of Major Curtis Dabney’s office at Fort Linton. (6&7) Lt. Cantrell and Dr. Walter Eckner (Charles Seel) examine the two bodies, and the doctor gives his analysis from the witness stand.
Search party to find Sgt. Rutledge
(1-3) Members of Troop C, Ninth Cavalry escort Lt. Cantrell in the search for Sgt. Rutledge. They find Rutledge and Mary Beecher at the train depot. (4-7) Cantrell and Troop C head back with Rutledge until they encounter Apache warriors.
SPECS
50 GB disc
TRUE 4K mastering, but downconverted to 1080p for this presentation.
Captured on 35mm film stock (1.85:1 aspect ratio) using spherical lens.
Video bitrate: Averages around 31 Megabits per second, with a running time of 111 minutes.
Box office: Premiered on May 25, 1960, and finished the year $2.2 million, No. 64 within the annual domestic box office. “Spartacus” was the No. 1 box office film of the year.
Idiewire.com: The 100 Greatest Westerns - “Sergeant Rutledge” landed at No. 61. Nicholas Ray’s “Johnny Guitar” was No. 1.
‘The Harder They Fall’: 13 other films to watch if you liked Netflix’s Black Western, “Sergeant Rutledge” ranked No. 1.
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