''Smoke in the Wind'' is a 1975 American

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 directed by Andy Brennan and

Joseph Kane Jasper Joseph Inman Kane (March 19, 1894, San Diego – August 25, 1975, Santa Monica, California) was an American film director, film producer, film editor and screenwriter. He is best known for his extensive directorship and focus on Western f ...

. It marked

Walter Brennan Walter Andrew Brennan (July 25, 1894 – September 21, 1974) was an American actor and singer. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performances in '' Come and Get It'' (1936), ''Kentucky'' (1938), and '' The Westerner ...

's final film role as he died over six months before the film's release.

Plot

In 1865, the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

has just ended as the action in this work begins, following five Union soldiers - Pa Mondier, his two sons, and Smoky - as they return to their homes in the

Ozarks The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant port ...

of northern Arkansas, matter-of-factly planning a resumption of their pre-War existences. However, many residents from the village of Winslow and its surrounding region are averse to offering a helping hand to Yankees, Arkansas having been a member of the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...

. Mort Fagan leads some ex-Confederate soldiers in an attack against the former Unionists, resulting in Pa Mondier being mortally wounded, triggering a feud. Some Winslow citizens are working to close the nation's divisiveness and it is to them that the returning veterans must look for support.

Cast

* John Ashley as Whipple Mondier * John Russell as Cagle Mondier *

Myron Healey Myron Daniel Healey (June 8, 1923 – December 21, 2005) was an American actor. He began his career in Hollywood, California during the early 1940s and eventually made hundreds of appearances in movies and on television during a career spa ...

as Mort Fagan *

as H. P. Kingman *Susan Huston as Laurie Cullen *Linda Weld as Sarah Kimbrough *

Henry Kingi Henry Kingi (born December 2, 1943) is an American stuntman and actor. As a stuntman he has worked in films like ''Fast Five'' (2011). His acting roles include Goody in ''Car Wash'' (1976), Shell in '' Earth Star Voyager'' (1988), the mean Indian ...

as Smoky Harjo *Adair Jameson as Hannah Mondier *

Dan White Daniel James White (September 2, 1946 – October 21, 1985) was an American politician who assassinated San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, on Monday, November 27, 1978, at City Hall. White was convicted of manslaugh ...

as Col. Joab Cullen *Lorna as Ma Mondier * Billy Hughes, Jr. as Till Mondier * Bill Coontz as Stapp Huckaby *Jack Horton as Gib *Bill McKenzie as The Bartender

Production

''Smoke in the Wind'' was filmed in

Winslow, Arkansas Winslow (formerly Summit Home) is a city in southern Washington County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 391 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Northwest Arkansas region. History A stagecoach stop for many years, the community now ...

, and local Strawberry Henson played a preacher. The General Store and most of the town was not modified for the film. The script was by Eric Allen, a journalist and Western author. The film was made by two stuntmen turned producers, Billy and White Hughes. They were from Arkansas and White Hughes had doubled for John Ashley a number of times. Ashley says the brothers "went back to Arkansas and promoted a bunch of turkey ranchers to put up some money, I think about $400,000. They did this on the basis of them being able to deliver Walter Brennan." Ashley says Brennan agreed to make the film if his son Andy would direct. John Ashley knew the Hugheses and agreed to be in it because he wanted to work with Brennan. " I'd do it for nothing, but if I committed to it and it turned out that they didn't have him I'd walk out," said Ashley. He says they got a gaffer, Mario Tosi, to work on the film by giving him the opportunity to be cinematographer. Ashley made it shortly after ''

Beast of the Yellow Night ''Beast of the Yellow Night'' is a 1971 Filipino/American horror film, directed by Eddie Romero and starring John Ashley, who co-produced the film with Romero. It was the first release for Roger Corman's distribution company New World Pictures. ...

''. According to Ashley filming was difficult and Andy Brennan "had some personal problems. And it was not going well". The Hughes brothers replaced him with Joe Kane. Walter Brennan stayed on the film even though he was ill with emphysema at the time. Ashley says the filmmakers ran out of money after filming was completed; Whitey Hughes eventually raised the money to complete it. "I was so impressed with Walter, said Ashley. "He hung in there. He got to know these ranchers, and they would hang out at this trailer. He had done this movie for his son, but he wouldn't walk off the movie. ... Any moment that I had, that I wasn't in front of the camera, I would go sit in his trailer and ask him questions about the old days, he was a great story teller. That's the whole reason I did the movie. I would have paid them to hang out with this guy." Ashley later said he was not happy being billed over Brennan.

Reception

The ''Monthly Film Bulletin'' called the film "lethargic".

References

External links

*
''Smoke in the Wind''
at

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