Montana (1950 film)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Montana'' is a 1950 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
Ray Enright Ray Enright (March 25, 1896 – April 3, 1965) was an American film director. He directed 73 films between 1927–53, many of them for Warner Bros. He oversaw comedy films like Joe E. Brown vehicles, five of the six informal pairings of Joa ...
and starring
Errol Flynn Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn (20 June 1909 – 14 October 1959) was an Australian-American actor who achieved worldwide fame during the Golden Age of Hollywood. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles, frequent partnerships with Olivia ...
. It was only the second time Flynn played an Australian on screen, the first time being ''
Desperate Journey ''Desperate Journey'' is a 1942 American World War II action and aviation film directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Errol Flynn and Ronald Reagan. The supporting cast includes Raymond Massey, Alan Hale Sr., and Arthur Kennedy. The melodramati ...
'' (1942).Tony Thomas, Rudy Behlmer & Clifford McCarty, ''The Films of Errol Flynn'', Citadel Press, 1969 p 166 The film was Flynn's fourth and final pairing with frequent co-star
Alexis Smith Margaret Alexis Fitzsimmons-Smith (June 8, 1921 – June 9, 1993) was a Canadian-born American actress and singer. She appeared in several major Hollywood films in the 1940s and had a notable career on Broadway in the 1970s, winning a Tony Awar ...
.


Plot

A narrator tells of the great wars that raged in Montana territory over the grazing of cattle versus sheep. Men on both sides of the battle died, but eventually it was the sheep herders who were driven out. Morgan Lane (Flynn), an Australian sheepman, rides to Montana territory in 1871. He and his men come across a sign declaring that any sheep herders crossing the line into the area will be shot on sight as the surrounding plains are strictly for cattle grazing. The men set up camp for the night just before the border. During the night their young unarmed Mexican watchman is shot dead by a local gang of cattle raisers. The following morning, after Morgan and his men have buried the body, a travelling peddler known as Papa Schultz (Sakall) comes by. Morgan coerces Papa Shultz into pretending they are partners and they ride into town together so that Morgan can find out who the local ruffians are. In town he passes himself off as a peddler and discovers the gang in the saloon. Suspicious of him because he is a newcomer in the town, Slim Reeves challenges him to a pistol duel. Slim attempts to cheat by drawing before the count of three but Morgan proves his skills by shooting the gun out of his hand. Morgan discovers that there are three chief landowners in the area. The main two are Maria Singleton (Smith) and her fiancé Rod Ackroyd, who are both vehemently opposed to sheep herders in their area. The third is a man named Forsythe. Morgan rides over to the Singleton ranch with a guitar as a present for Maria and the two get on well and have a sing-a-long together. Rod is suspicious of Morgan and is in a foul mood after being thrown from a wild stallion earlier in the afternoon. Maria invites Morgan to join them for dinner and Morgan reveals to them that he wishes to purchase some of their land. They believe he wants it for cattle grazing, and Rod makes a bet with him for the land. If Morgan can stay on the wild horse for exactly one minute, he can have the land. Rod's right-hand man Slim cuts the stirrup so that Morgan falls from the horse a few seconds before the minute mark. Maria, feeling sorry for Morgan, offers to rent him a piece of her land that would have belonged to her deceased brother. The following day she discovers that Morgan is a sheep herder and is livid at his betrayal. During the night, Morgan rounds up the minority cattlemen in the area and enlists the help of the banker and Forsythe to fight another war with the cattle owners. Forsythe invites everyone to his home for a party and announces their intentions to fight. Maria confronts Morgan about his deceit and he tears the lease up and gives it back to her. She shares a kiss with him but then discovers that he intends to wage war against her and her friends and she becomes angry and leaves the party. Slim shoots and kills Forsythe which invokes a fight between Morgan and Slim, during which Slim fires his own gun and unintentionally kills himself. Morgan, his men and the minority cattle owners are joined by the sheriff as they plan to take the sheep across the territory. The sheriff warns them that Rod and his men have organized a cattle stampede to trample the men and their sheep. Morgan and his men head off the stampede and manage to turn it, during which battle both the sheriff and Rod are killed. Morgan and his men intend to move the sheep through the territory by walking them through the main street of the town. One of the men rides back to the Singleton ranch and informs Maria of Rod's death and Morgan's plans, claiming there is no one to stop him now. Maria takes a gun and rides into town where she stands in the middle of the main street and waits for Morgan. Morgan dismounts his horse when he sees Maria and walks towards her but she threatens to shoot him. He continues bringing the sheep along and she shoots him in the shoulder and he collapses on the ground. Seeing what she has done, she drops the gun and runs to Morgan, helping him and proving her affection. They bicker over how stubborn the other is and then share a kiss.


