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Rocky Mountain (film)

Rocky Mountain
Rockymountain1950.jpg
Directed by William Keighley
Produced by William Jacobs
Written by Winston Miller
Based on story Ghost Mountain by Alan Le May
Starring Errol Flynn
Patrice Wymore
Music by Max Steiner
Cinematography Ted McCord
Edited by Rudi Fehr
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release date
  • November 11, 1950 (1950-11-11)
Running time
83 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Box office £125,231 (UK)
1,459,012 admissions (France)

Rocky Mountain is a 1950 western film directed by William Keighley and starring Errol Flynn. It also stars Patrice Wymore, who married Flynn in 1950. The film is set near the end of the American Civil War.

A car pulls up to an historical marker in the desert that reads:

ROCKY MOUNTAIN, also known as Ghost Mountain. On March 26, 1865, a detachment of Confederate cavalry crossed the state line into California under secret orders from Gen. Robert E. Lee to rendezvous at Ghost Mountain with one Cole Smith, with instructions to place the flag atop the mountain, and though their mission failed, the heroism displayed by these gallant men honored the cause for which they fought so valiantly.

In 1865, eight horsemen trek across the California desert, arriving at Ghost Mountain. Led by Captain Lafe Barstow (Errol Flynn) of the Mississippi Mounted Rifles. The eight soldiers encounter a man who calls himself California Beal (Howard Petrie). As a last desperate effort to turn the tide of the war, Barstow's mission is to persuade Cole Smith and his 500 men to raid California on behalf of the Confederacy. From their vantage point on the mountain, the men see a Shoshone war party attack a stagecoach. Barstow's men charge and drive off the Shoshone after the stage overturns, rescuing driver Gil Craigie (Chubby Johnson ) and the only surviving passenger, Johanna Carter (Patrice Wymore), traveling to join her fiancé, Union Army officer Lt. Rickey (Scott Forbes).

That night, the Indians burn the stage. Next morning, a detachment of four Union soldiers and three Shoshone scouts examine the ashes. Barstow's men ambush the detachment, killing one and capturing the rest, including Lt. Rickey. From them, Barstow learns that the Union knows about their presence in California and that California Beal is actually Cole Smith himself. Smith leaves, promising to return in two days with his men. Craigie talks with the Shoshone scouts and learns that they are really a chief, Man Dog, and his sons. He warns Barstow that they will escape and return with their tribe. That night, while Jimmy (Dickie Jones) is on watch, the Indians try to escape. The soldiers kill two of them, but Man Dog evades their bullets.


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