''Across the Wide Missouri'' is a 1951 American

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film based on historian

Bernard DeVoto Bernard Augustine DeVoto (January 11, 1897 – November 13, 1955) was an American historian, conservationist, essayist, columnist, teacher, editor, and reviewer. He was the author of a series of Pulitzer-Prize-winning popular histories of the Ame ...

's eponymous 1947 book. The film dramatizes an account of several fur traders and their interaction with the Native Americans. Directed by William A. Wellman, the film stars

Clark Gable William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood". He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades ...

as cunning trapper Flint Mitchell,

Ricardo Montalbán Ricardo Gonzalo Pedro Montalbán y Merino, KSG (; ; November 25, 1920 – January 14, 2009) was a Mexican and American film and television actor. Montalbán's career spanned seven decades, during which he became known for performances in a var ...

as Blackfoot Iron Shirt,

John Hodiak John Hodiak ( ; April 16, 1914 – October 19, 1955) was an American actor who worked in radio, stage and film. Early life Hodiak was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Anna (Pogorzelec) and Walter Hodiak. He was of Ukrainian and ...

as Brecan,

María Elena Marqués María Elena Marqués Rangel (14 December 1926 – 11 November 2008) was a Mexican actress and singer who was a star during the Golden Age of Mexican cinema in the 1940s and 1950s. Biography She was born on December 14, 1926 in Mexico City. She wa ...

as Kamiah, a Blackfoot chief's daughter Mitchell marries and later falls in love with, J. Carrol Naish as

Nez Perce The Nez Percé (; autonym in Nez Perce language: , meaning "we, the people") are an Indigenous people of the Plateau who are presumed to have lived on the Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest region for at least 11,500 years.Ames, K ...

Looking Glass, and

Adolphe Menjou Adolphe Jean Menjou (February 18, 1890 – October 29, 1963) was an American actor. His career spanned both silent films and talkies. He appeared in such films as Charlie Chaplin's ''A Woman of Paris'', where he played the lead role; Stanley K ...

as Pierre.

Howard Keel Harold Clifford Keel (April 13, 1919November 7, 2004), known professionally as Howard Keel, was an American actor and singer, known for his rich bass-baritone singing voice. He starred in a number of MGM musicals in the 1950s and in the CBS te ...

, as Mitchell's son "Chip Mitchell", narrates.

Plot

In the 1830s in the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...

fur trapper Fur is a thick growth of hair that covers the skin of mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an insulating blanket ...

Flint Mitchell meets at the summer "rendezvous" with other

mountain men A mountain man is an explorer who lives in the wilderness. Mountain men were most common in the North American Rocky Mountains from about 1810 through to the 1880s (with a peak population in the early 1840s). They were instrumental in opening up ...

, cashing in his furs, drinking, and enjoying contests among his friends. He organizes a hunting "brigade" into the beaver-rich Blackfoot territory, buying horses and recruiting trappers, despite protests from his Scottish friend and former trading partner, Brecan, who lives among the Blackfoot and warns him that the land belongs to them. Flint outbids Brecan for Kamiah, the granddaughter of Blackfoot

medicine man A medicine man or medicine woman is a traditional healer and spiritual leader who serves a community of Indigenous people of the Americas. Individual cultures have their own names, in their respective languages, for spiritual healers and cerem ...

Bear Ghost and adopted daughter of a

chief, Looking Glass. Brecan wants to return her to the Blackfoot, to promote peace between the tribes, while Flint wants to marry Kamiah and ensure the brigade's safety. Pierre, a French Canadian trapper, and Captain Humberstone Lyon, another Scotsman, who fought in the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...

