The Return of a Man Called Horse (1976)

Richard Harris reprises the role of John Morgan, a man kidnapped by Sioux while on a hunting expedition years earlier.

He wound up spending five years with the tribe, becoming a respected warrior known by the name of Horse before returning to his priviledged life in England.

But in the three years since returning, he’s found that life boring and unsatisfying.

So he returns to the American West, promising he’ll only be gone for a year and hoping to reunite with his old friends among the Yellow Hand band of the Sioux.

He arrives to find they’ve been forced from their sacred burial ground by rival Indians warring under the control of white settlers who are building a fort nearby.

Some of the Yellow Hand survivors are hiding in the nearby badlands. Many of the women have been taken captive by the whites, led by a man named Zenas (Geoffrey Lewis).

The band’s willpower to fight has been broken. They’re awaiting death, or a sign from the Great Spirit.

Morgan decides to give them that sign by undergoing the Sun Vow ceremony for a second time, then leading them in a quest to regain their ancestral land.

Richard Harris as John Morgan, back with his Yellow Hand friends in The Return of a Man Called Horse (1976)

Gale Sondergaard as Elk Woman, spotting John Morgan upon his return in The Return of a Man Called Horse (1976)

Review:

Well-filmed action sequences are the highlight in this sequel tp 1970’s highly successful “A Man Called Horse.”

Of course, the second “Indian” Western in the series is even more blatant than the first in its white chauvinism.

In the first, Harris’s John Morgan merely gained acceptance into the tribe, married the Indian girl all the men wanted and helped them defeat the Shoshone in battle.

Here, he returns all the way from England to single-handedly save an entire band of the Sioux tribe, giving them the good-ol’-English kick in the butt they need to man up and fight for their future.

One more sequel would follow: 1983’s “Triumphs of a Man Called Horse.”

Geoffrey Lewis as Zenas, commander of the white man’s fort in The Return of a Man Called Horse (1976)

William Lucking as Tom Gryce, scout and Indian intermediary for the settlers in The Return of a Man Called Horse (1976)

Directed:
Irvin Kerschner

Cast:
Richard Harris … John Morgan
Gale Sondergaard … Elk Woman
Geoffrey Lewis … Zenas
William Lucking … Tom Gryce
Jorge Luke … Running Bull
Enrique Lucero … Raven
Regino Herrera … Lame Wolf
Pedro Damian … Standing Bear
Claudio Brook … Chemin De Fer
Alberto Mariscal … Red Cloud
Ana De Sade … Moon Star
Humberto Lopez … Thin Dog
Jorge Russek … Blacksmith

Runtime: 129 min.

Enrique Lucero as Raven, the Yellow Hand medicine man in The Return of a Man Called Horse (1976)

Regino Herrera as Lame Wolf, one of the leaders of the surviving Yellow Hand in The Return of a Man Called Horse (1976)

Memorable lines:

John Morgan to Zenas: “Good luck with your little fort.”

Tom Gryce, as John Morgan piles sticks on his crotch: “What the hell are you doing?”
John Morgan: “Well, I’m not making a spot of tea, old boy.”

John Morgan to Elk Woman: “There is no evil spirits. Only evil men.”

Richard Harris as John Morgan, attending church with his fiance (Susan Dury) back in England in The Return of a Man Called Horse (1976)

Ana De Sade as Moon Star, a Yellow Hand captive about to be claimed by Gryce in The Return of a Man Called Horse (1976)

Alberto Mariscal as Red Cloud, hearing John Morgan’s request for help in The Return of a Man Called Horse (1976)

Richard Harris as John Morgan and Gale Sondergaard as Elk Woman in The Return of a Man Called Horse (1976)

Richard Harris as John Morgan confronts Tom Gryce in The Return of a Man Called Horse (1976)