Breakheart Pass (film)

Breakheart Pass is an American 1975 western adventure film that stars Charles Bronson, Ben Johnson, Richard Crenna, and Jill Ireland. The movie was based on the novel by Alistair MacLean of the same title,^[3] and was filmed in north central Idaho.^{[4][5][6][7][8]}

Plot

In the 1870s, residents of the garrison at the Fort Humboldt Army outpost are reported to be suffering from a diphtheria epidemic. A train is heading towards the fort filled with reinforcements and medical supplies. There are also civilian passengers on the train – Nevada Governor Fairchild (Richard Crenna) and his fiancée Marica (Jill Ireland), the daughter of the fort's commander.

The train stops briefly in Myrtle, where it takes on board local lawman Sheriff Pearce (Ben Johnson) and his prisoner, John Deakin (Charles Bronson), a notorious outlaw who was identified via a picture in a newspaper advertisement offering a $2,000 (approximately $44,000 today) reward. But as the journey goes on, several train passengers, including most of the train's soldier escort, are mysteriously killed or go missing. Deakin, who is actually a Secret Service agent, discovers 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 Indians under Chief White Hand (Eddie Little Sky). Instead of medical supplies, the train transports a large secret shipment of weapons, ammunition and dynamite stolen from U.S. manufacturers for sale to the Indians, 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 Sheriff Pearce, are Calhoun's partners in crime, and those innocents who discover the evidence for his sinister plot are quickly silenced. Eventually, Deakin narrows his list of allies down to Marica and Army Major Claremont (Ed Lauter), who agree to assist Deakin in his efforts to prevent the arms delivery.

At Breakheart Pass, all hell breaks loose as Indians attack the train to take the weapons they were promised, and Calhoun and his men ride out to the train in order to find out what's going on. Deakin and Claremont use dynamite to ground the train before it reaches the fort, and while Deakin runs interference, Claremont rushes to Fort Humboldt to free the soldiers imprisoned by Calhoun's gang. A gunfight breaks out when the freed soldiers clash with the Indians 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 interceps Pearce and shoots him when the corrupt Sheriff decides to go down fighting.

Cast

• Charles Bronson as John Deakin
• Ben Johnson as Sheriff Pearce
• Jill Ireland as Marica
• Richard Crenna as Governor Fairchild
• Charles Durning as O'Brien
• David Huddleston as Dr. Molyneux
• Ed Lauter as Major Claremont
• Bill McKinney as Reverend Peabody
• Robert Tessier as Levi Calhoun
• Eddie Little Sky as White Hand
• Joe Kapp as Henry
• Archie Moore as Carlos
• Scott Newman as Rafferty
• Sally Kirkland as Jane-Marie

Production

Writing

Producers Elliott Kastner and Jerry Gershwin had filmed a number of Alistair MacLean novels previously, including Where Eagles Dare and When Eight Bells Toll.

Casting

Charles Bronson was paid $1 million plus 10% of the gross for his role.^[9]

Lewiston realtor Irv Falling, a retired Army colonel, played Jill Ireland's father in the final scene, an army colonel. He had helped the Bronsons find a home to rent in the area.^[4][6]

Filming

Some exteriors were filmed in Pierce and Reubens in northern Idaho.^[6][10]

Railroad scenes were filmed on the Camas Prairie Railroad (based in Lewiston).^[6][8][11] The hire of the train (Great Western Railway steam locomotive #75)^[12] carriages and track cost $500,000 (approximately $2,225,000 today).^[9] Opening scenes were shot at a specially built set (to look like an old abandoned Gold Rush town) just outside Arrow junction about 15 miles from Lewiston.^[13] It was the final film of veteran stuntman Yakima Canutt, who was aged 79 at the time.^[4] He was in charge of the second unit direction; his son, Joe, was one of the stuntmen.^[14] Canutt oversaw the scene where the caboose and troop carriages crashed into a ravine.^[13] Six cameras filmed the cars falling 200 ft (61 m) into the canyon, however, the dummies (representing the soldiers) failed to fall out during the crash. The crash was filmed at Halfmoon Trestle (see here: 46°19′30.21″N 116°34′27.36″W / 46.3250583°N 116.5742667°W / 46.3250583; -116.5742667 (Location of Halfmoon Trestle)). ^[13]

Alternating shots of clear and overcast skies are present in the final climactic scenes.

Reception

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."^[15]

The film was a box office disappointment in the US.^[16]

Home media

DVD

• 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.

Soundtrack

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.^[17]

See also

• List of American films of 1975

References

External links

• Breakheart Pass on IMDb
• Breakheart Pass at AllMovie
• Breakheart Pass at the TCM Movie Database
• Movie review at AlistairMacLean.com