Across the Wide Missouri (1951)

Release Date: October 23, 1951
Directed by: William Wellman
Studio: MGM

Costarring:
Ricardo Montalban
Adolphe Menjou

Available on DVD through The Warner Brothers Archive Collection

10th Anniversary Celebration Movie of the Week, September 24, 2018

Gable is Flint Mitchell, a fur trapper from Kentucky leading a group of French and Scottish trappers through the rugged West in the 1820’s. Battling Blackfoot Indians all the way, especially their chief Ironshirt (Montalban), he finds love with an Indian chief’s granddaughter (portrayed by Mexican actress Maria Elena Marques).

Quote-able Gable

“Ever seen a better horse, Captain?” first line

“She can’t do me any harm and she might do me a lot of good!”‘

“Tell him he talks like a crazed dog solider!”

“You’re full of magic…the one woman in the world for me and I love you, pigeon. Maybe I didn’t know it when  I found you but I know it now. You can’t understand what I’m trying to tell you and I don’t understand much you say. Someday, maybe.”

“No, not this time, Pierre.” last line

Behind the Scenes

Had a $5 million budget.

Gable’s first color picture since Gone with the Wind.

Filmed on location near Durango, Colorado in three months.

Gable’s wife Sylvia accompanied him on location and it proved to be one of the defining points in their crumbling marriage. She brought along seventeen trunks and her little dog Minnie. She demanded that their cottage be outfitted with plush carpeting and curtains before she would stay there. She would sometimes visit the set and sit on the sidelines in finery as if she was in Beverly Hills, painting or doing needlepoint. Gable found her embarrassing. You can see photos of Clark and Sylvia on location here.

Test audiences reacted negatively to the film, especially its bloated 135-minute running time. It was then edited down to 76 minutes and a narrator was added to fill in any plot holes that resulted. MGM musical star Howard Keel read the narration, uncredited.