Tragique odyssée

The first problem that Copper Sky has is that when you give a film a title of that with all the images of desert heat that the mind conjures up, color would have been essential. But this was a B western and the budget just didn't call for it.

That was a pity because this could have gotten a notch or two higher in the ratings from me. Pedestrian direction was also a problem. The obvious comparison to The African Queen has been made by many. Let's not forget that in addition to Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn, The African Queen also had the services of John Huston.

Jeff Morrow plays a former cavalryman jailed for shooting an Apache because he was in the vicinity of the killing and scheduled to be hanged. But an interesting twist of fate as Morrow is locked in his cell passed out dead drunk, the entire town is massacred with him the only survivor. I'm still trying to figure out how he got out of the locked cell.

But he did whereupon he runs into new school teacher Coleen Gray, fresh from Boston and experiencing her first encounter with hostile Apaches. The two are forced together by circumstance to seek shelter and safety and to do it they have to cross the desert.

Like Hepburn and Bogey, Morrow and Gray are on screen together most of the film and they have the burden carrying it. A director like John Huston would have helped enormously.

Copper Sky is a decent enough programmer, but it had potential that was squandered.

I would bet that most people missed that firearms which were used in the production of this picture. They were actually authentic to the period. The rifle used was a Henry, long made before the recent import of Italian copies. They had to get it out of a museum. The handguns, too, which would have been appropriate for this time were the open top conversions. This was a breath of fresh air from western shot of the 1860s', and early 1870's, where everyone has a new model Colt - 0001 manufactured in 1873 and a model 92 Winchester of like 1982 date. The truth is these weapons were not seen by the average Westerner until 10 years after they were introduced.

Watch the movie again. It is unusual for a western love story, but it does have good story line, and AT LEAST IT IS ACCURATE. Undoubtedly due to Charles Marquis Warren who produced Gunsmoke - whose weaponry was not time period accurate. Matt Dillon carried a '92 Winchester. In the last season, Festus advises a deluded gold prospector that it was 1873. Festus Haggen would not have gotten one of the first in 1873! Every Western movie collection should have a copy.

A Boston school marm out West meets the sole survivor of an Indian massacre, a drunk in jail. Alcoholic former cavalryman Hack Williams is arrested for killing an Indian, something he did not do. The townspeople, fearful of Apache reprisals, plan to hang Williams in hopes of heading off an attack. But the attack comes and Hack, locked in his jail cell, is the only survivor as a massacre occurs. Into the scene of carnage arrives schoolteacher Nora Haynes. Together she and Williams must find a way to reach safety before another Indian attack. But the pair are by no means well-matched, and their trip alone across the desert is not destined to be an easy one. This is a fine Western with a very fine cast.Try it. You'll like it!

"Copper Sky" pulls you in and then let's you down. Even right to the end you are hoping for more insight into the characters' pasts. You want to like the two leads "Coleen Gray and Jeff Morrow," but the plot gets in the way. It has a very structured script to the point of predictability. He's lost his manhood without explanation and she can't figure out why he's the only man who doesn't want her, reminding her of her father. The fix is in. The music composition was nice, but more dialog would have had a better effect. It would have, also, looked much better filmed in color displaying the beauteous landscape of Utah where it was filmed. I still enjoyed watching it, despite it's sophomoric tone. Some characters were miss cast in the lessor rolls, I guess the budget didn't allow for studied actors in every part. Looked like some family members might have been given bit roles.

i have not seen this film for over 40 years, at least. i loved it then and long to see if my memories of it have held up over the years. the main character was sleeping off a drunk in the jail house when the indians attack and left him the sole survivor. his journey has him meet the female lead, for a person of my age there was some "mushy stuff" but there was a few scenes that were erotic and may even hold up, today. if there is any way to see this film again, i am waiting to find out.