In 1919, a cocky sophomore in the forest service has to learn life the hard way.
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Title: The Ranger, the Cook and a Hole in the Sky (TV Movie 1995)
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Cast
| Complete credited cast: | |||
| Sam Elliott | ... | Bill Bell | |
| Jerry O'Connell | ... | Mac | |
| Ricky Jay | ... | Hawkes | |
| Molly Parker | ... | Sue | |
| Don S. Davis | ... | Mr. Smith | |
| Robert Wisden | ... | Canada | |
| Michael Tayles | ... | Red | |
| Tom Butler | ... | Mr. McBride | |
| Jay Brazeau | ... | Doc Riley | |
| Callum Keith Rennie | ... | Big Hat | |
| A.C. Peterson | ... | Bigger Hat (as Alan C. Peterson) | |
| Campbell Lane | ... | Biggest Hat | |
| Frank Cassini | ... | Bartender | |
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Plot Summary
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Storyline
A young ranger in the Montana wilderness discovers the great forces of nature while learning the importance of honor, trust and integrity. Legendary veteran ranger Bill Bell educates the young man and guides him toward manhood. The year is 1919-a time when being a ranger meant more than operating expensive equipment. Forest fires were fought with guts and courage, not chemicals and airplanes. Bill Bell was the toughest ranger in an elite crew of very rugged men. A figure of heroic proportions, he was generally feared and respected by all. It was even rumored that he had at one time killed a sheep farmer, which only fueled his already enormous reputation. The young ranger does everything to remain in the good graces of Bill Bell, the senior ranger he idolizes. Their tentative rapport grows into a friendship through a hilarious and heroic rite of passage in which the younger ranger meets the test-and the woman of his dreams. Written by Echo Bridge Home Entertainment
Genres:
WesternMotion Picture Rating (MPAA)
Rated PG for a barroom brawlParents Guide:
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Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
15 June 1995 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Hole in the Sky See more »Filming Locations:
British Columbia, CanadaCompany Credits
Show more on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Sound Mix:
MonoColor:
ColorAspect Ratio:
1.33 : 1
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[...]
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(uncredited)
Written by Theo. A. Metz and Joe Hayden
First line sung during first explosion scenes also sung by Mac in the tent on the peak
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Did You Know?
Trivia
Ricky Jay plays a professional gambler and card shark who is an expert at manipulating a deck of cards. In real-life, Ricky Jay is a professional magician who specializes in card tricks. See more »Quotes
Mac: [In a gradually increasing crescendo of emphasis, starting in a normal tone, ending in a near roar] Red, let me ask you. Have you ever once, in your whole life, had one, single, solitary, original thought, that didn't bounce off from somewhere else? I mean, have you ever sat down, considered all the available information, weighed it all in your mind, sifted all the possibilities, discarded what you couldn't prove, sorted out what made sense, and came to your own, personal, original, Red McBride ...[...]
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Soundtracks
There'll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight(uncredited)
Written by Theo. A. Metz and Joe Hayden
First line sung during first explosion scenes also sung by Mac in the tent on the peak
See more »
Jerry O'Connell gets a life changing experience when he does a summer, I guess you would call it an internship, as a forest ranger in the post World War I years in the Bitteroot mountains of Montana with British Columbia providing that background in the filming of The Ranger, The Cook, and The Hole in The Sky. O'Connell comes under the tutelage of Sam Elliott who is acknowledged to be the best when it came to the job of Forest Ranger.
Looking at the film which does convey some of the attitudes of the times I saw O'Connell as someone who as millions did admire the recently deceased Theodore Roosevelt. Remember it was TR who was our first conservationist president and many went into that profession because of him and his Chief of the Forestry Service Gifford Pinchot. TR was a proponent of 'the strenuous life' of which you see these guys are definitely living.
Except for the camp cook played by Ricky Jay who O'Connell feels is kind of a soft moocher and whom he develops a dislike for. There are a select in all our lives who rubbed us wrong at first meeting and we never change or minds. Jay is someone though that O'Connell learns to respect for at least one skill besides cooking he has.
Sam Elliott is also the kind of westerner that Theodore Roosevelt would have considered his ideal westerner. Sam was born 30 years too late what a cowboy hero he'd have made back in the day.
If you're a Theodore Roosevelt fan check this film out.