Legends of the Fall 🎥 1994 Movie Info

Plot Summary

Sick of betrayals the US government perpetrated on Native Americans, Colonel William Ludlow leaves the Army, moving to a remote part of Montana. Along with One Stab, he builds a ranch and raises his family. Accompanying them are hired hand and former outlaw Decker with his Cree wife Pet, and daughter Isabel Two. William has three sons: Alfred, the eldest; Tristan, the middle son; and Samuel, the youngest. William’s wife Isabel does not adapt to the harsh Montana winters and moves to the East Coast; Tristan vows never to speak of her. At age 12, Tristan touches a sleeping grizzly bear, which awakens and injures him, but he cuts off a claw.

Years later in 1914, Samuel returns from Harvard University with his fiancée, Susannah. Before they can marry, he announces his intention to join the Canadian Expeditionary Force and aid Britain in the fight against Germany in World War I. Much to William’s displeasure, Alfred also joins. Tristan reluctantly joins after swearing to Susannah to protect Samuel. The brothers find themselves in the 10th Battalion, CEF. Alfred, commissioned as an officer, leads a charge into no man’s land. The attack results in heavy casualties and he is wounded. While visiting Alfred in the field hospital, Tristan learns that Samuel volunteered for a dangerous reconnaissance mission. He rushes off to protect his brother but arrives too late.

Tristan holds Samuel until he dies, then cuts out his brother’s heart and sends it home to be buried at the ranch. Maddened with grief, Tristan single-handedly raids the German lines and returns to camp with the scalps of German soldiers hanging around his neck, horrifying his fellow soldiers. He is discharged but does not go home. Alfred returns to Montana and proposes to Susannah, but she declines. Tristan returns home, where Susannah finds him weeping over Samuel’s grave. She comforts him and they become lovers. A jealous Alfred confronts Tristan before leaving to make his name in Helena.

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