SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Hayden Kane There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Fatma Suarez The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

moonspinner55 Fur-trapper in 1829 Colorado marries a Blackfoot Indian chief's beautiful, headstrong daughter, but runs afoul of her people. Adaptation of historian Bernard DeVoto's book was a peculiar choice for both MGM and its resident star, Clark Gable. Gable was probably too old for such an athletic role, although he gazes at María Elena Marqués with convincing adoration and gives the proceedings some charismatic panache. Otherwise, the usual western-genre elements are firmly in place, including a "Skip to My Lou" refrain on the soundtrack and the old jest of men dancing 'round the campfire with other men when the females become scarce (of course this lively, joshing scene breaks out into a fight to show us in the audience that these guys are 'real men'). William A. Wellman directed, and he seems to have been saddled with setting the narrative in quasi-flashback, complete with a narration (by Howard Keel!) of Gable's grown son telling us the story in elemental terms. William Mellor's Technicolor cinematography and the Rocky Mountain locales are stunning--more so than the plot--and yet, after awhile the landscapes begin to resemble color portraits adopted for effect for our benefit. ** from ****

mark.waltz With one rugged MGM newcomer (Howard Keel) narrating the story of how his father, rugged MGM veteran Clark Gable, ventured to Missouri to hunt beaver and ended up married to an Indian maiden (María Elena Marqués) who proved to be as brave (possibly even braver) than any of the white men who accompanied him. In the process, Gable makes enemies of a native American tribe (lead by Ricardo Montalban in a virtual wordless part) out to kill the white man "invading" their territory. The MGM mountains are obvious, even with gorgeous Technicolor and a snow sequence where Marqués is the most daring of all, willing to ride her horse through it just so the others can see how deep it is. Dressed in cowboy duds and speaking with a French/Canadian accent, veteran "Dapper Dan" Adolph Menjou takes on a Walter Brennan role, but his elegance shines through.Films like this have to be taken with a grain of salt because as movie history has shown, the relationship between the settlers and the natives has been told through the settler's (white man's) point of view. Even though through his narration, half white/half Indian Keel reveals that his father began to see the native Americans as human beings with emotions, ambitions, humor and passions, it is obvious that because they appeared to look like savages, that's how the movies were still going to portray them, no matter what was indicated in the screenplay. Yes, one of the tribes Gable encounters (the one Marqués belongs to) is very welcoming to him (even though he makes a definite rival in the very white looking Indian played by John Hodiak), but the other (lead by Montalban) is portrayed as total savage and nothing flattering is revealed about them.A final battle sequence leads to a riveting chase where the baby (who grows up to become the unseen Keel) is carried away by a running horse while Gable chases Montalban who is on chase after the horse carrying his baby. Realistically, there is the definite feeling that in this wilderness, anything can happen at any time, and it does, often with tragic results. So while the premise of good white people vs. savage Indians (although one vengeful white man does make a stupid move against the good Indians in a key sequence) is a bit jarring, the way MGM put this together with colorful style and its usual class makes this stand above the usual westerns that lacked in quality and in understanding. The inclusion of the French standard "Alouette" and the children's standard "Skip to My Lou" add some light-heartedness to the darker themes, which really don't take over until the second half of the film.

Tweekums I hadn't heard of this film until I saw it listed in the TV guide and as it was only an hour and a half long I thought I'd check it out. I'm pleased that I did as it is quite different to most westerns I'd seen. Set when much of what is now the United States was still controlled by the native population and any European heading into there territory had to make friends quickly or risk being killed. The story follows group of trappers led by Flint Mitchell who head into Blackfoot territory to hunt beavers and elk; in order to be welcome Mitchell buys and marries the Blackfoot chief's granddaughter who had been kidnapped by a Nez Perce chief and adopted as his daughter. His new wife Kamiah leads them into Blackfoot territory via a route that avoids the aggressive warrior Iron Shirt. Once there they set about trapping and hunting, they also make friends with the Blackfoot chief Bear Ghost. There are still dangers though and Iron Shirt's band poses a danger. When one of the trappers is killed his brother takes revenge by killing Grey Wolf, this leaves Iron Shirt as the new chief and the trappers are in real danger; a danger that many of them will not survive.At first I though this might be a comedy as the opening scenes contained such sights as a brawl involving all of the trappers and an Indian chief who was wearing a suit of armour and Mitchell's new wife throwing pots and pans at him when he enters her tepee in a drunken state! As the film progresses things get more serious though as the trappers get in real danger and several are killed frequently without warning. One of the deaths, I won't spoil it by saying whose, was one of the most surprising I've seen in any film. The acting was pretty solid; Clark Gable was good in the lead role as was María Elena Marqués as his wife Kamiah. Surprisingly much of the dialogue wasn't in English; some was in French and much was in the Indian's language, this wasn't subtitled which puts the viewer in the same position of not understanding that Mitchell was in; of course he had a native speaker in his group who could translate for him (and the audience). While I don't think this is a must see film I'd certainly recommend checking it out if you are a western fan and it is on television.