Cast

*
Errol Flynn Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn (20 June 1909 – 14 October 1959) was an Australian-American actor who achieved worldwide fame during the Golden Age of Hollywood. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles, frequent partnerships with Olivia ...
as Morgan Lane *
Alexis Smith Margaret Alexis Fitzsimmons-Smith (June 8, 1921 – June 9, 1993) was a Canadian-born American actress and singer. She appeared in several major Hollywood films in the 1940s and had a notable career on Broadway in the 1970s, winning a Tony Awar ...
as Maria Singleton *
S.Z. Sakall Szőke Szakáll (born Jakab Grünwald, akas: Gärtner Sándor and Gerő Jenő; February 2, 1883 February 12, 1955), known in the English-speaking world as S. Z. Sakall, was a Hungarian-American stage and film character actor. He appeared in m ...
as Papa Schultz * Douglas Kennedy as Rod *
Ian MacDonald Ian MacCormick (known by the pseudonym Ian MacDonald; 3 October 1948 – 20 August 2003) was a British music critic and author, best known for both ''Revolution in the Head'', his critical history of the Beatles which borrowed techniques from a ...
as Reeves *
Lester Matthews Arthur Lester Matthews (6 June 1900 – 5 June 1975) was an English actor. In his career, the handsome Englishman made more than 180 appearances in film and on television. He was erroneously credited in later years as Les Matthews. Matthews pla ...
as Forsythe *
Lane Chandler Lane Chandler (born Robert Clinton Oakes, June 4, 1899 – September 14, 1972) was an American actor specializing mainly in Western (genre), Westerns. Biography Early life Chandler was raised on a ranch near Culbertson, Montana, the so ...
as Sheriff Jake Overby *
James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...
as Tex Coyne (uncredited) *
Art Gilmore Arthur Wells Gilmore, known as Art Gilmore (March 18, 1912 – September 25, 2010) was an American actor and announcer heard on radio and television programs, children's records, movies, trailers, radio commercials, and documentary films. He also ...
as Narrator (uncredited)


Production


Development

Warner Bros had made a number of Westerns named after famous American cities, including ''
Dodge City (film) ''Dodge City'' is a 1939 American Western film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, and Ann Sheridan. Based on a story by Robert Buckner, the film is about a Texas cattle agent who witnesses the brutal lawles ...
'', ''
Virginia City Virginia City is a census-designated place (CDP) that is the county seat of Storey County, Nevada, and the largest community in the county. The city is a part of the Reno– Sparks Metropolitan Statistical Area. Virginia City developed as a boom ...
'' and ''
Santa Fe Trail The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century route through central North America that connected Franklin, Missouri, with Santa Fe, New Mexico. Pioneered in 1821 by William Becknell, who departed from the Boonslick region along the Missouri River, th ...
''. In June 1940 they announced they were making a Western ''Montana'', based on C. B. Glasscock's book ''The War of the Copper Kings''. In August 1941 Warner Bros announced that Errol Flynn would be appearing in the Technicolor Western ''Montana'' in 1941–42.
Max Brand Frederick Schiller Faust (May 29, 1892 – May 12, 1944) was an American writer known primarily for his Western stories using the pseudonym Max Brand. He (as Max Brand) also created the popular fictional character of young medical intern D ...
reportedly worked on the script. However America's entry into World War II appeared to delay the production. After the war it was reported
Eagle-Lion Eagle-Lion Films was a British-American film production company owned by J. Arthur Rank intended to distribute British productions in the United States. In 1947, it acquired Robert R. Young's PRC Pictures, a small American production company, ...
wanted to make a Western called ''Montana'' starring
Joel McCrea Joel Albert McCrea (November 5, 1905 – October 20, 1990) was an American actor whose career spanned a wide variety of genres over almost five decades, including comedy, drama, romance, thrillers, adventures, and Westerns, for which he beca ...
. Then in July 1947 Warners seemed to reactivate the project -
Vincent Sherman Vincent Sherman (born Abraham Orovitz, July 16, 1906 – June 18, 2006) was an American director and actor who worked in Hollywood. His movies include '' Mr. Skeffington'' (1944), '' Nora Prentiss'' (1947), and ''The Young Philadelphians'' (1959) ...
was named as director, William Jacobs producer and
Thames Williamson Thames Williamson (1894–1961) was an American writer. He wrote novels and screenplays. Select Credits *''Next Time I Marry'' (1938) *'' Mildred Pierce'' (1945) - uncredited *''Cheyenne'' (1947) *'' Escape Me Never'' (1947) *''The Last Bandit ...
to work on the script; Errol Flynn was listed as a possible star. However Errol Flynn disliked making Westerns. 1949 he told
Hedda Hopper Hedda Hopper (born Elda Furry; May 2, 1885February 1, 1966) was an American gossip columnist and actress. At the height of her influence in the 1940s, her readership was 35 million. A strong supporter of the House Un-American Activities Committ ...
:
Acting for me is sheer fun. There's only one thing I really don't want to do any more and that's Westerns. I guess I've trod every back trail and canyon pass in the entire west. I've never literally had to read the line, 'they went that a-way pard', but there is one cliche I've said so many times it comes back to me in all my nightmares. Every time there's a gap in the story, every time the writers don't know what to do next, they have me pull up ahead of my gang, assume a decidedly grim look, and say 'All right men, you know what to do now.' The fact is I've made so many of these things, scripts seem so much the same, that what it adds up to in my mind is that the studio says, 'Here's a horse. Get on.'
In December 1947 it was announced that
Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
would play the lead in ''Montana'', with the script based on a novel by
Ernest Haycox Ernest James Haycox (October 1, 1899 – October 13, 1950) was an American writer of Western fiction. Biography Haycox was born in Portland, Oregon, to William James Haycox and the former Martha Burghardt on October 1, 1899.Corning, Howard M. (1 ...
. By January 1948 the film became officially part of Warners schedule for that year. The following month the studio announced it would be made with a budget of $2 million. Eventually Warner Bros decided to give the film to Errol Flynn. In July 1948 they ordered him to return from his home in Jamaica and take the role under his contract. Later that month
Ray Enright Ray Enright (March 25, 1896 – April 3, 1965) was an American film director. He directed 73 films between 1927–53, many of them for Warner Bros. He oversaw comedy films like Joe E. Brown vehicles, five of the six informal pairings of Joa ...
assigned to direct – his first film under a long-term contract with Warners. In August
Alexis Smith Margaret Alexis Fitzsimmons-Smith (June 8, 1921 – June 9, 1993) was a Canadian-born American actress and singer. She appeared in several major Hollywood films in the 1940s and had a notable career on Broadway in the 1970s, winning a Tony Awar ...
and S.Z Sakall were announced as co-stars.


