Sydney Pollack

Tonight's MovieMovie: Jeremiah Johnson Starring Robert Redford

"I, Hatchet Jack, being of sound mind and broke legs, do leaveth my rifle to the next thing who finds it..."

Tonight's MovieMovie is one of the great unsung Westerns of the '70s and the second of seven collaborations between actor Robert Redford and Academy Award-winning director Sydney Pollack.

Redford stars as the title character, a veteran of the Mexican War (1846–48) who moves out west to become a mountain man. Johnson's life is a difficult one, filled with harsh winters, hungry grizzly bears and ferocious Blackfoot warriors who don't appreciate white men encroaching on their territory, but he manages to find peace, harmony and love with the daughter (Delle Bolton) of a Flathead chief. Unfortunately, Johnson's piece is short-lived. When the U.S. Cavalry force him to help them move through native territory, everything and everyone in his life is put in jeopardy and the peaceful man he once was is consumed by his wild side.

Beautiful, violent, heart-breaking, nostalgic and cynical all at the same time, with a complex lead character played by one of Hollywood's greatest stars, Jeremiah Johnson has something for everyone. Tune in tonight at 10:30PM ET / 7:30PM PT.

• Jeremiah Johnson
• Robert Redford
• Sydney Pollack
• Reelz Movie Movie

Director Sydney Pollack Passes Away at 73

Director Sydney Pollack has passed away today of cancer at his home in Pacific Palisades, California.

Pollack began his career as a stage actor before finding success as a television director in the early '60s. In 1962 Pollack acted alongside Robert Redford in War Hunt. The meeting began a lifelong friendship for the two and Pollack soon cast Redford opposite Natalie Wood in This Property is Condemned. The duo would work together on six more films over the years, culminating in 1985's Out of Africa, which took home Oscars for Best Director and Best Picture. Pollack's other notable credits include the comedy classic Tootsie and The Way We Were, which teamed Redford with Barbra Streisand.

Pollack was 73 years old.

• Sydney Pollack