Sergeant Rutledge
1960 · Movie · NR · 111 min · ★ 7.0 · 85% critics
A respected Black cavalry sergeant faces a court-martial after being accused of rape and murder, with a community quick to judge. As testimony unfolds through shifting accounts, the defense tries to sort fact from prejudice while tensions rise both inside the courtroom and beyond it.
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Details
- Years
- 1960
- Release date
- 1960-05-18
- Language
- English
- Rated
- NR
- Runtime
- 111 min
- Critic score
- 85/100
- TMDB rating
- 7.0/10 (137 votes)
About
You may enjoy this if you like courtroom-driven Westerns that tackle prejudice and moral pressure, with flashbacks shaping the case; Not for you if you’re sensitive to dated portrayals or dislike tonal swings between drama and comedy, like in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.
Pros: gripping trial framework; strong lead presence; timely racial themes | Cons: uneven tone shifts; broad melodrama; dated stereotypes
Themes
- rape
- racism
- court martial
- western
- drama
- crime
Cast & crew
Jeffrey Hunter
as Lt. Tom Cantrell
Woody Strode
as 1st Sgt. Braxton Rutledge
Constance Towers
as Mary Beecher
Billie Burke
as Mrs. Cordelia Fosgate
Juano Hernández
as Sgt. Matthew Luke Skidmore
Willis Bouchey
as Col. Otis Fosgate - president of the court-martial
Carleton Young
as Capt. Shattuck - prosecutor
Judson Pratt
as Lt. Mulqueen (court-martial board member)
Chuck Roberson
as Court-Martial Board Member (uncredited)
Chuck Hayward
as Capt. Dickinson (uncredited)
Directed by John Ford