Montanhas Ardentes

This film is very loosely based upon an actual event known among smokejumpers -- and the entire state of Montana -- as the Mann Gulch tragedy, in which 12 out of 15 smokejumpers were burned to death. Norman Maclean, author of "A River Runs Through It" and a resident of Missoula, Montana, home to the first smokejumpers and now the principal school for them, spent the last 13 years of his life research the event, in incredible detail, and writing an utterly fascinating book, "Young Men and Fire", which I heartily recommend.

Obviously, since the book was not published until after Maclean's death in 1990, it was not the basis for the movie, but the event was.

I first saw it in a fund-raising presentation in the Wilma, an old Art Deco theater in Missoula, coincidently sitting beside a student from the Smokejumper Center. His attention was rapt. The funds, BTW, were used to recover and restore the actual DC-3 that carried the Mann Gulch smokejumpers.

There is an account of the presentations made at the 2004 National Smokejumpers Association reunion by the spotter (gives the "go" signal, on board the aircraft), the dispatcher, and one of the survivors from the Mann Gulch tragedy, found on the University of Montana Web site, at www2.umt.edu/comm/f04/airplanes.shtml. It's short but intense, and will give you an appreciation of what happened. Then the book . . .

In electing to give this a 9, I've taken into account the technology available and the style of movie making and acting of the times. I would say the acting would rank significantly lower by today's standards. But it is well worth watching.

This action adventure film is still another great opportunity for Richard Widmark to display his great acting talent.

In this very good film, he leads men into fighting forest fires in the Montana-Idaho areas.

When tragedy strikes, a disoriented Widmark can't remember what has transpired. The film provides a wonderful supporting performance by Jeffrey Hunter, a fellow fire-fighter, who lost his father in the blaze. A suspicious Hunter feels that Widmark ran out on his men.

The film shows what these men have to go through in fighting such dangerous fires.

Heroism is the order of the day and Widmark and company respond valiantly.

I was a kid, when it first appeared on "Saturday Night at the Movies" in the early sixties. Sat and watched it with my sister and mom. Haven't seen it listed much since then, and certainly not recently. This and the movie "The Halls of Montezuma" made me a Richard Widmark fan. And Jeffrey Hunter was a favorite as well. Made in 1952, the year of my birth, I remember it for its vivid color and mountainous beauty. Yesterday's (June 30, 2013) announcement of the death of 19 smoke-jumpers in Arizona had me spot on with the memory of "The Red Skies of Montana"! Got the name, the stars, and year of release all correct. Now, that's an impressive movie. I highly recommend it.

Red Skies of Montana is one of a series of outstanding adventure films in which Richard Widmark starred during the 1950's. It portrays the dangerous lives of smoke jumpers, who fight fires in the great northwest by parachuting into the flames. Richard Widmark is a team leader, under suspicion after he is the sole survivor from a group of smoke jumpers killed in a massive fire. He can remember nothing of event, yet must resume life amidst the doubts of his comrades. The film adeptly the blends personal lives of the men and women involved, excellent firefighting action, and the suspense created by Richard Widmark's flashbacks of his near fatal event. Jeffrey Hunter plays the vengeful son of one of Widmark's slain team; and Richard Boone adds dimension as the stern, professional commander of the unit. This film is utterly believable. The fire scenes are awesome. Red Skies of Montana portrays a lifestyle that needs no "over the top" fiction or outlandish action to make it thrilling. I think this is a timeless film, and a truly entertaining one. And if you do enjoy it, I recommend "Destination Gobi"; another outstanding Widmark adventure.

This film is about the smoke-jumping U. S. Forestry Service firefighters whose dangerous profession centers on the timberlands of the American Northwest. In the leading roles are Richard Widmark, Jeffrey Hunter, Richard Boone and the lovely and beautiful Constance Smith. Widmark and Boone were the studio's tough action performers of the early fifties, and handsome, blue-eyed young Hunter in 1952, as likely a prospect for glamour stardom.

A very young Charles Bronson has a uncredited bit role in this male-oriented story. This was his 5th film he had made in Hollywood and his 1st color one. Once again Bronson/Buchinsky helps decorate the mountain wilderness location with his steely-eyed macho image while rubbing shoulders with and learning the working habits of some of Hollywood"s top professionals. He apparently became good friends with Richard Boone. Bronson guest starred on Boone's Have Gun Will Travel TV series several times and Bronson also guest starred on Medic which Boone hosted. They would work together in another film 10years later in A Thunder of Drums in 1961.

Fox executives were very nervous about Red Skies of Montana, a title they felt was more suggestive of a Roy Rogers-Dale Evans Western than the very respectable action-adventure yarn this film was. In some areas , they called it Smoke Jumpers, a no-nonsense title that The New York Times actually ran its review under.