I just looked that old blog up again: "The most adventurous part of 'Rio Grande' was the Roman Riding scene. before you made a picture with Ford he never wanted your agent around, he just wanted you to come over yourself. So Ben and I got together and went over alone on day to see him, over at Republic. The old man sat there for a while, and finally said, "You Guy's know how to Roman Ride?" I said "No sir," and Ben said "No sir" and Ford said "You're going to have to learn it; we're going to have Roman Riding!" We knew what it was and Ben being real careful said, "Well, Mr Ford, how long before we have to know who to do it?" And he said "A month." So Ben looked at me and I looked at him and we both thought, "Oh S**t!. A wrangler named Kenny Lee broke two teams for us. One was barely broke, so that was the team that Ben rode - they were nuts, but he liked them..... . Now in Roman Riding you start out on the left hand horse, but we both found out in a hell of a hurry that the minute you get up on him and grab the withers they both take off - you can't hold them and get up at the same time, and the minute they take off down you go. I think Ben sat down a couple of times but pretty soon he made it up, and then I got shamed into it and then I made it up. We were learning it in an exercise arena, a small track going along at a lope. Old man Ford came out about the third day and he watched us and he seemed pleased, even tough we weren't standing up straight yet. Finally this old guy named Hank Potts that I'd known from the time I was a kid came along, he was just back from a location himself. He's raced Roman riding in his youth, and after watching us for a while he said. "You guy's aren't getting anywhere and your'e never going to get better than you are, all squatted down like that. You've got to get out on a straight road and let the b******s run for a good half mile where they can really take off." Well he got us out on a long straightway. It was on Sherman Way, the old Fat Jones stables,and the just flew. It's the getting up that was scary so I started sitting down again - Ben's team threw him off a couple of times too and finally Hank Potts said, "The next time you sit down on that inside horse I'm going to hit you with this rock." So I got up and stayed there, and then I lost my fear - it was amazing, it went away completely, just like that. Then Ford was really happy, cause now wer'e barreling ass around there. He was ecstatic, I'd never seen the old b******d so happy. Finally he said, "I think I'll get Claude to doing it" Claude was 6'2" and weighed about 160 pounds - a big lanky kid, a hell of an athlete. he looked like he was awkward but he wasn't . Now he looked like he barely rode at all, but he came out croupered those horses, jumped up on my team and went down the road no practice. Ben said "Well Jesus Christ" - we wanted to crawl under a board- and Old man Ford said, "Well Jesus it took you guys three weeks for Christ's sake." Ben said "He's never been hurt before Mr Ford." Ford said, "What?" he made you repeat everything. "Well his never been mashed up or hurt, he's not afraid." You're goddam right he's not afraid!" So Claude rode too - he used my team since we only had two. It was unusual for people who had critical parts in a movie to do that kind of stunt, but Ford would do it. We shot that Roman riding sequence right in the middle of the picture and we were even out Roman riding every morning on location. Harry Carey jr then goes on to say that the next morning both he and Ben Johnsone could barely walk and had to go to a nearby town to visit a physiotherapist while Jarman felt no ill effects whatever. Regards Arthur
Here's a comment from an old blog: "I forgot to tell you, no they were not attached to the Horses, but they did have on Black Rubber Sole Tennis Shoes. But if you look Close the next time that you watch the film you might see that the Horses have "Trace Staps" holding them together so they would not Go In Different Directions. The day that they shot this Scene the Total Cast and Crew were there to watch this Big Scene, even Us Lowly Extras."
I never get tired of watching this clip. Thank you for sharing. I didn't realise until now that it is actually the actors riding and not stunt men. Real horsemanship. Fabulous.
@@paladinsix9285Yes. He went from horse wrangler to stunt double for actors like Henry Fonda in Fort Apache. When he probably saved lives by chasing down a runaway stagecoach in that movie, John Ford rewarded him with an acting contract. As a champion rodeo cowboy, he definitely gets to show off his skills in this movie.
I remember going into "Cattlemen's" restaurant in Oklahoma City in 1981 and seeing a big picture of Ben Johnson on the wall. I asked about it and they said "Yes, he still comes in from time to time". I bought a many a plate of steak and eggs there after that hoping to see him but never did.
My mum's favorite! love this part of the movie. it's also known that the actor fred kennedy(playing heinze) fell of a horse while filming the horse soldiers, passed away on the way to the hospital!
Ya it looked to me there were two men out there riding those horses. Unless they're lying here why the hell you just point out Ben when Harry was everybit the horseman Ben was.
Yep, that really is Harry Carey Jr. and Ben Johnson on the horses. In his autobiography, 'The Company of Heroes,' Harry Carey Jr. states that John Ford didn't ask them if they could Roman Rode--he ORDERED them to Roman Ride. Not daring to refuse Ford's request, they practiced with the stuntmen until they got it right...and then in typical perverse Ford fashion, he filmed them in a long shot so you can't really see it's them. That was Ford--he was careful not to allow you to get too big an ego on his film sets.
TM Rezzek Thank you so much! I knew Fred Kennedy was a stunt rider as well as being an actor. I thought perhaps Fred and Yakima Canutt? Thanks to you the mystery is solved. That was a wonderful scene with Harry Carey, Jr and Ben Johnson. Next time I watch Rio Grande, I'll appreciate those two actors all the more.
Maybe it had to do with the format. "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" (1949) was in color; "Rio Grande" (1950) was in B&W. Perhaps color makes an actor seem older.
I knew Ben Johnson was a horseman, I didn't know Harry Carey Jr. was too. Still, just what is the purpose of riding "Roman Style"? It's no good for fighting! Did the ancient Romans really do this? seems like an unnecessary stunt which was guaranteed to get a lot of men seriously injured.
It is a demonstration of Horsemanship and Courage. Napoleon Bonaparte stated that the Morale is to the Physical as Three is to One. Serving as a soldier we sometimes could deter conflict by a demonstration of our determination even more than our tactical and technical prowess.