The Far Horizons is a 1955 adventure film directed by Rudolph Mate, and it stars Fred MacMurray, Charlton Heston, and Donna Reed. The film is based on the 1803-1806 Lewis and Clark Expedition of the Louisiana Purchase, specifically adapted from the novel Sacajawea of the Shoshones by Della Gould Emmons.
Director: Rudolph Mate
Production Company: Pine-Thomas Productions, Paramount Pictures
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Cast: Fred MacMurray, Charlton Heston, Donna Reed, Barbara Hale
US Box Office: $4,000,000 ($79,800,000 adjusted for inflation)
Film Format: Technicolor
Genre: Adventure, Drama
Release Date: May 20, 1955
Plot Summary: In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson (Herbert Heyes) tasks Meriwether Lewis (Fred MacMurray) with leading an expedition through the recently acquired Louisiana Purchase. Lewis chooses William Clark (Charlton Heston) to join him. Lewis and Clark served in the army together and were best friends, but the relationship became strained when Clark became engaged to Julia Hancock (Barbara Hale), who Lewis was in love with. On the expedition, the team meet a Shoshone woman named Sacagawea (Donna Reed), who guides them Westward and falls in love with Clark.
Production: In 1954 Paramount began work on a film based on the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The film was specifically an adaptation of the novel, Sacajawea of the Shoshones by Della Gould Emmons, based on the expedition. Pine-Thomas Productions, a subdivision of Paramount that typically made lower-budget films for the studio, was assigned to work on the film. William H Pine, co-founder of Pine-Thomas, produced the film and Rudolph Mate was chosen to direct the film.
The studio had originally planned to cast Gary Cooper and John Wayne as the two main characters. Cooper rejected Paramount’s office, so the studio decided to scrap that plan. Instead Paramount cast Fred MacMurray as Lewis and Charlton Heston as Clark. Paramount also hoped that Leslie Caron, who was under contract with MGM at the time, could be loaned to the studio to play the part of Sacajawea. MGM declined, so Paramount instead chose to cast Donna Reed as Sacajawea.
Filming on The Far Horizons began on July of 1954 and went until August. Many scenes of The Far Horizons were shot on location at Jackson Hole, Wyoming and Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. Other parts of the film were also shot back at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles. While filming in Jackson Hole, Donna Reed was injured and had to be flown to Salt Lake City, Utah for emergency surgery. Fortunately, she recovered quickly and was back to the set two days later.
Fun Facts and Trivia: As of 2022, The Far Horizons is the only theatrically released film from a major studio based on the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The romance between Sacagawea and William Clark in the film is completely fictional. In real life Sacagawea was already married to trapper Toussaint Charbonneau and they had a child together during the expedition. In the film Charbonneau (Alan Reed) is an antagonist who is jealous of Sacagawea’s relationship with Clark. In 1962, The Far Horizons was re-released by Citation Films Inc., with another Pine-Thomas film, Crosswinds. Surprisingly, even though both films were originally shot in color, they were re-released in Black & White. Both films were also re-titled (“Untamed West” in The Far Horizons‘ case).
Reception: A few months after The Far Horizons was filmed, Pine-Thomas Productions was sold to United Artists, but Paramount still distributed the film when it was finally released in 1955. The Far Horizons had an average box office performance. It had a relatively low budget for a technicolor adventure film, so the film did not necessarily have to be a big box office hit to make a profit for Paramount. Today, The Far Horizons has largely been forgotten, and unfortunately the few reviews it have received have been rather negative. Modern critic Dennis Schwartz gave the film a negative review and called it “dull.” Time Magazine also criticized the film in retrospect for its historical inaccuracies.
Why You Should See It: The Far Horizons is a good adventure film and it is unfortunate that it has been largely forgotten. The main cast members all give good performances, especially Donna Reed, who is likeable and sympathetic. The on-location shooting and beautiful Wyoming scenery present in The Far Horizons is also quite impressive and makes the film stand out. The Far Horizons also does a good job of celebrating the early history of the United States and the Lewis and Clark Expedition.