Jeremiah Johnson (1972)

This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

A Major Disappointment

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Jeremiah Johnson (Robert Redford) is disillusioned with life after experiencing the horrors of the Mexican War. Now his one simple desire is to live the life of a "mountain man". He will fend for himself, and live off the land. Along the way he will encounter such characters as the helpful old hermit Bear Claw (Will Geer), the grieving "crazy" woman (Allyn Ann McLerie), and the flamboyant Del Gue (Stefan Gierasch). He will incur the wrath of the Crow tribe, becoming a marked man, and meet many of their number in hand to hand combat. He will also experience friendship, love, and loss, while once again finding his place in the world.Redford is aces in this well crafted story inspired by a real life trapper named John Johnston, and drawn from sources such as the novel "Mountain Man" by Vardis Fisher and the tale "Crow Killer" by Raymond W. Thorp & Robert Bunker. Given that one of the two credited screenwriters is John Milius (the other being Edward Anhalt), this proves to be a stirring, robust, and interesting entertainment. It's extremely well directed by Sydney Pollack, and it's set against the backdrop of some truly breathtaking wilderness. Themes of man vs. man and man vs. nature are front and centre. Some viewers may take exception to the way in which a number of the Indian characters are portrayed, but balancing that is the appealing performance of Delle Bolton (who gets an "introducing" credit) as the Indian lass Swan, whom Jeremiah is roped into taking as a wife.Our hero definitely blossoms as he forms something resembling a family unit, with a "son" whom he christens Caleb (Josh Albee), and his new bride. His story is somewhat episodic in nature, but compelling and heartfelt.The music is credited to actors Tim McIntire and John Rubinstein, and it is simply beautiful, serving as the perfect accompaniment to lovely widescreen images captured by cinematographer Duke Callaghan.Redford is extremely well supported by a cast that also includes character actors Joaquin Martinez, Paul Benedict, Charles Tyner, Jack Colvin, and Matt Clark. Both Geer and Gierasch steal the show in their respective scenes.Redford has made many fine films, but this one remains somewhat undervalued.Eight out of 10.

New Jersey-born John Garrison, a.k.a., John Johns(t)on (c.1824–1900) joined the Union Army in St. Louis, Missouri in 1864 and served with Company H, 2nd Colorado Cavalry. Honorably discharged in 1865, Johnson migrated further west and became a notoriously tough and ruthless trapper, Indian fighter, and lawman. In the 1880s he served as Deputy Sheriff in Coulson, Montana and later became Town Marshall in Red Lodge, Montana. He died of old age at a veteran's home in Los Angeles. Such are the rather prosaic facts of the real John Johnson. Then there is the myth. An associate of Wild Bill Hickock named Joseph (John) "White Eye" Anderson (1853–1946) seems to be the main source for the fantastic legends that accrued around Johnson in the second half of the 20th century. In 1941 Anderson regaled western writer Raymond W. Thorp with tall tales of "Crow Killer" or "Liver Eating Johnson," so named because Johnson allegedly slew between 300 and 400 (!) Crow warriors and ate their livers, raw, to avenge the murder of his pregnant wife in 1847 by a Crow hunting party—20 years before John Johnson moved West. Seventeen years after meeting Anderson, Raymond Thorp joined Robert Manson Bunker in writing 'Crow Killer: The Saga of Liver-Eating Johnson' (Indiana UP, 1958), a highly speculative "biography" that turned Anderson's wild fabrications into uncorroborated "fact." Noted western author Vardis Fisher further burnished the Johnson legend with his novel, 'Mountain Man' (Morrow, 1965). Building myth upon myths, screenwriter John Milius ('The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean') used Crow Killer and Mountain Man as his sources for Jeremiah Johnson, a movie that more realistically chooses to portray Johnson (Robert Redford) as a ascetic, romantic loner, not the vengeful, brutal monster recounted by White Eye Anderson. (Rather than waging a vendetta on the Crow, Redford's Johnson is constantly attacked by them.) Further enhancing Jeremiah Johnson's nobility and the film's lyricism are breathtaking vistas of the rugged Utah Rockies shot by Duke Callaghan (promoted to DP after serving as one of Sydney Pollack's cameramen on his previous film, 'They Shoot Horses, Don't They?'). If that were not enough, a lush musical score by John Rubenstein and Tim McIntire completes the picture. Yet, when the movie premiered at the 26th Cannes Film Festival on May 4, 1972, Robert Redford somewhat disingenuously told 'New York Times' interviewer Cynthia Grenier: "I wanted this film to be an antidote to the general feeling in the States today that getting away from civilization is such a terrific thing and is so romantic. I wanted to show the kids what it is really like going it on your own in the wilderness..." 'Jeremiah Johnson' might well have been the gritty western that Redford imagined it to be if producer Joe Wizan had gone with Clint Eastwood as Johnson and Sam Peckinpah as director, as was originally planned. The estimable (and once-blacklisted) Will Geer (best known as Grandpa on "The Waltons") plays Johnson's wilderness survival mentor, Bear Claw Chris Lapp. VHS (1997)and DVD (1997).

A veteran (Robert Redford) of the Mexican War (1848) rejects society, where "It should have been different"; to become a mountain man. Unfortunately the economy of the mountain man era has ended in the late 1830's leaving the main character to wander the wilderness until he happens to meet a veteran mountain man (Will Geer), who teaches him the ways of the mountain man. The film explores the need that human beings have for human contact, in spite of whatever sense of isolation and alienation that society may expose them to. The film is also one of the first to portray Native Americans in a complex manner; revealing them to be something more than a white caricature. The film uses a powerful dialog, that while limited; is packed with deeper meanings that would be lost to many who watched the film. The limited dialog is carried by stunning scenery, which further serves to make a statement about loneliness and isolation. Add to this the bitter cold in which the main character is at constant battle with and the viewer will want to throw another log on the fire. The main character conducts a war of retribution against the Crow after they kill his Flathead wife and an orphan boy. In the end the outcome is left to the viewer.

Although his heart was in the right place, let's face it, Robert Redford is totally miscast as this bitter, rugged mountain man. Placed on the beautifully shot landscapes he just seems out of place with his beautifully layered hair.This quiet Western Adventure is probably better because of its sparse use of dialog because what is used is quite Hollywood corn and mostly rings phony, like most of the characters in this overrated Movie.Clichés abound as the folksy ballad intrudes unnecessarily at times, as if we needed to be reminded that we are watching a Movie. That is undeniable. It is not as bad as Dances With Wolves (1990) and can be viewed for some enjoyment, but for a Film striving for realism it oh so fails as it tries to portray isolation and individualism.It is disjointed and edited rather clumsily and there is unintentional humor and the intentional humor falls flat. Even the dirty faces and scraggly beards look like make-up. This is an experience that many find warm and memorable. It's reputation is solid and if you don't mind all that has been said here, you may enjoy it. But it is much more of gallant failed attempt than great insight into the elusive Mountain Man Mythology.