These Thousand Hills (20th Century Fox) (1959)

CinemaScope Cameras Make Severe Critics On “These Thousand Hills” Set The critical, probing eye of the CinemaScope camera demands complete scenic authenticity. It refuses to cooperate with the film-maker who tries to cut corners in order to save costs or time on his shooting schedule. Like the super-scientific bloodhound many low-budget producers have found it to be, it roots out grounds, faults in foreground ©— = Te aE 5 scenery and even exposes the faces and bodies of the actors to rigorous examination. It was with this fact in mind that Twentieth Century-Fox stressed the need for accurate locales for the filming of A. B. Guthrie Jr.’s “These Thousand Hills,” a CinemaScope, De Luxe Color production starring Don Murray, Richard Egan, Lee Remick, Patricia Owens and Stuart Whitman. After months of planning and searching, the film, which is the current attraction at the.... Theatre, was located in and around the magnificent Mountain Ute Indian Reservation in the Four Corners area of eastern Colorado. These never before photographed highlands were thrown open to Twentieth Century-Fox after some deliberation on the part of the Council of Chiefs, a governmental body which made war decisions for the tribesmen 80 years ago and which has changed form but little since. Nearby the reservation, the little town of Silvertown, which is still served by an ancient narrow gauge railroad, was used as a facsimile of “Fort Brock,” where much of the outdoor action of the story takes place. Free of telegraph poles, refinery tanks and the other scenic Don Murray’s insistence on doing his own bronco riding in Twentieth Century-Fox’s “These Thousand Hills,” caused the studio great alarm during the filming of the A. B. Guthrie, Jr., epic in the Colorado Highlands. Don A took several bad falls while ridmake-shift or slap-bang back| ing only partially broken brones. '® The film also stars Richard Egan, eras ranged freely from the pas: sore spots of modern times, the © Echoes From “These Thousand Hills’ (column items) 1@ Lee Remick, Patricia Owens and Stuart Whitman and opens. . gotiated with Chiefs of the Mountain Ute In dian Tribe in eastern Colorado about using their reservation for at the.... Theatre. filming of “These Thousand * 3 “i Hills,” Don Murray, Richard Twentieth Century-Fox film ex| Egan, Lee Remick, Patricia ecutives were faced with a | Owens and Stuart Whitman strange problem when they ne| starrer currently at the....The the Council of | atre. The fact was that the Utes are the richest Indian tribe in mighty lensed CinemaScope cam| toral highlands to the mines and cattle pens of the Silvertown area. Later, the director, Richard Fleischer, took his cast and crew over to Durango, the once-wild cowtown which, like this entire area, has changed very little with the coming of modern times. All in all, the entire picture, which stands as an awe-inspiring documentary to the still untouched beauty of the West, was filmed within a radius of 65 miles. Interior scenes for the picture, which is taken from one of a Western trilogy by the great Pulitzer Prize-winning author, were filmed on the studio lot in Hollywood, But, the interior sets were constructed with all the attention to detail made necessary by the constant presence of the CinemaScope monitors. Producer David Weisbart, finding in “These Thousand Hills” his most ambitious and challenging assignment yet, was able to cast the kind of actors who seem to be as authentic in their roles, as are the highlands and the rolling grass plains in theirs. So, as this picturization is offered up to the critics judgment, it is with the sure knowledge that another, perhaps more difficult, critic has already been pleased— the CinemaScope camera, Richard Egan stars as a gamblerrancher who clashes with Don Murray in Twentieth Century Fox’s CinemaScope, De Luxe Color production of “These Thousand Hills,” now at the.... Theatre. Mat 1C Stuart Whitman and Don Murray star in Twentieth Century-Fox’s “These Thousand Hills” as friends who take different pathways of life bringing them each to a moment of trial and climax. The CinemaScope, De Luxe Color film opens... America—with a per capita bank balance of $900,000—and_ they simply didn’t need Twentieth’s money. Finally, they let the com pany film on the reservation free. * ** * ** Richard Egan, starring in Twentieth Century-Fox’s ‘‘These Thousand Hills,” now at the.... Theatre, spent his honeymoon while on location in the East Colorado Highlands. Just before reporting for work on the Richard Fleischer directed film, Dick married Patricia Hardy in San Francisco. It wasn’t exactly the kind of honeymoon they’d planned, but the cast and crew did prepare a cake and a reception for them. Patricia Owens, starring with Don Murray, Richard Egan, Lee Remick and Stuart Whitman in Twentieth Century-Fow’s “These Thousand Hills,” now inits.... week at the.... Theatre, uttered a gasp of joy when she was assigned to the CinemaScope, De Luxe Color Western adventure. Her last picture was “‘The Fly,” in which she played a tormented widow accused of killing her husband. Said Patricia: “I was afraid that they would want to type cast me in horror films . ‘The Fly’ was fun, but I like variety.” In her new film she plays the wife of a frontier cowhand. . at the ,.... Theatre. Mat 2A ON MURRAY RICHARD ALBERT DEKKER HAROLD J. STONE ROYAL DANO JEAN WILLES = proouceo ev DAVID WEISBART S Our of HIS LOVE FOR THE LAND CAME PuLiITZER PRIZE WINNER AB’ GUTHRIES POWERFUL BesT-SELLER WHOSE FIRE... FERVOR... “Of course men beat me / was made to be beaten!” “There ain't no innocent men out there... like there & ain't no angel/s in hell!”’ “A tramp’s money got you started. Are you too big for her now?” GAN LEEREMICK:FAIRIGA OWENS TUART WHITMAN owes oy RIGHARD FLEISCHER .csons-e ALFRED HAYES Ies5G MAT—403 100 lines x 4 cols. (400 lines) (4 cols. x 7'/e inches) HEY HAD TO BREAK THE RAW LAND... OR BE BROKEN BY IT! ...young people ina young country boiling over with brawling passions, wild loves and violent greeds! _ PULITZER PRIZE WINNER * A.B. GUTHRIE’S MONUMENTAL BEST-SELLER IS ON THE SCREEN! wi, > THESE. THOUSAND HILLS CINEMmAScCOPE. COLOR by DE LUXE “ DON MURRAY RICHARD EGAN LEE REMICK PATRICIA OWENS STUART WHITMAN Produced by Screenplay by b DAVID WEISBARTRICHARD FLEISCHER » ALFRED HAYES $16 MAT—208 100 lines x 2 cols. (200 lines) (2 cols. x 7's inches) Page Five