''Pillars of the Sky'' is a 1956 American

CinemaScope CinemaScope is an anamorphic format, anamorphic lens series used, from 1953 to 1967, and less often later, for shooting widescreen films that, crucially, could be screened in theatres using existing equipment, albeit with a lens adapter. Its cr ...

Western film The Western is a film genre defined by the American Film Institute as films which are "set in the American West that mbodythe spirit, the struggle, and the demise of the new frontier." Generally set in the American frontier between the Calif ...

directed by

George Marshall George Catlett Marshall Jr. (31 December 1880 – 16 October 1959) was an American army officer and statesman. He rose through the United States Army to become Chief of Staff of the United States Army, Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army under pres ...

and starring

Jeff Chandler Jeff Chandler (born Ira Grossel; December 15, 1918 – June 17, 1961) was an American actor. He was best known for his portrayal of Cochise in '' Broken Arrow'' (1950), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting ...

Dorothy Malone Dorothy Malone (born Mary Dorothy Maloney; January 29, 1924 – January 19, 2018) was an American actress. Her film career began in 1943, and in her early years, she played small roles, mainly in B-movies, with the exception of a supporting rol ...

and

Ward Bond Wardell Edwin Bond (April 9, 1903 – November 5, 1960) was an American character actor who appeared in more than 200 films and starred in the NBC television series ''Wagon Train'' from 1957 to 1960. Among his best-remembered roles are Bert th ...

. It was produced and distributed by

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

Plot

Oregon Country Oregon Country was a large region of the Pacific Northwest of North America that was subject to a long Oregon boundary dispute, dispute between the United Kingdom and the United States in the early 19th century. The area, which had been demarcat ...

1868: Indians of many tribes trust Sgt. Emmett Bell, who rides into Dr. Joseph Holden's mission with his Indian scouts. However, troop and weapon movements by new U.S. Cavalry commanding officer Col. Steadlow have endangered the peace and angered the chiefs, in particular one called Kamiakin. An outraged Bell tries to appeal to Steadlow as well as Capt. Tom Gaxton, whose wife Calla was once in love with him. Calla and another woman are taken captive but are rescued by Bell, rekindling his and Calla's romance. The Indians ambush a large cavalry patrol and, after a fierce fightwith extensive dead and wounded on both sidesthe surviving soldiers break through the Indians and manage to escape to Holden's mission, using it as a fortification against an expected attack. Appeals for a truce go in vain. However, a particularly bloodthirsty act by Kamiakin results in his being killed by one of his own, whereupon Bell and the chiefs agree to do whatever is necessary to restore the peace.

Cast

as First Sergeant Emmett Bell *

as Calla Gaxton *

as Doctor Joseph Holden * Keith Andes as Captain Tom Gaxton *

Lee Marvin Lee Marvin (February 19, 1924August 29, 1987) was an American film and television actor. Known for his bass voice and prematurely white hair, he is best remembered for playing hardboiled "tough guy" characters. Although initially typecast as th ...

as Sergeant Lloyd Carracart *

Sydney Chaplin Sydney John Chaplin (; 16 March 1885 – 16 April 1965) was an English actor. Chaplin was the elder half-brother of actor and filmmaker Charlie Chaplin and in later life, served as his business manager. Through their mother Hannah, they were ...

as Timothy *

Willis Bouchey Willis Ben Bouchey (May 24, 1907 - September 27, 1977) was an American character actor. Bouchey may be best known for his movie appearances in '' The Horse Soldiers'', '' The Long Gray Line'', '' Sergeant Rutledge'', '' Two Rode Together'', ...

as Colonel Edson Stedlow *

Michael Ansara Michael George Ansara (; April 15, 1922 – July 31, 2013) was an American actor. A Syrian-American, he was often cast in Arabic and American Indian roles. His work in both film and television spanned several genres including historical epic ...

as Kamiakin *

Olive Carey Olive Carey (born Olive Fuller Golden; January 31, 1896 – March 13, 1988) was an American film and television actress, and the mother of actor Harry Carey Jr. Early life Carey was born Olive Fuller Golden in New York City, the daughter ...

as Mrs. Anne Avery * Charles Horvath as Sergeant Dutch Williams * Orlando Rodriguez as Malachi * Glen Kramer as Lieutenant Winston * Floyd Simmons as Lieutenant Hammond * Pat Hogan as Jacob * Felix Noriego as Lucas * Paul Smith as Morgan *

Martin Milner Martin Sam Milner (December 28, 1931 – September 6, 2015) was an American actor and radio host. He is best known for his performances on two television series: '' Route 66'', which aired on CBS from 1960 to 1964, and '' Adam-12'', which ...

as Waco * Robert Ellis as Albie * Ralph Votrian as Music (as Ralph J Votrian) *

Walter Coy Walter Darwin Coy (January 31, 1909 – December 11, 1974) was an American stage, radio, film, and, principally, television actor, arguably most well known as the brother of John Wayne's character in ''The Searchers'' (1956). Early years Origina ...

as Major Donahue * Alberto Morin as Sgt. Major Frenchy Desmonde *

Richard Hale Richard Hale (born James Richards Hale; November 16, 1892 – May 18, 1981) was an American opera and concert singer and later a character actor of film, stage and television. Hale's appearance usually landed him roles as either Middle E ...

as Isaiah * Frank Kova as Zachariah (as Frank de Kova) * Terry Wilson as Captain Fanning * Philip Kieffer as Major Randall * Gilbert Conner as Elijah

Production

The film was partly shot on location in

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

over six weeks. At one stage it was announced the film was going to be directed by

John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), better known as John Ford, was an American film director and producer. He is regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers during the Golden Age of Hollywood, and w ...

and star

John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne, was an American actor. Nicknamed "Duke", he became a Pop icon, popular icon through his starring roles in films which were produced during Hollywood' ...

. Filming started August 1955.

Evaluation in film guides

Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide ''Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide'' was a book-format collection of movie capsule reviews that began in 1969, was updated biannually after 1978, and then annually after 1986. The final edition was published in September 2014. It was originally calle ...

'' gives ''Pillars of the Sky'' 2½ stars (out of 4) in a one-sentence write-up which states that "Chandler is apt as swaggering army officer...", with ''

Steven H. Scheuer's Movies on TV Steven Henry Scheuer ( ) (January 9, 1926 – May 31, 2014) was a film and television historian and critic. He edited ''Movies on TV'' published between 1958 and 1993 and wrote ''The Movie Book'' (1974), subtitled ''A Comprehensive, Authoritative ...

'' also arriving at the 2½ stars (out of 4) rating, deciding that "Western fans will buy this tale of a no-account, hard-drinking, woman-chasing Sgt. who finally sees the error of his ways..." '' The Motion Picture Guide'' makes it unanimous (among the three cited sources), with its 2½-star (out of 5) description of the production as "a relatively satisfying cowboys and Indians film starring Chandler as a cavalry scout who is literally a voice in the wilderness..." and, in conclusion, adds, " od cast. The outdoor location shooting was done in Oregon".

References

External links

* * * *
Review of film
at ''Variety''
''Pillars of the Sky''
at ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...