Two Rode Together (1961)

Director:

John Ford

Writers:

Frank S. Nugent (screenplay)
Will Cook (novel)

Release Date:

26 July 1961 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Tagline:

TOGETHER...THEY RODE INTO A THOUSAND DANGERS! (original print ad - all caps)

Plot:

The US Army is under pressure from the desperate relatives of white prisoners of the Comanches to secure their rescue...

Plot Keywords:

Rescue | Hanged Boy | Music Box | Small Town | Native American

Awards:

1 win

Cast

James Stewart	...	Marshal Guthrie McCabe
Richard Widmark	...	First Lt. Jim Gary
Shirley Jones	...	Marty Purcell
Linda Cristal	...	Elena de la Madriaga
Andy Devine	...	Sgt. Darius P. Posey
John McIntire	...	Maj. Frazer
Paul Birch	...	Judge Edward Purcell
Willis Bouchey	...	Mr. Harry J. Wringle
Henry Brandon	...	Chief Quanah Parker
Harry Carey Jr.	...	Ortho Clegg
Olive Carey	...	Mrs. Abby Frazer
Ken Curtis	...	Greeley Clegg
Chet Douglas	...	Deputy Ward Corby
Annelle Hayes	...	Belle Aragon
David Kent	...	Running Wolf (Steve Purcell)
Anna Lee	...	Mrs. Malaprop
Jeanette Nolan	...	Mrs. Mary McCandless
John Qualen	...	Ole Knudsen
Ford Rainey	...	Rev. Henry Clegg
Woody Strode	...	Stone Calf
O.Z. Whitehead	...	Lt. Chase
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Frank Baker	...	Capt. Malaprop (uncredited)
Danny Borzage	...	Trooper (uncredited)
Regina Carrol	...	Wakanana (Freda Knudsen) (uncredited)
Ruth Clifford	...	Woman (uncredited)
Eunice Grey	...	Mother of Indian Stolen Child (uncredited)
Big John Hamilton	...	Settler (uncredited)
Sam Harris	...	Post Doctor (uncredited)
Chuck Hayward	...	Trooper (uncredited)
William Henry	...	Gambler (uncredited)
Robert Kenneally	...	Officer (uncredited)
Ted Knight	...	Lt. Upton (uncredited)
Cliff Lyons	...	William McCandless (uncredited)
Ted Mapes	...	Settler (uncredited)
Mae Marsh	...	Hanna Clegg (uncredited)
Howard Morris	...	(uncredited)
Jack Pennick	...	Sergeant (uncredited)
Chuck Roberson	...	Comanche (uncredited)
Ed Sweeney	...	Officer (uncredited)

Directed by
John Ford

Writing credits
Frank S. Nugent		(screenplay) (as Frank Nugent)
Will Cook		(novel)

Produced by
Stanley Shpetner	....	producer (as Stan Shpetner)
John Ford	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
George Duning

Cinematography by
Charles Lawton Jr.		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Jack Murray

Art Direction by
Robert Peterson

Set Decoration by
James Crowe		(as James M. Crowe)

Costume Design by
Frank Beetson Jr.		(uncredited)
Ron Talsky		(uncredited)

Makeup Department
Ben Lane	....	makeup supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Wingate Smith	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Harry D. Mills	....	sound (as Harry Mills)
Charles J. Rice	....	sound supervisor

Stunts
Bob Harris	....	stunts (uncredited)
Chuck Hayward	....	stunts (uncredited)
Bryan 'Slim' Hightower	....	stunts (uncredited)
Eddie Juaregui	....	stunts (uncredited)
Cliff Lyons	....	stunts (uncredited)
Ted Mapes	....	stunts (uncredited)
Montie Montana	....	stunts (uncredited)
Rudy Robbins	....	stunts (uncredited)
Chuck Roberson	....	stunts (uncredited)
Dean Smith	....	stunts (uncredited)
Bill Williams	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jack N. Young	....	stunts (uncredited)

Music Department
Arthur Morton	....	orchestration

Other crew
Kenny Williams	....	dance director (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation (presents)

