
During the early 1800s, English Lord John Morgan (Richard Harris) is hunting in the Dakotas, but he is captured by a group of Sioux warriors. Morgan's guides are killed, but he is spared by Sioux Chief Yellow Hand (Manu Tupou), who marvels at Morgan's blond hair. Brought to Yellow Hand's tribal village, Morgan has to endure physical abuse and mockery at the hands of women and children who consider him to be a wild horse. Restrained by a rope around his neck, Morgan is given a... (Full plot summary below)
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During the early 1800s, English Lord John Morgan (Richard Harris) is hunting in the Dakotas, but he is captured by a group of Sioux warriors. Morgan's guides are killed, but he is spared by Sioux Chief Yellow Hand (Manu Tupou), who marvels at Morgan's blond hair. Brought to Yellow Hand's tribal village, Morgan has to endure physical abuse and mockery at the hands of women and children who consider him to be a wild horse. Restrained by a rope around his neck, Morgan is given as a gift to an old squaw, Buffalo Cow Head (Dame Judith Anderson), to be her slave and help her with daily chores. In the village, Morgan meets Running Deer (Corinna Tsopei), the beautiful young sister of Chief Yellow Hand. Morgan witnesses the traditional courtship process when Running Deer is asked in marriage by a tribe member who presents Yellow Hand with gifts in return for his sister's hand in marriage. Morgan starts to fall in love with her. Also in the village is half-breed, Batise (Jean Gascon), whose mother was Sioux and father was French. Batise becomes Morgan's friend and interpreter. Batise advises Morgan against escaping citing his own escape attempt when he was re-captured and hamstrung by the savage Sioux. Despite these warnings, Morgan tries to escape several times, but he is re-captured. He decides to bide his time for another escape opportunity. When a rival Shoshone war party approaches the Sioux village, Morgan kills two of the Shoshone scouts, winning the respect of his Sioux captors. Instead of escaping, Morgan plans to learn the ways of the Sioux, become a warrior, and gain his place amongst them. But this would require much more than killing a few Shoshone scouts. Lord John Morgan's true ordeal is just beginning.
Leave your thoughts about A Man Called Horse.
| Ozus' World Movie ReviewsDennis SchwartzA test to see how much pain its hero and the audience can take before yelling Uncle. |
| Spirituality and PracticeFrederic and Mary Ann BrussatA Man Called Horse is a mesmerizing film about the experiences of a British aristocrat in 1825 struggling to survive in a Sioux tribe. |
| eFilmCritic.comScott WeinbergIt's all very socially aware and nature-friendly, and the tale is a worthwhile one indeed; too bad A Man Called Horse moves so slowly for much of its running time. |
| The New York TimesVincent CanbySilverstein has elected to tell the story of Lord John's survival largely in terms of Sioux rituals relating to such things as wars, weddings, deaths, and even spiritual deliverance. I must admit that I found all this interesting, although I'm the sort of Indian buff and tourist who gets a kick out of watching contemporary Navajos do their rain dances in tennis shoes. |
| Slant MagazineJoseph Jon LanthierTouted at the time of its release as a comparatively enlightened western, A Man Called Horse now looks like well-researched sensationalism—and is, admittedly, all the better for it. |
| EmpireKim NewmanStraining for significance at every moment, this is one of a wave of late '60s/early '70s Westerns that represent Hollywood's idea of the counterculture in love beads, feathers and picturesque gore. |
| User ReviewTerry CShakespearian, Richard Harris is capture by Indians. Learns to live with them and then learns to love them for the spirital peaceful people they really are. He falls in love and must go through painful rituals in order to marry. One of Harris' best. |
| User ReviewChischilly 1I enjoyed this movie very much. I will watch it over and over again, and never get tired of it. Richard Harris is a great actor, he did well in this movie. |
| User ReviewJoseph DThis movie contains a Graphic depiction of a Plains Sioux Sun Dance Ritual. Awesome in its showing. |
| User Reviewdonald wstars richard harris an English aristocrat, is captured by a tribe of Sioux Indians. Hoping to save his own life by proving his worth, Morgan undergoes the long, painful Sun Vow ritual, where he is hung in a tree by the flesh of his chest. |