Red Skies of Montana
| Red Skies of Montana | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Joseph M. Newman |
| Produced by | Samuel G. Engel |
| Screenplay by | Art Cohn |
| Story by | Harry Kleiner George R. Stewart |
| Starring |
Richard Widmark Constance Smith Jeffrey Hunter Richard Boone |
| Music by | Sol Kaplan |
| Cinematography | Charles G. Clarke |
| Edited by | William Reynolds |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
|
Release date
|
February 1952 |
|
Running time
|
99 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $1.25 million (US rentals) |
Red Skies of Montana is a 1952 adventure drama in which Richard Widmark stars as a smokejumper who attempts to save his crew while being overrun by a forest fire, not only to preserve their lives, but to redeem himself after being the only survivor of a previous disaster.
The film was loosely based on the August 1949 Mann Gulch fire, and filmed on location in Technicolor with the cooperation of the United States Forest Service.
Bugle Mountain (also known as "Bugle Peak"), located in the Scapegoat Wilderness near Lincoln, Montana, gave its name to the fictional setting of the forest fire in the Selway National Forest shown during the first 30 minutes of the film.
Cliff Mason, a veteran foreman of the Forest Service's smokejumper unit, is called out with a crew on a fire, despite the fact that they have not rested in three days. Accompanied by R. A. "Pop" Miller and four other men, Cliff leaves the smokejumper base at Missoula, Montana to parachute into a nearly inaccessible area of Bugle Peak. Hours later, at base, superintendent Richard "Dick" Dryer becomes worried because Cliff is not answering radio calls. The next day, after the fire crowns, Dick flies by helicopter into the area and is stunned to find only Cliff, in shock and wandering through the devastated region. Cliff is rushed to the hospital, where he gradually recovers, although he cannot remember how he got separated from his men, or why he was the only one to survive.
Upon his return home, Cliff is greeted by Pop's son Ed, who is also a smokejumper. Ed expresses genuine concern for Cliff, but Cliff, sensitive about his lack of memory and worried that he might be responsible for his crew's deaths, becomes antagonistic. A board of review conducts a hearing into the matter, and Cliff grows increasingly defensive after several grueling days of repetitious questioning. Cliff's paranoia grows that he might be thought a coward who deserted his men despite the assurances of his devoted wife Peg and Dick, who lets him return to work only as supervisor of training. Ed continues to grill Cliff, asking him how he might have come to be in the protected rock slide area that was the only possible place of survival when the bodies of his crew were found on an exposed ridge across the valley. Ed's suspicions escalate and Cliff reacts even more bitterly. One night, an emergency crew is called out to repair downed transmission lines, and when Cliff's longtime friend Boise Peterson is shocked by a live wire, Cliff saves him. Ed pointedly remarks that it was not necessary for Cliff to prove his bravery. Cliff is cleared by the board of review but confides to Peg that he is plagued by doubts about his courage. Later, Dick shows Ed a watch, mistakenly sent to another man's family, that Ed recognizes as his father's. Upset again, Ed confronts Cliff with the watch, and jogs his memory.
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