The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid *** (1972, Cliff Robertson, Robert Duvall, Luke Askew, R G Armstrong, Dana Elcar) – Classic Movie Review 13,076

Director Philip Kaufman’s distinguished 1972 American Western film The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid recreates the James-Younger Gang’s infamous 1876 bank robbery, and stars Cliff Robertson, Robert Duvall, Luke Askew, R G Armstrong, and Dana Elcar. 

‘The West the way it really was!’

Director Philip Kaufman looks at the unpleasant outlaw underbelly of Jesse James and the Younger Brothers in a Seventies new-style Western that can boast an intelligent script by the director and is full of tension, involving characters and realistic atmosphere of the Old West.

The performances of Cliff Robertson as Cole Younger and Robert Duvall as a manic Jesse James. as well as those of some great character actors (most notably Luke Askew, R G Armstrong, Dana Elcar, Donald Moffat, Matt Clark, Elisha Cook Jr, Royal Dano), bring further distinction to the yarn about the gang’s last big attack on a Minnesota bank.

It is impressively shot in widescreen by Bruce Surtees, though its cinéma vérité-style filming may not be to everyone’s taste.

Also in the cast are Donald Moffat, John Pearce, Matt Clark, Robert H Harris, and Elisha Cook Jr.

The film is shot in Jacksonville, Oregon.

Partly because of its cinéma vérité-style filming, but also because of its demythologising the outlaws, it is known as an anti-Western, or a revisionist Western, and one of the things it revises is the real-life story of the Jesse James/ Cole Younger Gang’s infamous 7 September 1876 robbery of the biggest bank west of the Mississippi in Northfield, Minnesota.

By the way, a post-classical period revisionist Western sets out to subvert the myth and romance of the traditional Western by character development and realism to present a more complex and challenging, usually unheroic view of life in the Old West.

The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid is directed by Philip Kaufman, runs 92 minutes, is made by Robertson and Associates, is released by Universal, is written by Philip Kaufman, is shot in widescreen  by Bruce Surtees, is produced by Jennings Lang, is scored by Dave Grusin, and is designed by Alexander Golitzen and George Webb.

Release date: April 28, 1972 (Los Angeles premiere) and June 14, 1972 (US release).

The cast are Cliff Robertson as Cole Younger, Robert Duvall as Jesse James, Luke Askew as Jim Younger, R G Armstrong as Clell Miller, Dana Elcar as Allen, Donald Moffat as Manning, John Pearce as Frank James, Matt Clark as Bob Younger, Wayne Sutherlin as Charley Pitts, Robert H. Harris as Wilcox, Jack Manning as Heywood, Elisha Cook Jr as Bunker, Royal Dano as Gustavson, Mary-Robin Redd as Kate, Bill Callaway as Callipist, Arthur Peterson as Jefferson Jones, Craig Curtis as Chadwell, Barry Brown as Henry Wheeler, Nellie Burt as Doll Woman, Liam Dunn as Drummer, Madeleine Taylor Holmes as Granny Woman, Herbert Nelson as Chief Detective, Erik Holland as Sheriff, Anne Barton as Clell’s Wife, Marjorie Durant as Maybelle, Inger Stratton as Singing Whore, and Valda J. Hansen as Nude Girl.

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 13,076

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com6