Robert Redford is Jeremiah Johnson, a man who decides to leave civilization behind and live a solitary life as a trapper.
He arrives unprepared for the harsh weather and challenges posed by life in the Rocky Mountains.
The first person he meets is the corpse of Hatchet Jack, frozen to death at the base of a tree with two broken legs.
Jeremiah’s second encounter proves more beneficial. That’s with an experienced and eccentric mountain man known as Bear Claw, who likes to tempt Grizzly bears into chasing him before turning on them.
Bear Claw (Will Geer) takes Jeremiah under his wing and teaches him the survival skills he’ll need to keep food in his belly and protect the hair atop his head.
Setting off on his own, Jeremiah’s solitary life becomes much less so.
A crazed woman whose family has been slain by Indians convinces him to take her sole surviving child as his adopted son.
And an Indian chief gifts Jeremiah his daughter (Delle Bolton as Swan) to take as a wife.
Then a tragic turn makes the Crow Indians mortal enemies to Jeremiah Johnson.
Robert Redford as Jeremiah Johnson, adjusting to life in the wilderness in Jeremiah Johnson (1972)
Claw, the old-timer who teaches Jeremiah Johnson how to survive in the mountains in Jeremiah Johnson (1972)
Review:
Well-done, wonderfully filmed, realistic looking Western that was a success with both critics and at the box office when released in late 1972.
And Robert Redford, clean shaven for just a short portion of the film’s nearly two-hour runtime, turns in a convincing performance in a very non-glamorous role.
Highlights include Johnson fending off a pack of wolves attacking his horse and mule, and his vengeance fueled charge into a camp of Crow Indians.
The film is based on the life of John Jeremiah Johnson, a mountain man who became known as Liver Eating Johnson when he avenged the death of his wife by killing Crow Indians and eating their livers.
In 1974, two years after this film’s release, Johnson’s remains were exhumed from his burial place at a veteran’s cemetery in Los Angeles and moved to Cody, Wyoming. Redford served as a pallbearer at the reburial ceremony.
Delle Bolton as Swan, the Flathead Indian woman Jeremiah reluctantly takes for his bride in Jeremiah Johnson (1972)
Josh Albee as Caleb, the young boy who becomes Jeremiah Johnson’s adopted son in Jeremiah Johnson (1972)
Directed by:
Sydney Pollack
Cast:
Robert Redford … Jeremiah Johnson
Will Geer … Bear Claw
Delle Bolton … Swan
Josh Albee … Caleb
Joaquin Martinez … Paints His Shirt Red
Allyn Ann McLerie … Crazy Woman
Stefan Gierasch … Del Gue
Richard Angarola … Chief Two-Tongues Lebeaux
Paul Benedict … The Rev. Lindquist
Charles Tyner … Robidoux
Jack Colvin … Lt. Mulvey
Matt Clark … Qualen
Tanya Tucker … Qualen’s daughter
Runtime: 108 min.
Stefan Gierasch as Del Gue, the man Jeremiah saves from being buried alive in Jeremiah Johnson (1972)
Allyn Ann McLerie as the crazy woman Jeremiah finds, surrounded by dead family members in Jeremiah Johnson (1972)
Memorable lines:
Jeremiah Johnson, reading the letter left behind by a man who froze to death: “I Hatchet Jack, being of sound mind and broke legs, do hereby leaveth my bear rifle to whatever finds it. Lord hope it be a white man. It is a good rifle and kilt the bear that kilt me. Anyway, I am dead. Yours truly, Hatchet Jack.”
Bear Claw: “You know how to skin grizz?”
Jeremiah Johnson: “I can skin most anything.”
Bear Claw: “You sure are cocky for a starving pilgrim.”
Bear Claw: “I could never find no tracks in a woman’s heart. I packed me a squaw for 10 years, pilgrim. Cheyenne, she were. And the meanest bitch that ever bawled for beads.I lodge-poled her at Dead Wolf Creek and traded her for a Hawkin gun.”
Bear Claw: “You’ve learned well, pilgrim. You’ll go far, provided you ain’t burned alive. Or scalped.”
Joaquin Martinez as Paints His Shirt Red, meeting Jeremiah Johnson for the first time in Jeremiah Johnson (1972)
Richard Angarola as Two-Tongues Lebeaux, the Flathead chief who gifts his daughter to Jeremiah in Jeremiah Johnson (1972)
Jeremiah Johnson, coming to Del Gue, buried to his neck in sand: “The Indians put you here?”
Del Gue: “Weren’t the Mormons.”
Del Gue to Jeremiah as a Flathead chief offers him a daughter to marry: “You turn down this gift they’ll slit you, me, Calb and the horses from crotch to eyeball with a dull deer antler.”
Bear Claw, meeting Jeremiah Johnson for the first time in years: “You’ve come far, pilgrim.”
Jeremiah: “Feels like far.”
Bear Claw: “Were it worth the trouble.”
Jeremiah: “Huh? What trouble?”
Robert Redford as Jeremiah Johnson, clean shaven and watching a cavalry patrol approach in Jeremiah Johnson (1972)
Paul Benedict as The Rev. Lindquist, trying to convince Jeremiah to lead a rescue party through an Indian burial ground in Jeremiah Johnson (1972)
Jack Colvin as Lt. Mulvay, leader of the rescue party Jeremiah scouts for in Jeremiah Johnson (1972)
Robert Redford as Jeremiah Johnson, discovering trouble upon returning home in Jeremiah Johnson (1972)
Matt Clark as Qualen, the settler Jeremiah meets upon returning to the crazy woman’s home in Jeremiah Johnson (1972)
Robert Redford as Jeremiah Johnson, giving the sign of peace to an Indian he meets in Jeremiah Johnson (1972)
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