1975 film by Tom Gries
Breakheart Pass
is a
1975
American
Western
film that stars
Charles Bronson
,
Ben Johnson
,
Richard Crenna
, and
Jill Ireland
. Based on the 1974 novel of
the same title
by
Scottish
author
Alistair MacLean
(1922?1987),
[4]
it was filmed in
north-central Idaho
.
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]
Plot
[
edit
]
In the 1870s, residents of the garrison at the
Fort Humboldt
frontier outpost of the
United States Army
are reported to be suffering from a
diphtheria
epidemic. A special express train is heading up into the remote mountain ranges towards the fort filled with reinforcements and medical supplies. Also, civilian passengers are on the train in the rear luxurious private car ?
Nevada
Governor Fairchild (Richard Crenna) and his fiancee Marica (Jill Ireland), the daughter of the fort's commander.
The train stops briefly in the small
whistle stop
settlement of Myrtle, where it takes on board local lawman
United States Marshal
Pearce (Ben Johnson) and his prisoner, John Deakin (Charles Bronson), a supposedly notorious outlaw who was identified by a picture in a newspaper advertisement offering a $2,000 (about $55,000 today) reward. As the journey goes on through the snowy mountains, though, several train passengers, including most of the train's soldier escort, are mysteriously killed or go missing. The rear two cars and caboose had been uncoupled from the train, and have plunged off a cliff. Deakin, who is actually an undercover
U.S. Secret Service
agent, uncovers en route that the "epidemic" at the outpost is actually a conspiracy between a group of killers led by the notorious outlaw Levi Calhoun (
Robert Tessier
) and a tribe of
Native Americans
under Chief White Hand (
Eddie Little Sky
). Instead of medical supplies, the train's boxcars are transporting a large secret shipment of firearms, ammunition and dynamite stolen from U.S. manufacturers for sale to the Natives, in return for allowing Calhoun and his men to mine and smuggle gold from their lands. Most of the people on the train, including Governor Fairchild and Marshal Pearce, are Calhoun's partners in crime, and those innocents who discover the evidence for his sinister plot are eliminated. Eventually, Deakin narrows his list of possible uninvolved allies down to Marica and Army Major Claremont (
Ed Lauter
), who agrees to assist the agent in his efforts to prevent the arms delivery.
At snow-covered Breakheart Pass, all hell breaks loose. The impatient Natives intercept the train to take the weapons they were promised, and Calhoun and his men ride out to the train to find out what is going on. Deakin and Major Claremont use dynamite to blow up and damage the track rails, grounding the train before it reaches the fort; and while Deakin runs interference, Claremont rushes ahead to Fort Humboldt to free the soldiers imprisoned by Calhoun's gang. A gunfight breaks out when the freed soldiers clash with the Natives and bandits at the train. Calhoun is killed by Fairchild when he threatens Marica, but the governor is then, in turn, cut down by Claremont. At the end of the battle, Deakin intercepts Marshal Pearce and shoots him when the corrupt lawman decides to go down fighting.
Cast
[
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]
Production
[
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]
Writing
[
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]
Producers Elliott Kastner and Jerry Gershwin had filmed a number of Alistair MacLean novels previously, including
Where Eagles Dare
and
When Eight Bells Toll
.
[
citation needed
]
Casting
[
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]
Charles Bronson was paid $1 million plus 10% of the gross for his role.
[10]
Lewiston
realtor
Irv Falling, a retired U.S. Army
colonel
, played a cameo role as the father of Marica, Gov. Fairchild's fiancee (Jill Ireland) in the final snowy scene, as frontier army colonel and commander at Fort Humboldt reunites with his daughter. He had helped the Bronsons find a home to rent.
[5]
[7]
Bronson and Ireland arrived in Lewiston for filming in early March 1975 and stayed at 322 Stewart Avenue.
[11]
Filming
[
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]
Some exteriors were filmed in
Pierce
and
Reubens
in north-central Idaho;
[7]
[12]
the
Native American
extras were
Nez Perce
, mostly from
Lapwai
.
[11]
Railroad scenes were filmed on the
Camas Prairie Railroad
(based in
Lewiston
).
[7]
[9]
[13]
The hire of the train (Great Western Railway
steam locomotive
#75)
[14]
carriages and track cost $500,000 (approximately $2,831,000 today).
[10]
Opening scenes in the Myrtle settlement / "whistle stop" were shot at a specially built set (to look like an old abandoned gold-rush town) just outside Arrow Junction, about fifteen miles (25 km) east of Lewiston.
[15]
It was the final film role participation for longtime veteran stuntman
Yakima Canutt
, who was aged 79 at the time.
[5]
He was in charge of the second unit direction;
[16]
his son, Joe, was one of the stuntmen.
[17]
Canutt oversaw the scene where the
caboose
and troop carriages crashed off the rail line into a ravine.
[15]
[18]
Six cameras filmed the cars falling 200 feet (60 m) into the canyon, but the dummies (representing the soldiers) failed to fall out during the crash. The crash was filmed at Halfmoon Trestle (
46°19′30″N
116°34′27″W
/
46.325°N 116.5743°W
/
46.325; -116.5743
(
Location of Halfmoon Trestle
)
), east of
U.S. Route 95
in Lapwai Canyon.
[15]
[16]
Alternating shots of clear and overcast skies are present in the final climactic scenes.
Bronson later said that in the original story, his character was not revealed as being a detective until the end. When he read an early script, the reveal was made much earlier. Bronson demanded it be changed to the way it was in the original story, and this was done. During filming, Bronson discovered the script had been changed again to reveal his character was a detective early. Bronson was unhappy with this but went along with it as by then filming was underway and he felt he could not leave the production.
