How do you put together one of the great male actors of American cinema (Clark Gable) with a noted director (William Wellman -- "A Star Is Born" and Beau Geste") and end up with a clunker like this?
For starters, the first 24 minutes of the film should have been burned. It's just nonsensical crapola that will make you doubt the manhood of "mountain men", of which Clark Gable is one. I wasn't sure if I was watching a western or "Brokeback Mountain"!
Thank goodness, things improved a bit after the first 24 minutes, although I was never quite sure if Wellman had really thought clearly about what the purpose of his film was. That's not to say there's not "a story", but it just doesn't seem very focused.
Clark Gable is fine here; I didn't feel what was wrong with the movie centered around him. His Indian wife was actually Mexican, although the actress -- María Elena Marqués -- did fine in the part. Ricardo Montalban was hardly recognizable as the main "bad" Indian, and wasn't even wearing rich Corinthian leather! Jon Hodiak was also almost unrecognizable in a rather forgettable part. Perhaps the most interesting casting was of Adolphe Menjou as a trapper; never saw him in any such role before, but he did pull it off (and he is not an actor I usually enjoy). J. Carrol Naish plays an Indian chief. The narration is by Howard Keel. Watch carefully or you may miss James Whitmore entirely.
I'll tell you who the real star of the film is -- the scenery -- which was the real Rockies up along the Million Dollar Highway in Colorado. Stunning! And I give the film credit for one other thing -- most of the (unfortunately) non-speaking Indian parts appeared to be real Indians.
Clark Gable was getting older here. I think the studios were having trouble figuring out what to do with him at this age (50). He was still an attractive man, and he still made a number of memorable films in this fifth decade. And after all, I'm sure there were mountain men of that age.
This is a film worth watching...probably just once.
For starters, the first 24 minutes of the film should have been burned. It's just nonsensical crapola that will make you doubt the manhood of "mountain men", of which Clark Gable is one. I wasn't sure if I was watching a western or "Brokeback Mountain"!
Thank goodness, things improved a bit after the first 24 minutes, although I was never quite sure if Wellman had really thought clearly about what the purpose of his film was. That's not to say there's not "a story", but it just doesn't seem very focused.
Clark Gable is fine here; I didn't feel what was wrong with the movie centered around him. His Indian wife was actually Mexican, although the actress -- María Elena Marqués -- did fine in the part. Ricardo Montalban was hardly recognizable as the main "bad" Indian, and wasn't even wearing rich Corinthian leather! Jon Hodiak was also almost unrecognizable in a rather forgettable part. Perhaps the most interesting casting was of Adolphe Menjou as a trapper; never saw him in any such role before, but he did pull it off (and he is not an actor I usually enjoy). J. Carrol Naish plays an Indian chief. The narration is by Howard Keel. Watch carefully or you may miss James Whitmore entirely.
I'll tell you who the real star of the film is -- the scenery -- which was the real Rockies up along the Million Dollar Highway in Colorado. Stunning! And I give the film credit for one other thing -- most of the (unfortunately) non-speaking Indian parts appeared to be real Indians.
Clark Gable was getting older here. I think the studios were having trouble figuring out what to do with him at this age (50). He was still an attractive man, and he still made a number of memorable films in this fifth decade. And after all, I'm sure there were mountain men of that age.
This is a film worth watching...probably just once.