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1961) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Film-Verleih (1961) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Columbia Films (1961) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1965) (USA) (TV)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV3) (1971) (Finland) (TV) (1981)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1996) (Finland) (TV)
• Gaumont/Columbia TriStar Home Video (GCTHV) (2005) (France) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Nordic (2006) (Finland) (DVD)
• Columbia Pictures Home Video (USA) (VHS)
• RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video (198?) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Pathé  Eastman color by (as Pathe)

Also Known As:

"Terra Bruta" - Brazil (imdb display title), Portugal
"Två red tillsammans" - Finland (Swedish title), Sweden
"Zwei ritten zusammen" - Austria, West Germany
"Cavalcarono insieme" - Italy
"Dos cabalgan juntos" - Spain
"Dos cavalquen junts" - Spain (Catalan title)
"Dva jahaca" - Yugoslavia (Serbian title) (literal title)
"Együtt vágtattak" - Hungary (imdb display title)
"He ratsastivat yhdessä" - Finland
"Kanli mücadele" - Turkey (Turkish title)
"Les 2 cavaliers" - France (poster title)
"Les deux cavaliers" - France
"Misión de dos valientes" - Argentina
"Oi dyo ippotes tis kolaseos" - Greece (transliterated ISO-LATIN-1 title)
"To mand red ud" - Denmark

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Spain:T | Australia:PG | West Germany:12 (nf) | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (tv rating) | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #19928) | Argentina:13 | UK:PG (video rating) (1988) (1992) (2005)

Filming Locations:

Alamo Village - Highway 674, Brackettville, Texas, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

The movie's critical and commercial failure was largely blamed on the miscasting of the two leads, since James Stewart, at 52, and Richard Widmark, at 45, were both much older than their characters.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Marty gets up from getting water at the creek, the knees of her trousers are wet. However, they are dry in the next shot as she and Jim are walking back to camp.

Quotes:

[first lines]
[Jesus gives Marshal Guthrie a beer]
Marshal Guthrie McCabe:Thank you, Jesus.
Jesus:Senor, the widow Gomez has delivered a son this morning - a boy.
Marshal Guthrie McCabe:Bully for the widow Gomez!
Jesus:But senor, it has been more than a year ago since Senor Antonio Gomez has been buried in the church house.
Marshal Guthrie McCabe:Well, there are some men you just can't trust to stay where you put 'em.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Cachorro (2004)

Civilized and Uncivilized Societies

The cynical and corrupt Marshal Guthrie McCabe (James Stewart) has a comfortable life in Tascosa, receiving percentages of deals. His lover Belle Aragon (Annelle Hayes) owns a saloon with a brothel and has just proposed to marry him. However, Guthrie is summoned by the US Army Major Frazer (John McIntire) that sends a troop commanded by his friend First Lt. Jim Gary (Richard Widmark) to bring him to the Fort Grant.

When Guthrie meets Major Frazer, he explains that the relatives of prisoners of the Comanche tribe are pressing the army to bring them back home, but the soldiers can not trespass the Indian lands due to a treat with the Comanche. The mercenary Guthrie demands a large amount to negotiate with Chief Quanah Parker (Henry Brandon) the freedom of the white captives. Guthrie travels with Lt. Jim Gary and they rescue the two last captives, a teenager that has been raised by the Comanche and a young woman, Elena de la Madriaga (Linda Cristal), who has been the woman of the leader of the Buffalo Shields Stone Calf (Woody Strode) for five years. Once in the white society, they are outcast by the "civilized" white society and their reintegration is almost impossible.

"Two Rode Together" is another great western by John Ford, with a different story about the difficulty of reintegration of captives of Indians into the civilized society of the white man. The plot entwines comical and dramatic situations with powerful dialogs. James Stewart is fantastic, as usual, performing an unethical greedy man that changes his behavior after meeting Elena, performed by the gorgeous Linda Cristal. Both characters find redemption in the end. Richard Widmark shows a magnificent chemistry with James Stewart and Shirley Jones. In the end, it is hard to point out the civilized and uncivilized societies. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Terra Bruta" ("Raw Land")