The Far Horizons (1955)

This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

As Good As It Gets

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

I thought it was appropriate to reflect on the following issue, "Is historical accuracy relevant to the quality of a film?" If it is manufactured to provide a true representation of history, maybe so. But if it as manufactured as an entertainment vehicle, maybe not.As a piece of fiction, I believe this film to be one of the finest works of western lore ever recorded. It appeals to both men and women. It promotes ethical values. And it fills the viewer with the full range of emotions that it is expected to.I won't waste your time with the details of the plot, you can find that by the ton here. All I can tell you is that I believe that anyone who is willing to invest the time will absolutely love this.

For what it is, an almost total fabrication of the events involved in the exploration of the Louisiana territory, the film is an enjoyable, beautifully shot adventure but for the real story look elsewhere. Donna Reed is ridiculously cast as Sacajawea, Katy Jurado who was actively working in Hollywood at the time would have been far more suitable. She gives an earnest reading of the part but if this is the best the studios could find for her after her Oscar win it's little wonder that she had moved over to TV within a few years. MacMurray although first billed actually disappears for several stretches of the film and Heston, who is ideal in this sort of picture, carries the bulk of the movie.

I can see when you want to take liberties with certain historical films but this was absolutely ridiculous.Despite beautiful cinematography, what natural resources do we see depicted in this 1955 blunder of a film.Not only are there historical inaccuracies, this film is made into some sort of love triangle that never existed. It's really about Lewis fending off suitors for Sacajawea.Donna Reid looks haggard in the role of the great Indian woman. Whoever made her up should really have been dismissed from the make-up department. William Demarest delivers his lines as if he is coming straight out of Brooklyn, New York. I haven't stopped laughing when he said Louisiana Purchase. The "ur" in that word was made to sound like "oi" instead.Fred MacMurray and Charlton Heston do their best with the exceptionally bad screen writing. At least, Heston had good thoughts-his next project would be the awesome "The Ten Commandments."This film was in Vista Vision. For the life of me, I never quite understood what that film process was all about. No wonder it quickly went out of vogue. The picture should have followed.

If I would have seen the trailer (preview) of this film in the fifties I would probably not have missed it. It had everything to please , the colorful scenes on the river, the great scenery and potentially a great story about Lewis and Clark that wanted to get to the Pacific and faced all kinds of dangers. It had a lot in common with 'The Big Sky' with the advantage of being in color. But 'The Big Sky' was quite a film and 'The Far Horizons' failed. By casting Donna Reed as an Indian woman and making her character so important they went wrong. Reed is a good actress, but this part was not for her. Just comparing her with the Indian girl in 'The Big Sky' we realize why. It is not really her fault, but her character was too much of a cliché. SPOILER AHEAD. I thought the great moment of the film would be when they start seeing the Pacific Ocean. I kept thinking of 'Lawrence of Arabia', that spectacular moment when Peter O'Toole is walking in what seems like an endless desert and suddenly sees the Suez Canal. But in this film, who knows why, probably because they went over budget, this is not shown. The film cuts abruptly to when they are already in the Pacific, celebrating their achievement. Quite a letdown.