Review of Across the Wide Missouri

Fur-trapper in 1829 Colorado marries a Blackfoot Indian chief's beautiful, headstrong daughter, but runs afoul of her people. Adaptation of historian Bernard DeVoto's book was a peculiar choice for both MGM and its resident star, Clark Gable. Gable was probably too old for such an athletic role, although he gazes at María Elena Marqués with convincing adoration and gives the proceedings some charismatic panache. Otherwise, the usual western-genre elements are firmly in place, including a "Skip to My Lou" refrain on the soundtrack and the old jest of men dancing 'round the campfire with other men when the females become scarce (of course this lively, joshing scene breaks out into a fight to show us in the audience that these guys are 'real men'). William A. Wellman directed, and he seems to have been saddled with setting the narrative in quasi-flashback, complete with a narration (by Howard Keel!) of Gable's grown son telling us the story in elemental terms. William Mellor's Technicolor cinematography and the Rocky Mountain locales are stunning--more so than the plot--and yet, after awhile the landscapes begin to resemble color portraits adopted for effect for our benefit. ** from ****