March 9 - Rough Riders

Today’s movie is a combat film with a scene that happens on March 9. Watch it tonight and enjoy.

ROUGH RIDERS

Henry Nash finds his Rough Rider equipment in the attic and thinks back to the time of the Spanish-American War. The USS Maine is blown up in Havana harbor. On March 9, 1898 Assistant Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt speaks at the Naval war college espousing the ridiculous Victorian idea that war is a good thing. [5:24 to 6:38] When war is declared Roosevelt recruits a unit from among western cowboys and Indian fighters, while most of his Eastern patrician friends want to join up for military glory. His own wife reluctantly lets him go to war. Roosevelt convinces Leonard Wood to command his volunteer unit. In Arizona former sheriff Bucky O'Neill joins up along with Henry Nash a former stagecoach robber. President McKinley recruits former Confederate General Joseph Wheeler to command all of the cavalry. There’s culture clash when the New York contingent arrives in San Antonio. After Roosevelt arrives they begin training, mainly to learn military discipline. One of the troopers father arranges for them to get machine guns. The unit is moved to Tampa, Florida in preparation for the invasion of Cuba. However, the Army, which has not had to move large bodies of troops and supplies in 35 years has problems with transportation. The Rough Riders land in Cuba. General Wheeler sends the Rough Riders and the Buffalo Soldiers forward into a forest battle against the Spanish. The Rough Riders turn the flank of the Spanish. The Spanish retreat their fortified positions at El Caney and San Juan Hill. They shell the Spanish, who in return shell the American positions. Nash, who had been injured earlier while trying to desert, returns to the front lines, but Capt. O’Neill is killed by a sniper.   Led by Roosevelt, the Rough Riders and Buffalo soldiers charge up and capture San Juan Hill in the face of machine gun fire.  The war ends and the men returns home. 22 years later Nash visits the graves of O’Neill and his pal,  

A decent docudrama. Gives a good mix of fact and fiction to create and enjoyable film. A little long, but still well worth watching.

The date is given in the film at 5:17.

Director – John Milius

Awards – The movie won the Outstanding Sound Editing Emmy at the 49th Primetime Emmy Awards.

Screenplay – John Milius and Hugh Wilson

Runtime – 3 hours 3 minutes

Released – July 20, 1997

Starring –  Tom Berenger as Theodore Roosevelt, Sam Elliott as Bucky O'Neill, Gary Busey as Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler, Brad Johnson as Henry Nash, Illeana Douglas as Edith Roosevelt, Chris Noth as Craig Wadsworth, Brian Keith as William McKinley, George Hamilton as William R. Hearst, R. Lee Ermey as Secretary of State John Hay

Copyright by Ivan Walters in 2015.