[19]
Music
[
edit
]
A limited-edition (3,000 run) CD soundtrack of
Breakheart Pass
, highlighting the original music of
Jerry Goldsmith
, was released by La-La Land Records. It is out of print.
[20]
Release
[
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]
Home media
[
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]
- Release date: December 19, 2000
- Full Screen & Widescreen Anamorphic
- Region: 1
- Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 & 16:9
- Audio tracks: English, French
- Subtitles: English, Spanish
- Running time: 95 minutes
Kino Video released
Breakheart Pass
for the first time on Blu-ray on August 12, 2014.
Reception
[
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]
Box office
[
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]
The film was a
box-office disappointment
in the United States.
[21]
Critical response
[
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]
The
Los Angeles Times
called it, "a fun if familiar picture, but is played so broadly on such an elementary level that it can hope to satisfy only the most undemanding of viewer."
[22]
See also
[
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]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Breakheart Pass
premieres
- ^
Champlin, Charles. (February 27, 1975). "CRITIC AT LARGE: The Scot's Got Lots of Plots".
Los Angeles Times
. p. f1.
- ^
SECOND ANNUAL GROSSES GLOSS Byron, Stuart. Film Comment; New York Vol. 13, Iss. 2, (Mar/Apr 1977): 35?37,64.
- ^
Vorpahl, Beverly (February 7, 1976).
"
"Who-Done-It" filmed in area"
.
Spokane Daily Chronicle
. Washington. p. 20.
- ^
a
b
c
Dullenty, Jim (April 1, 1975).
"Interview roles reversed"
.
Spokane Daily Chronicle
. Washington. p. 1.
- ^
"
'Breakheart Pass' ready for all the world to see"
.
Spokane Daily Chronicle
. Washington. photos. February 7, 1976. p. 3.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Campbell, Thomas W. (February 13, 1976).
"
'Breakheart' ? bullets fly, men die"
.
Lewiston Morning Tribune
. Idaho. p. 14A.
- ^
Bunning, Paul (February 16, 1976).
"Idaho scenery steals show"
.
Spokesman-Review
. Spokane, Washington. p. 5.
- ^
a
b
Blumenthal (July 10, 1975).
"Motion picture production creates an anti-recession boom for Idaho city"
.
The Ledger
. Lakeland, Florida. (New York Times). p. 4C.
- ^
a
b
Blumenthal, Ralph. (April 20, 1975). "Roll 'em! Film enriches Idaho".
Chicago Tribune
. p. 8.
- ^
a
b
O'Connell, Mary J. (March 3, 1975).
"Bronson, Ireland arrive for 'Breakheart' filming"
.
Lewiston Morning Tribune
. Idaho. p. 12A.
- ^
Idaho film archive
Archived
May 12, 2008, at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
"It's not for real"
.
Spokesman-Review
. Spokane, Washington. (photo). April 14, 1975. p. 6.
- ^
Railroad Movies on DVD (RailServe.com)
- ^
a
b
c
"A taste of Tinsel Town: In 1975, the film 'Breakheart Pass' was filmed against the backdrop of north central Idaho; a look back as the film returns to Lewiston"
. www.inland360.com. July 12, 2012
. Retrieved
March 20,
2017
.
- ^
a
b
"Helluva way to run a railroad"
.
Lewiston Morning Tribune
. (Idaho). April 13, 1975. p. 14A.
- ^
Pitts, Michael (1999).
Charles Bronson: The 95 films and the 156 Television Appearances
. McFarland & Company. p. 32.
ISBN
0786417021
.
- ^
Kough, Barry (April 13, 1975).
"The frontier train of "Breakheart Pass" crashed..."
Lewiston Morning Tribune
. (Idaho). (photo). p. 1A.
- ^
Siskel, Gene. (September 7, 1980). "Movies: Bronson: After 62 films, still the reliable pro".
Chicago Tribune
. p. d3.
- ^
Breakheart Pass
soundtrack
Archived
July 26, 2008, at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
Siskel, Gene (February 20, 1977). "Movies: Yesterday's heroism?Could it cure today's ailing western?".
Chicago Tribune
. p. e2.
- ^
Thomas, Kevin (March 10, 1976). "MOVIE REVIEW: Bronson Stars in 'Breakheart Pass'
".
Los Angeles Times
. p. f9.
External links
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edit
]
|
---|
Novels
| |
---|
Non-fiction
| |
---|
Screenplays
| |
---|
Adaptations
| |
---|
UNACO
novels
|
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(1980) (with John Denis)
- Air Force One Is Down
(1981) (with John Denis)
- Death Train
(1989) (with Alastair MacNeill)
- Night Watch
(1990)(with Alastair MacNeill)
- Red Alert
(1990) (with Alastair MacNeill)
- Time of the Assassins
(1991) (with Alastair MacNeill)
- Dead Halt
(1992) (with Alastair MacNeill)
- Code Breaker
(1993) (with Alastair MacNeill)
- Rendezvous
(1995) (with Alastair MacNeill}
- Prime Target
(1997) (with Hugh Miller)
- Borrowed Time
(1998) (with Hugh Miller)
|
---|
Golden Girl novels
|
- Golden Girl
(1992) (with Simon Gandolfi)
- Golden Web
(1993) (with Simon Gandolfi)
- Golden Vengeance
(1994) (with Simon Gandolfi)
|
---|