The Mountain Men (1980)

A pair of grizzled frontiersmen fight Indians, guzzle liquor and steal squaws in their search for a legendary valley 'so full of beaver that they jump right into your traps' in this fanciful adventure.

Director:

Richard Lang

Writer:

Fraser C. Heston (as Fraser Clarke Heston)

Stars:

Charlton Heston, Brian Keith, Victoria Racimo

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Charlton Heston	...	Bill Tyler
Brian Keith	...	Henry Frapp
Victoria Racimo	...	Running Moon
Stephen Macht	...	Heavy Eagle
John Glover	...	Nathan Wyeth
Seymour Cassel	...	La Bont
David Ackroyd	...	Medicine Wolf
Cal Bellini	...	Cross Otter
William Lucking	...	Jim Walter (as Bill Lucking)
Ken Ruta	...	Fontenelle
Victor Jory	...	Iron Belly
Danny Zapien	...	Blackfoot Chief
Tim Haldeman	...	Whiskey clerk
Buckley Norris	...	Trapper
Daniel Knapp	...	Trapper

Storyline

A pair of grizzled frontiersmen fight Indians, guzzle liquor and steal squaws in their search for a legendary valley 'so full of beaver that they jump right into your traps' in this fanciful adventure.

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Plot Keywords:

mountain man | indian burial ground | grand teton national park | yellowstone national park | beaver | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Western

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Movie Channel [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 June 1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

Wind River

Filming Locations:

Bridger-Teton National Forest, Wyoming, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation,Polyc International BV

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Directorial debut of Richard Lang.

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Goofs

A Mountain Man at the rendezvous (Charlton Heston) brags that he's been from "South Fork to Three Pass!" He should have said "Three Forks to South Pass." Three Forks is in Montana where three rivers come together and give the Missouri River its name and South Pass is in west central Wyoming where it is possible to cross the continental divide on horseback or with wagons.

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Quotes

Henry Frapp: [seeing that La Bont has led a group of natives right to them] Oh, balls.

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Alternate Versions

ABC edited 6 minutes from this film for its 1983 network television premiere.

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Connections

Featured in Sneak Previews: The Worst Films of 1980 (1980)

User Reviews

One of the funniest lousy movies you'll ever see ... a veritable good, bad, and ugly present all wrapped in a single flick

What sustains my memory of this movie most is Brian Keith's explanation of why he's never lost in the wilderness... certainly the best delivered line of his career.

Heston and Keith play grizzled trappers who accept the chore of shepherding a young, green, ex-military type to Rendezvous. Along the way they face numerous challenges to their morality... (the usual river fordings, mountainous pass traversing, Indian raid sorts of things).

One technical note: this movie contains one of the first weapon's eye viewpoints I recall ... seeing the forest and targets from the head of an Indian spear.

The Indians... ahhhh, the Indians are mostly European, at least the ones with speaking parts (thinking here of Victory Jory and Stephen Macht, not the devastating Victoria Racimo).

Much of the scenery mirrors the earlier Jeremiah Johnson (1972), but, sadly, the emphasis of this film seemed to be the enjoyment of the actors, rather than advancement of plot, historical accuracy, and numerous other niggling little details.

I like this movie very much... It makes me laugh, without fail, and leaves me feeling better for seeing it.