There are few collaborations in the world of Old Hollywood said to be more iconic, dependable, and consistent as that of actor John Wayne and director John Ford. Between 1939 and 1962, the pair worked on over a dozen productions together, from their first collab in Stagecoach to their final on-screen epic, How the West Was Won. While most of these pictures were Westerns, on occasion they explored other genres.

Of course, being a Western director, even those other movies — such as the 1959 Civil War film The Horse Soldiers — often felt more like horse operas than not. But regarding The Horse Soldiers, in particular, Ford made a judgment call in the film's eleventh hour that would seal the fate of this would-be war epic forever.