John Ford's - Sergeant Rutledge - Jeffrey Hunter Captain Buffalo The Trial of Sergeant Rutledge

(aka 'Captain Buffalo' or 'The Trial of Sergeant Rutledge')

Directed by John Ford
USA 1960

For once, John Ford gave his black company player Woody Strode a starring title role as a cavalry officer being tried for the rape of a white woman and a double murder. Told mainly in flashbacks, this effective if slightly overlong western thriller (1960) represents one of Ford's late efforts to treat minority members with more respect than westerns usually did (Cheyenne Autumn was another), and Strode takes full advantage of the opportunity.

Excerpt from Jonathan Rosenbaum's capsule at the Chicago Reader located HERE

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Theatrical Release: May 18th, 1960

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DVD Review: Warner - Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC

DVD Box Cover		Presently only available in the John Ford Film Collection
	The John Ford Film Collection contains - The Lost Patrol, The Informer, Mary of Scotland, Sergeant Rutledge and *Cheyenne Autumn*
Distribution	Warner Home Video - Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC
Runtime	1:51:20
Video	1.85:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.74 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate:
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 2.0), DUB: French (Dolby Digital 2.0)
Subtitles	English, Spanish, French, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Warner Home Video Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 1.85:1 Edition Details: • Theatrical trailer (2:28) DVD Release Date: June 6th, 2006 Keep Case Chapters: 28

Comments:

It is a shade surprising that the 5 releases in the John Ford Film Collection (The Lost Patrol, The Informer, Mary of Scotland Sergeant Rutledge and Cheyenne Autumn) will not be sold separately. I suppose for most it would be irrelevant as the collection has a solid representation of 5 strong Ford films that few would pass up. It's a bonus that they all come in their own keep cases.

I decided to review this film/DVD separately as I recall about half a dozen years ago it was on my list to hopefully see on DVD one day. It is a favorite film. The entire Ford Collection is reviewed HERE.

The image is a little softer than one might expect from a Warner release from this time period. Colors too are a shade dull. For the most part it looked very acceptable, just a little less than one might anticipate. The 2.0 track audio is clear and consistent. The optional subtitles are excellent. An un-restored trailer is the only supplement. Although I was hoping for more I am content that I finally have this fabulous film on digital.

Gary W. Tooze

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