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Red Skies of Montana



Red Skies of Montana (1952)

Director: Joseph M. Newman
Cast: Richard Widmark, Constance Smith, Jeffrey Hunter
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama

This is one very unique movie, I've never seen another film quite like it.
It's about a group of U. S. Forest Service, Smoke Jumpers, who parachute into the back country to fight forest fires in the mountains of Montana. This is based on a real story that happened in 1949 and killed 12 smoke jumpers who were trapped by the flames.

Red Skies of Montana
is unusual film for it's time as it did actual on location filming in the national forest in Montana. This on location shooting makes the film look very authentic. Those are real trees on fire! And a lot of the scenes are filmed outside in the real back country, fighting fires or smoke jumping out of a plane. And unlike other movies of this type this is very focused on one thing, telling the story of the smoke jumpers and the tragedy that befalls them.

Richard Widmark is in top form here. He's right for the role and looks at home covered in dirt and ash. Also look for a young Jeffrey Hunter as one of the smoke jumper. Jeffrey is best known for playing Captain Pike in the original Star Trek TV pilot. And if you look real close you will catch a glimpse of a very young Charles Bronson serving soup to the hungry men in their bunk house.

I've seen over dramatized movies on this subject bet never one that seemed so factual. I enjoyed it and it's in full technicolor too.

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