''When The Legends Die'' is a 1963 American novel, written by

Hal Borland Harold "Hal" Glen Borland (May 14, 1900 – February 22, 1978) was an American writer, journalist and naturalist. In addition to writing many non-fiction and fiction books about the outdoors, he was a staff writer and editorialist for '' The New Yor ...

; and a 1972 American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film released in

DeLuxe Color DeLuxe Color or Deluxe color or Color by DeLuxe is Deluxe Laboratories brand of color process for motion pictures. DeLuxe Color is Eastmancolor-based, with certain adaptations for improved compositing for printing (similar to Technicolor's "sel ...

Twentieth Century-Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

Novel

The novel, about the life of a Ute Indian young man, was written in 1963 by

. While it was written as a mainstream novel, it became a young adult classic. The novel is roughly divided into four parts: Tom Black Bull's youth with his parents who lived "off the reservation" in the wilderness of southern Colorado; Tom's experience as an orphan sent to the reservation school against his will; Tom's "abandonment" of the Indian lifestyle and his success on the rodeo circuit in Colorado, New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma; and finally Tom's return to his roots — reconciling himself with his heritage and his solitary relationship with the land and the wilderness.

Film

The film was made in 1972, starring

Richard Widmark Richard Weedt Widmark (December 26, 1914March 24, 2008) was an American film, stage, and television actor and producer. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as the villainous Tommy Udo in his debut film, ''Kiss of Death'' (1947) ...

and

Frederic Forrest Frederic Fenimore Forrest Jr. (born December 23, 1936) is an American actor. Forrest came to public attention for his performance in ''When the Legends Die'' (1972), which earned him a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising N ...

. It was directed by Stuart Millar from a screenplay written by Robert Dozier. It was freely adapted from the novel, updating the action from the start of the 20th century to the present, and cutting out the majority of the original plot, effectively based on only one middle section of the novel. The title is taken from the saying "When the legends die the dreams end, when the dreams end there is no more greatness." The film had a budget of $1,520,000.Solomon, Aubrey. ''Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series)''. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1989. . p257

Plot

A Ute Indian youth, Tom Black Bull (

), leaves the reservation to enter the rodeo life. He is under the tutelage of Red Dillon (

), a talented man with a drinking problem. The youth deals with the struggle between two worlds and deciding what life has to offer.

Cast

as Red Dillon *

as Tom Black Bull *

Luana Anders Luana Anders (born Luana Margo Anderson, May 12, 1938 – July 21, 1996) was an American film and television actress and screenwriter. Career Anders began her career with supporting roles for American International Pictures. Some of the early f ...

as Mary *

Vito Scotti Vito Giusto Scozzari (January 26, 1918 – June 5, 1996), also known as Vito Scotti, was an American character actor who played both dramatic and comedy roles on Broadway, in films, and later on television, primarily from the late 1930s to the ...

as Meo (Dillon's caretaker) * Herbert Nelson as Dr. Wilson *

John War Eagle John Henry St Pierre, a.k.a. John War Eagle (8 June 1901 – 7 February 1991) was a Yankton Sioux film and television actor. He was born September 24, 1901, in Wagner, Charles Mix, South Dakota. He is Dakota of the Sioux people and was rais ...

as Blue Elk * John Gruber as Clyde 'Tex' Walker *

Garry Walberg Gerrit Christian Walberg Jr. (June 10, 1921 – March 27, 2012) was an American character actor primarily known for his work on television. He performed in numerous TV shows from the early 1950s until the early 1990s, including ''Johnny Staccat ...

as School Superintendent * Jack Mullaney as Gas Station Attendant * Malcolm Curley as Benny Grayback (school principal) *

Roy Engel Roy Engel (September 13, 1913 – December 29, 1980) was an American actor on radio, film, and television. He performed in more than 150 films and almost 800 episodes of television programs. Career Engel's ancestry was Irish and Dutch. His ...

as Sam Turner *

Rex Holman Rexford George Holman (born 1935) is an American film and television actor. Holman was born in Oklahoma. He began his screen career in 1959, appearing in the anthology television series '' The Millionaire''. In 1960 he made his film debut in ' ...

as Neil Swenson * Mel Gallagher as Cowboy * Tillman Box as Young Tom Black Bull * Sondra Pratt as Angie (girl who picks up Tom)

References

External links

* * * * {{AFI film, id=54418, title=When the Legends Die 1972 films 1972 Western (genre) films American Western (genre) films 1963 American novels American novels adapted into films J. B. Lippincott & Co. books Rodeo in film 1970s English-language films 1970s American films