Distinctly Montana Magazine

By Joe Shelton Photos courtesy of the montana film office T he journey is almost over for the brave crew of the last remaining "Landmaster," an enormous 12-foot long all-terrain personnel carrier designed to withstand anything. It has braved giant, flesh-eating cockroaches, crazed survivalists, and ultimately a nuclear apocalypse to get here, but they're not out of the thick yet. Before they can reach Albany, the source of a mysterious radio transmission possibly from civilized survivors, they are struck by a giant tidal wave, the result of the Earth suddenly shifting on its axis. The Landmaster and the last souls aboard are tossed through the water like a toy boat and it looks as if all is lost when just as suddenly the waters calm and our heroes emerge onto the shore of a beautiful — and surprisingly mountainous New York state. They are saved. The scene is from the 1977 science fiction film Damnation Alley, and the role of New York is played by Montana, more specifically the banks of the Flathead near Lakeside. The portrayal isn't exactly accurate since the landscape seems a bit craggier and more pristine than the Catskills should be, but the view is beautiful, a tonic after so much apocalyptic wasteland. Montana is deeply entangled with the history of American film. Actor and auteur Robert Redford's A River Runs Through It and The Horse Whisperer, both movies that highlight the natural beauty of Montana while telling deeply human stories about her inhabitants, are probably some of the first to jump to mind. While those movies are deserving of their popularity there are many movies filmed in Montana which also merit attention, starring some of Hollywood's most iconic talent, made by brilliant directors, but which, like the cheesy end of the world flick Damnation Alley, are sadly unappreciated. And the history is long, indeed. According to the Montana Film Office, which helps to promote the state as a location as well as assist with producers, the first motion picture made in Montana was 1926's Devil Horse. Though silent, it contained a who's who of early sound cinema luminaries, including the director Hal Roach, best known as the producer of the Our Gang and Laurel and Hardy shorts (in fact, Stan Laurel himself was credited with additional story material on the film), and one of the most legendary stunt men in the medium's history, Yak Canutt. A consummate horseman all his days, Canutt would go on to choreograph the storied chariot race sequence in the 1959 Ben Hur, one of the most celebrated action scenes in all of film. Canutt later recalled Devil Horse as "the big- w w w. d i s t i n c t lymo nt a na .co m 27

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