duke1029 "Across the Wide Missouri" was planned as a sprawling saga of early 19th Century Americana, so there are questions as to how and why it ended up in its present truncated 78 minute form, not much longer than a "B" picture. There shouldn't be any argument that director William A. 'Wild Bill' Wellman's original vision was grander in scope, even epic. Evidence of the cutting can be clearly seen in the cover of the DVD, which duplicates the original one sheet poster. Actor James Whitmore, a big favorite of Wellman's, is given co-star billing and is listed fourth overall in the cast behind MGM leading men Clark Gable, Ricardo Montalban, and John Hodiak and ahead of such venerable character actors as Adolphe Menjou, J. Carrol Naish, and Jack Holt.Whitmore had starred in the director's previous film, "The Next Voice You Hear" in 1951 and had earned an Oscar nomination for his scene-stealing performance in Wellman's iconic 1949 WWII actioner "Battleground." In the released version Whitmore is not billed in the opening credits and does not appear in the 78 minute film until some 33 minutes into the movie. He cannot be spotted with the mountain men in the sizable "Rendezvous" sequence early in the picture and is not seen on the trek over the Rockies until they're halfway there when he suddenly appears out of nowhere on top of a snow-covered mountain. For the remainder of the film he has only a handful of unimportant lines, which makes one wonder why one of Hollywood's most respected character actors would be squandered in what is essentially a bit role. Among the many ironies associated with this film is that, according to studio records, his character's name is "Bit."Wellman's MGM contract had concluded with the completion of "The Next Voice You Hear," but when Metro found themselves without a director for their scheduled epic, they asked Wellman to helm the film. 'Wild Bill' agreed on the condition that he be allowed to bring his family along with him on location - at the studio's expense, an offer he couldn't refuse when MGM agreed to his request. With three A-list stars, an exceptional supporting class of character actors, and breathtakingly beautiful locations, it should have been a blockbuster. It wasn't. The blame, if any, can be laid at the feet of studio boss, Dore Schary, who undoubtedly panicked after attending a preview when he found that the audience that had cheered the opening credits "lost interest" about halfway through. Producer Sam Zimbalist, who wasn't involved with the picture, suggested drastic cuts to be bridged by an afterthought narration by Howard Keel. Although scripted by Talbot Jennings, one of the film's co-writers, the narration is leadenly heavy-handed and overly literal and drowns the director's visual subtleties. An embittered Wellman remarked, " They cut out all the action and put in a narration to fill the holes. This was a good, long picture the way I made it. I've never seen it and I never will." Ironically Wellman re-signed with MGM, and his next picture, "Westward the Women," covered some of the same territory as "Missouri," albeit more successfully.An added irony is that the same Dore Schary, supposedly the most literate and tasteful of all studio heads in Golden Age Hollywoosd, was a serial offender. Only a few months earlier he butchered John Huston's brilliant adaptation of "The Red Badge of Courage" down to "B" picture length of a mere 69 minutes with bridging narration spoken by non-other than... James Whitmore!One last sad irony... as I write this review, news that Judy Lewis, age 76, passed away today is on the Web. She was the secret love child of Clark Gable and Loretta Young, conceived during the filming of another Wellman Western epic, "The Call of the Wild" in 1935. Miss Young never acknowledged that Lewis was her biological daughter and claimed she was adopted. Lewis' memoir "Uncommon Knowledge" was published in 1995.