Distinctly Montana Magazine

56 D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A M A G A Z I N E • W I N T E R 2 0 2 4 - 2 5 Reckless, Pleasure Crazed, and The Valiant. Walsh suggestively says that Churchill "decided she liked him. Too much personal involvement between leading characters can go two ways... But I had no fears on that score. My female lead looked stunning in a sunbonnet, but young Wayne's full attention seemed to be concentrated on the part he was to play." The studio had been nervous that the newcomer John Wayne, gifted as he was with charisma, wouldn't be able to carry a pic- ture of this size. One film publication called him "an actor whose only experience had been in bits, extra work, and assisting the Fox prop shop." And, as Moss reports, "[a] writer for the Holly- wood Filmograph noted: 'Just how he [Walsh] can expect a youth to carry such a picture is beyond my conception. If he brings in a winner with Mr. Wayne he will be entitled to a Carnegie med- al.'" The studio felt that the solution was to bring experienced New York theater actors to round out the supporting roles, sure that their steady hand would lead to a smooth production. Instead, the greybeards of the New York theater scene, who included Tyrone Power Sr., Ian Keith, and Broadway comedian El Brendel, spent most of the shoot inebriated. "With their appearance," Walsh wrote, "the name of the pic- ture should have become The Big Drunk. This part of the cast probably scattered more empty whiskey bottles over the West- ern plains than all the pioneers." As the shoot wore on, the booze flowed freely. The hardships of the road and trail wore on what Walsh called "the New York contingent, who complained that such mishaps interfered with their drinking. When I turned down their requests to bring more women along, I be- lieve they would have quit in a bunch except that there was no place to go... As it was, the night stops were turning into orgies." The complicated and well-liquored shoot had wended across the American West like a crazy quilt; from Yuma, the produc- tion followed the Colorado River, then back to Sacramento, then onward to Utah, back to the Sierra mountains of California and north. The end of the shoot was to be in Moiese, Montana, where a climactic buffalo stampede would be filmed using the herd collected on what was then the National Wildlife Reserve, now the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribe Bison Range. As Walsh writes, "Washington had given Fox permission to use the herd providing no hardship was inflicted on the animals." "Moiese was the next stop," Walsh remembered. "As soon as I had the buffalo stampede in the can, the booze artists could drink themselves to death, for all I cared." The production settled into the Moiese area, renting the Mt hot tub 1/2h mountainhottub.com Our Best Ever Water Care Services Available Now! Offering substantially reduced rates per visit and our widest range of services, EVER. Let us help you LOVE YOUR TUB! Now serving: Missoula and Whitefish, MT (405) 586-5850 Scan For Service! THE STUDIO HAD BEEN NERVOUS THAT THE NEWCOMER JOHN WAYNE, GIFTED AS HE WAS WITH CHARISMA, WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO CARRY A PICTURE OF THIS SIZE.

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