, join Flint on the dangerous expedition. Kamiah successfully guides Flint and his men on their trek through the high passes filled with crippling snow drifts, and delivers them to the Blackfoot territory, where they build a stockade. Flint narrowly escapes capture and death at the hands of Ironshirt, a young Blackfoot prince and war chief, who kills Baptiste DuNord, one of Flint's best trappers. Ironshirt steals the brigade's horses, but Flint impresses Bear Ghost, who orders them returned. Though he marries Kamiah for reasons other than love and cannot speak her language, Flint falls in love with her. As Flint and Kamiah grow closer, Flint and Bear Ghost become good friends. Bear Ghost prevents Ironshirt from harming Flint and his men, but catastrophe strikes when Roy DuNord, another of Flint's men, kills Bear Ghost to avenge his brother's death. Although Brecan kills Roy, and Flint sinks into a grieving depression over the death of Bear Ghost, Ironshirt succeeds Bear Ghost as chief and resumes his campaign to drive the white trappers out of his country. In the spring, Kamiah gives birth to a boy, Chip. On the way to the rendezvous, the brigade is attacked by a large war party under Ironshirt, and Kamiah is killed. With Chip strapped to its back, Kamiah's horse bolts during the attack and is chased by Ironshirt, who is intent on killing the boy. Flint manages to kill Ironshirt, however, and rescue his son. As the years pass, Flint takes Chip to live in the Blackfoot camp, where, Flint believes, Kamiah would have wanted him. Although Flint intends to have the boy formally educated in the East, Chip persuades him year after year to postpone his schooling, and he learns the ways of the mountains from his father.

Cast

Production

During filming, Ricardo Montalbán was reportedly thrown off a horse, knocked out, and walked on by another horse, leaving him with a spinal injury. This injury recurred in 1993 and forced him into a wheelchair. The film was shot largely in the

, mostly at altitudes between 9,000 and 14,000 feet, north of Durango, Colorado near

Purgatory Purgatory (, borrowed into English via Anglo-Norman and Old French) is, according to the belief of some Christian denominations (mostly Catholic), an intermediate state after physical death for expiatory purification. The process of purgatory ...

and Molas Pass, the main location sites.

Music

The score for the film was composed and conducted by

David Raksin David Raksin (August 4, 1912 – August 9, 2004) was an American composer who was noted for his work in film and television. With more than 100 film scores and 300 television scores to his credit, he became known as the "Grandfather of Film Music ...

, and incorporated the song "

Oh Shenandoah "Oh Shenandoah" (also called "Shenandoah", "Across the Wide Missouri", "Rolling River", "Oh, My Rolling River", "World of Misery''") is a traditional folk song, sung in the Americas, of uncertain origin, dating to the early 19th century. T ...

" in its main title and end title. Additional music was composed and/or adapted (from Raksin's material) by Al Sendrey, and conducted by Johnny Green. * ''Across The Wide Missouri'', words and music by

Ervin Drake Ervin Drake (born Ervin Maurice Druckman; April 3, 1919 – January 15, 2015) was an American songwriter whose works include such American Songbook standards as " I Believe" and "It Was a Very Good Year". He wrote in a variety of styles and his w ...

and Jimmy Shirl * ''

Skip to My Lou "Skip to My (The) Lou" is a popular American partner-stealing dance from the 1840s. Poet and Abraham Lincoln biographer Carl Sandburg writes that "Skip-to-my-Lou" was a popular party game in US President Abraham Lincoln's youth in southern In ...

'' * '' Alouette, Pretty Alouette'' traditionals * ''Indian Lullaby'', words and music by Alberto Colombo, Indian lyrics by Nipo T. Strongheart The complete score was issued on CD in 2009, on

Film Score Monthly ''Film Score Monthly'' is an online magazine (and former print magazine) founded by editor-in-chief and executive producer Lukas Kendall in June 1990 in music, 1990 as ''The Soundtrack Correspondence List''. It is dedicated to the art of Film sco ...

records.

Reception

According to MGM records, the film earned $2,789,000 in the US and Canada and $1,812,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $635,000.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Across The Wide Missouri (Film) 1951 films American Western (genre) films 1950s English-language films 1951 Western (genre) films Films based on non-fiction books Films directed by William A. Wellman Films scored by David Raksin Films shot in Colorado Films set in Montana Films set in the 1820s Films set in the 1830s Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films 1950s American films