Shooting

Filming began August 1948, after Flynn had just completed a three-month boat trip on the Zaca. The film reportedly started shooting with the script only half ready. James R. Webb and Charles G Booth were credited as working from a story by Ernest Haycox. Flynn missed some of filming due to illness. According to ''Filmink'' magazine "This was the first Western Flynn made for Warners that does not seem to be hugely expensive – it's not a "B" by any means, just not a spectacle."


Reception


Critical

The ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' said the film "won't set the cinema world on fire but it's solid Western entertainment." ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' called it "a fair enough hour and a quarter."


Box Office

According to ''Variety'' the film earned $2.1 million domestically in 1950. The film earned £131,969 in the UK and had admissions of 1,899,891 in France. According to Warner Bros records, the film earned $2,203,000 domestically and $1,444,000 overseas, making $3,647,000 over all. As its cost was $1,589,000 it is likely the film made a profit.


Soundtrack

*''Reckon I'm in Love'' Written by
Mack David Mack David (July 5, 1912 – December 30, 1993) was an American lyricist and songwriter, best known for his work in film and television, with a career spanning the period between the early 1940s and the early 1970s. David was credited with writing ...
,
Al Hoffman Al Hoffman (September 25, 1902 – July 21, 1960) was an American song composer. He was a hit songwriter active in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, usually co-writing with others and responsible for number-one hits through each decade, many of wh ...
and
Jerry Livingston Jerry Livingston (born Jerry Levinson; March 25, 1909 – July 1, 1987) was an American songwriter and dance orchestra pianist. Life and career Born in Denver, Colorado, Livingston studied music at the University of Arizona. While there he com ...

Sung by Errol Flynn and Alexis Smith *''
Old Dan Tucker "Old Dan Tucker," also known as "Ole Dan Tucker," "Dan Tucker," and other variants, is an American popular song. Its origins remain obscure; the tune may have come from oral tradition, and the words may have been written by songwriter and perfor ...
'' Traditional


Comic book adaptation

The film was released as a Fawcett Movie Comic #2


References


External links

* * * *
Review of film
at ''Variety'' {{Ray Enright 1950 films 1950 Western (genre) films American Western (genre) films 1950s English-language films Warner Bros. films Films set in Montana Films adapted into comics Films directed by Ray Enright Films scored by David Buttolph 1950s American films English-language Western (genre) films