St. Helens (film)
| St. Helens | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Ernest Pintoff |
| Produced by | Peter S. Davis William N. Panzer |
| Screenplay by | Peter Bellwood Larry Ferguson |
| Story by | Michael Timothy Murphy Larry Sturholm |
| Starring |
Art Carney David Huffman Cassie Yates Albert Salmi |
| Cinematography | Jacques Haitkin |
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Release date
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Running time
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90 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
St. Helens, aka St. Helens, Killer Volcano, is a 1981 made for cable HBO film directed by Ernest Pintoff and starring David Huffman, Art Carney, Cassie Yates, and Albert Salmi. The film centers on the events leading up to the cataclysmic 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington state, with the story beginning on the day volcanic activity started on March 20, 1980, and ending on the day of the eruption: May 18, 1980.
The film opens up with an image of Central Oregon's Mount Bachelor and the Central Oregon Cascades, which is the fictional setting for Mount St. Helens itself. On March 20, 1980 an earthquake of 4.1 on the Richter Scale strikes Mount St. Helens, signalling the first signs of volcanic activity in 123 years.
During the first earthquake, a flight of quail becomes disoriented and smashes into the windshield of an Aerospatiale SA341G Gazelle helicopter being used for logging operations. Pilot Otis Kaylor lands the helicopter, only to be accused of nearly killing a group of loggers.
Shortly afterward, David Jackson (a fictionalized analog of real-life volcanologist David Johnston), a United States Geological Survey scientist, is sent to investigate the activity. Upon arriving in the small town of Cougar (a real-life town located 12 miles south of Mount St. Helens), he quickly befriends a single mother named Linda Steele (played by Cassie Yates), a waitress at a fictional restaurant named Whittaker's Inn. While there, he stirs up concern with the owner, Clyde Whittaker (Albert Salmi), and a group of farmers and loggers.
Art Carney stars as the 83-year-old Mount St. Helens Lodge owner Harry Randall Truman, who has a defiant attitude toward the idea of leaving his home.
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