Comes a Horseman

She was as strong as the land for which she fought. And as vulnerable.
Comes a Horseman (1978)
Timing: 1:58 (118 min)
6.3/10
4 329
—
no scores
6.1/10
80
6.3/10
4000
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Release date
Country
Production
Budget
$0
Revenue
$9 585 769
Website
Director
Scenario
Dennis Lynton Clark
Producer
Dan Paulson, Gene Kirkwood, Irwin Winkler, Robert Chartoff
Operator
Composer
Michael Small
Artist
George Jenkins
Audition
Isabel Halliburton
Editing
Marion Rothman
All team (18)

Short description

Ella Connors runs a struggling cattle ranch in Montana in the years just after the Second World War, holding onto the land her family worked while a powerful neighbor, J.W. Ewing, tries to force her to sell. Ewing is a wealthy rancher with a hold over the local cattle market and a personal interest in Ella. She refuses him repeatedly and finds an ally in Frank Athearn, a veteran who buys part of her land. The two begin a partnership against Ewing's pressure, though their arrangement is complicated by suspicion and attraction. A range war develops between the small ranchers and Ewing's operation, involving stampedes, sabotage and open violence. Alan J. Pakula directed, working from a screenplay by Dennis Lynton Clark.

This was Pakula's fourth film as director, after Klute, The Parallax View and All the President's Men. It stars Jane Fonda as Ella, James Caan as Frank and Jason Robards as Ewing, with Richard Farnsworth as the aging ranch hand Dodger. It earned about 10 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds a rating of 6.3 from roughly 4,000 votes, while on TMDB the rating is 6.1 from around 80 votes. The critics' rating stands at 6.5 from 12 reviews, slightly above the audience scores.

What's left behind the scenes

  • During filming, stuntman Jim Shepard (who was under 40 years old) died when the horse pulling him suddenly jerked to the side, causing him to hit his head on a pole. This scene even made it into the film, although the footage of Shepard cuts off immediately before the accident.
  • Preparing for the role of Ella, actress Jane Fonda learned to lasso and ride horseback for scenes involving animals. She trained on a ranch in the San Fernando Valley and on location in Colorado, where she also lived on a ranch, cared for cows, practiced lassoing, and learned how a farm operates.
  • Before becoming an actor, Richard Farnsworth (1920-2000) spent over 30 years working as a stuntman. He had previously been the double for Jane Fonda's father, actor Henry Fonda (1905-1982).

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