Jeremiah Johnson (1972) on Netflix
PG19721h 48mAdventureDramaWestern
Jeremiah Johnson, a Mexican War veteran, chooses the life of a trapper in the Rocky Mountains. His first winter there is hard, and he clashes with the Crow chief Paints-His-Shirt-Red.
- Netflix3.9/5
- IMDb7.6/1040,200 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes91%
Trailer
Plot summary
On the frontier in the mid-nineteenth century, Jeremiah Johnson leaves the Army and takes up a trapper's life in the Rocky Mountains. His first winter in the high country is difficult. He disturbs a grizzly bear hunt by the elderly, eccentric Chris Lapp, known as Bear Claw, who teaches him the skills for surviving at altitude. After further encounters with the Crow, including their chief Paints-His-Shirt-Red, Johnson sets out on his own. He finds a cabin whose people were attacked by Blackfoot warriors, with only a grieving woman and her silent son left alive. Maddened by grief, she forces Johnson to adopt the boy, whom he names Caleb. He and Caleb then meet Del Gue, a trapper robbed by the Blackfeet, who talks Johnson into helping him recover what was taken.
Cast
Show all 13 cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Jeremiah Johnson (1972)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The role of Jeremiah Johnson was originally intended for Lee Marvin and then Clint Eastwood, with Sam Peckinpah to direct, but Peckinpah and Eastwood did not get along, so Peckinpah left and Eastwood decided to make Dirty Harry instead.
- Even after Pollack mortgaged his home to supplement the limited budget the production remained constrained. "The snows of St. George in southern Utah were terrible," said Pollack, "and we were using Cinemobiles as the lifelines."
- Casting the role of Swan, Johnson's wife, took three months; Delle Bolton interviewed with 200 Native American women and eventually won the role, even though she herself was not Native American.
- Warner Bros. wanted the film shot on its backlot to save money, but Redford and Pollack convinced the studio that Utah locations would cost the same, and art director Ted Haworth then drove over 26,000 miles to find them.
- Jeremiah Johnson had its world-wide premiere on 7 May at the 1972 Cannes Film Festival, screened in competition, and it was the first Western film ever to be accepted in the festival.
- The film inspired the creation of the classic Italian comics character Ken Parker, a Western anti-hero based on Redford's portrayal of Jeremiah Johnson.
