Brainsbell The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

Derrick Gibbons An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

bluesman-20 Sergeant Rutledge. Is simply a movie ahead of it's time. MAde before to kill a mockingbird and In the heat of the night and Long before Guess who's coming to dinner. The story is a court martial of a respected soldier who is on trial for his life. He is accused of raping and murdering a girl. Typical story or court room drama. Except in this case the girl was white. And the accuser black. Those points are hammered home by John Ford as the court must ask itself is he being accused because of his being in the wrong place at the wrong time ? Or is it the colour of his skin? not to mention Rutledge had escaped once. but came back to warn his outpost about a Indian attack. An attack in which Rutledge not only risks his life to save his fellow soldiers. but where he wrestles with himself to stay or run. And stay he does. And he goes on trial in a pretty interesting court martial. This movie reminded me of the Searchers in a lot of ways. The light hearted atmosphere. And the seriousness that lurks under neath it. Woody Strode carries himself well. His Rutledge is a soldier and he lives and dies by the book. The movie is filmed quite beautifully and the draw backs are few. The romance storyline between hunter and the female lead is dreadful. It feels tacked on. The movie didn't need it. But even so it drags the movie in the scenes where the two leads are playing romance then with Dealing with Woody Strode's Rutledge. The only time the movie comes alive is when Rutledge is on the screen. But even so the movie doesn't feel dated. A tribute to John Ford who made this movie feel timeless. Two thumbs up for this movie.

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.

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.

downstarr Having seen the picture again last night but this time in HD, I'd just like to say that in my opinion, it has to be the finest cavalry picture ever filmed. The movement of the actors on the horses, the motion of the troop riding across the scenery, even the positions taken of the troop in the background as the dialogue unfolds is impressive. At most there were less than 20 horsemen in one scene, but the actions portrayed the effect of an entire company of horse soldiers. There are too many layers in this picture for me to comment on but I always enjoy watching it when it comes on the telly. A close second in cavalry films would have to be Mssrs. Ford & Waynes Horse Soldiers. But even though there were more actors to fill the scenes, I'd still give Sgt. Rutledge the high mark. Long may he live!