Ralph Nelson

The Profile

Ralph Nelson (1916–1987) was an American film and television director known for films such as Lilies of the Field (1963), Charly (1968), and Soldier Blue (1970).

Directed Lilies of the Field, which earned Sidney Poitier an Academy Award for Best Actor.

The available review treats Ralph Nelson's Soldier Blue (Soldato Blu, 1970) as a watershed moment in the western, notable for its graphic violence and political stance. The reviewer highlights the Native American perspective through the character Ketty and situates the film alongside other late-1960s/1970s revisionist westerns. The appraisal is ambivalent: admiring its historical significance while troubled by its brutality.