Pillars of the Sky (1956)

Director:

George Marshall

Writers:

Heck Allen (novel)
Sam Rolfe (screenplay)

Release Date:

12 October 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Tagline:

The story of a people's faith and the courage of a man they called Godless!

Plot:

In Oregon Country, 1868, several tribes of Native Americans have been placed on a reservation north of the Snake River...

Plot Keywords:

Cavalry | Christianity | Native American | Beautiful Woman | Native American Reservation

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Jeff Chandler	...	First Sergeant Emmett Bell
Dorothy Malone	...	Calla Gaxton
Ward Bond	...	Doctor Joseph Holden
Keith Andes	...	Captain Tom Gaxton
Lee Marvin	...	Sgt. Lloyd Carracart
Sydney Chaplin	...	Timothy
Willis Bouchey	...	Colonel Edson Stedlow
Michael Ansara	...	Kamiakin
Olive Carey	...	Mrs. Anne Avery
Charles Horvath	...	Sergeant Dutch Williams
Orlando Rodriguez	...	Malachi
Glen Kramer	...	Lieutenant Winston
Floyd Simmons	...	Lieutenant Hammond
Pat Hogan	...	Jacob
Felix Noriego	...	Lucas

Also Known As:

The Tomahawk and the Cross (UK)

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (certificate #17682) | West Germany:12 | Finland:K-16 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Joseph, Oregon, USA

Company:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When Sgt Bell goes to the tent for a drink of whiskey and Sgt Carrracart tells him the still is small, Sgt Bell leaves and Sgt Carracart takes a drink from a canteen. The canteen is a Scout model made of Aluminum and not available until the 1900's.

You Have To Grab The Audience Faster And Better Than This

Since I love westerns, and usually have no problems watching actors like Jeff Chandler, Dorothy Malone, Ward Bond and Lee Marvin, I thought for sure I would enjoy this movie.

Wrong. The lead, "1st Sgt. Emmetr Bell" (Chandler) was a unlikeable, bitter guy who gets a quick slam in about "having no use for the Bible" and appearing as a bitter guy. My major complaint, however, was that - especially in a western - you better grab the audience's attention early on, if you want to hold. Nothing happens in this movie for at least the first half hour. By then I was bored, and I couldn't have been the only one. If memory serves me, the big calvary-vs. Indians battle doesn't happen for at least an hour.

Malone also did not look the part at all. Marvin with an Irish accent? Puh-leeze! They and some of the others either had no credibility or they sounded like they just mailed in their performances.

At least they were good enough to film this on location, in the Pacific Northwest, which always looks impressive on film. This might have been an interesting had they punched it up in the first half, but you can't expect to hold audiences with something this lackluster.