http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043262/ Across the Wide Missouri (1951) 6.5/10Clark Gable ... Flint Mitchell
Ricardo Montalban ... Ironshirt
John Hodiak ... Brecan
Adolphe Menjou ... Pierre
J. Carrol Naish ... Looking Glass
Jack Holt ... Bear Ghost
Alan Napier ... Capt. Humberstone Lyon
George Chandler ... Gowie
Richard Anderson ... Dick
María Elena Marqués ... Kamiah
I just saw this movie on TCM. Directed by William Wellman, and based on a book of the same name by Bernard DeVoto, this is a "pre-Western," taking place mostly in 1829-1830. It is the story of trappers/mountain men, and how they paved the way in those early years. This story mostly follows Flint Mitchell (Clark Gable) and a group of trappers first in the summer of 1829, as they meet after a winter of trapping; and then as they go back into the mountains for another trapping season, beginning in the fall of 1829 and going into the spring of 1830. The story is narrated by Mitchell's half-breed son, who as a child, heard it from his father.
This movie is really about the landscapes. Thankfully, it was shot in Technicolor, though it would have been even better if it would have waited just a couple more years for widescreen! The landscapes are just beautiful. The movie was shot in various locations in Colorado, according to imdb
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043262/locations and Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Across_the_Wide_Missouri_(film) In the scenes where they traveling, there are a few brief shots of snowy, rocky mountain peaks that look very fake; other than those few shots, it all looks real.
The story, which has a lot to do with Indians, isn't all that great. I couldn't really follow everything going on with the Indians, where Mitchell's Indian wife was supposed to be going, etc. etc. In this movie, many of the trappers get along well with the Indians, though of course there are a few hot-blooded people on both sides that cause problems. The theme of this movie is how those early trappers -- mountain men at home in the wild, who got along well with the Indians -- paved the way for us, way back in those early years in the mountains.... If you are going to make a movie portraying the life of trappers/mountain men, it's much more enjoyable to watch one that uses a
group of trappers rather than a single,
solitary one, like
Jeremiah Johnson. It is much more enjoyable for the viewer when there is a group of trappers living together and interacting as in ATWM, than when there is one dude alone, as in JJ. And if you are gonna have a white man married to an Indian and neither understands the other's language, it's much more enjoyable to watch when there are a group of people living together with them, including interpreters (like ATWM), rather than when it's just the two of them unable to communicate with each other (like JJ). Using the group does not diminish the portrayal of the harshness of the mountain life, but it is much more fun to watch.
Unfortunately, MGM messed with this movie badly -- so badly, in fact, that Wellman tried to get his name removed from it! The running times listed on Amazon are 78 minutes for the Region 1 dvd; and 75 minutes for the Region 2 dvd (Spanish import). On imdb, it says: "Runtime 78 minutes
| Argentina 82 minutes." I am not sure how long Wellman's version was. Furthermore, it was MGM that added in the voice-over narration. Personally, I think that the narration works just fine (but of course that doesn't mean I am condoning the studio's messing with Wellman's work).
Clark Gable delivers a solid performance, as does Maria Elena Marques, a pretty Mexican actress who plays Gable's Indian wife.
It's not worth a dvd purchase or rental, but it's nice to watch the beautiful landscapes, so check it out the next time it plays on TCM.