fcasnette I've seen this several times and warm to it the more often I see it. The nostalgic narration is not too obtrusive and works well to knit everything together.Gable growls his way through a usual tough guy that melts gradually through the film, a fine vigorous performance as pioneer man, even singing and dancing (of sorts!). Montalban has an interesting role (virtually without dialogue) at the beginning of his career. Whitmore has a small part and looks every part the mountain man. Menjou is a revelation if you saw him in Paths of Glory, as a fine second fiddle who you would want as your friend. Hodiak is good as an impassive, proud and upright Indian. Napier (West's Batman's butler) as an aristocratic survivor of Waterloo! And Maria Marques a comely and well acted female lead.The music is sweeping and fits fine, the photography absolutely superb, the Technicolour very very very beautiful, the native Americans portrayed as human beings with a history. Some nice comedy moments at the marriage. A romance virtually a silent movie with man and wife not speaking each others languages. The savagery and danger of early life not skimped. The final showdown is thrilling and realistic.Old Hollywood showmanship but the ending brings a lump to my throat as the son describes his father's life and the wisdom he passed on.

ashew They were so close to having a good film here, but it is another case of a poor script destroying the quality work of all involved. Gable looks great...tan, fit, and masculine as hell. Speaking of masculine, Ricardo Montalban is the bare-chested Native American antagonist...this man has an over-powering charisma that makes it impossible to take your eyes off him. And another special mention must be made: Adolphe Menjou...he was absolutely fantastic as Gable's friend and translator. Truth be told, the whole cast is really wonderful, but as usual, the script gives them hokey garbage to utter to one another. And not just in English! The producers went to the trouble of having much of the script in French and various Native American languages, yet the script was dopey in all those languages. The storyline had great potential, but it wasn't realized well.The best part of the movie? The scenery. It was, by far, the most unbelievably gorgeous scenery ever put on film. Yes, there have been myriad other films with beautiful scenery, but they had beautiful SHOTS, whereas this movie has the scenery all the way through, behind every actor, in nearly every scene, and it is breathtaking. If this movie doesn't make you want to throw on a backpack and hiking boots and plan a trip to Colorado, then you need to make an appointment with a doctor...either an eye doctor, a psychiatrist, or both.There are a few nice moments throughout, but overall the film is pretty mediocre. The actors all look fantastic, and do the best with the script they've been given, but what speaks the loudest and makes the biggest impression is the scenery. They had all the parts, but couldn't make the whole...as they said on "Get Smart": "Missed it by THAT much!!"

KDWms I see that some commenters really panned this film. I, however, am in that nearly two-to-one majority who rates it in the upper half of the scale. Maybe it was the mood I was in when I watched it, but here is a western devoid of that frenetic gunplay. Subdued and restrained are good adjectives. Nice scenery. Perhaps there IS an unrealistic emphasis on good-timin'-it, but could it also be an attempt to balance out the rigors? (A balance which is necessary for some of us.) I actually found some of the humor kind of simplistically appealing, which, too, is how I regard the plot: Flint Mitchell thinks that his marrying a squaw will enhance his trapping efforts. Initially a union of convenience, the relationship eventually deepens and produces a son. When a white-man-caused death results in a Blackfoot leadership change, tension increases. The Mrs.-Mitchell-role, portrayed by a no-name (but quite capable) actress, is deserving of higher billing. In my opinion, this, among other alternatives, is likely to be the better selection.

Irving Warner The movie begins with much voice-over, a bad sign. Then it just slides downhill with silly and intelligence-insulting scenes involving trappers and Indians. But, it reaches new and impressive lows when all the merry mountain men square dance with each other in a high alpine meadow. Meanwhile, the happy-go-lucky Indians sit around watching them. It's a better scene than the dancing cowboys in "Blazing Saddles". There is a minor flaw in this comparison; "Across the Wide Missouri" is not a comedy.