Comes a Horseman is a 1978 American westerndrama film starring Jane Fonda, James Caan, Jason Robards, and Richard Farnsworth, directed by Alan J. Pakula. Set in the American West of the 1940s but not a typical Western, it tells the story of two ranchers whose small operation is threatened both by economic hardship and the expansionist dreams of a local land baron. Farnsworth, a former stuntman, received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance. The film grossed $9.6 million at the box office. A stuntman working on this film, Jim Sheppard, was killed while doing a scene where Robards' character is dragged to his death. A horse dragging him veered from its course and caused Sheppard to hit his head on a fence post. The scene made it into the movie, although it is cut right before the horse passes through the gate where the fatal accident occurred.
Plot
It's the 1940s, near the end of World War II, in the American West. The setting is a large, fertile valley ideal for raising cattle. Rancher Jacob W. Ewing's family has lived in the valley for generations, and his dream is to control all of it and preserve it from those - farmers and oilmen, for example - who would use the land for other purposes. Visiting J.W. is wealthy New Yorkoil executive Neil Atkinson, whose late father was J.W.'s good friend and financial backer; the Atkinsons helped J.W. buy out neighboring ranchers, taking advantage of their financial problems. The one remaining holdout is Ella Connors, whose family has also ranched in the area for the last two generations and who relies on the family's aging but skillful cowhand, Dodger. Another small player is war veteran Frank Athearn to whom Ella has sold a small plot of land to pay her bills. Ella and J.W. have some personal history which Ella prefers to put behind her, but which J.W. keeps bringing up. Although J.W. believes that Ella cannot survive another season financially, Ella and Frank, both of whom are committed to making a living ranching, enter into an uneasy alliance, especially after a dangerous incident precipitated by J.W. involving Frank and Frank's partner, fellow veteran Billy Joe Meynart. Neil, meanwhile, wants to explore the entire valley for oil, and uses his family's financial support to pressure J.W. into agreeing. But Ella, Frank, and Neil soon discover that J.W. will go to any lengths to get what he wants.
The film was based on an original script Comes a Horseman Wild and Free. In January 1977 it was announced that Jane Fonda and James Caan would play the leads. "The theme of this film is very, very American," said Pakula. Stuntman Jim Shepperd was killed during filming on 18 August 1977, doubling for Jason Robards. He was being dragged behind a horse.
Reception
of the Chicago Tribune gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four and called it "a fine film—majestic at times—save for a slapdash ending." A less enthusiastic review in Variety said the film was "so lethargic not even Jane Fonda, James Caan and Jason Robards can bring excitement to this artificially dramatic story of a stubborn rancher who won't surrender to the local land baron." Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times wrote that the film "is not about the plot as such but about the way of life which the plot interrupts. The care and authenticity with which that way of life is recorded helps 'Comes a Horseman' overcome some real problems, notably a pace that is all too reverentially slow and a totally inadequate delineation of the Robards character." Gary Arnold of The Washington Post stated, "Pakula and Clark may believe they revere Westerns, but their form of respectful imitation is lifeless, strictly token respect for the dead... By the time 'Comes a Horseman' wheezes to an anticlimactic fadeout, Robards' depradations have begun to resemble Gothic camp." The film holds a score of 86% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 7 reviews.
