The Far Horizon (1 Viewer)

[Brent Avery]

Say, anybody else have thoughts on buying this title? I came across it a few days ago and since it stars Charlton Heston ( as well as Fred MacMurray )figured it would probably be passable. It's based ( loosely I'm sure ) on the Lois and Clark expedition and beyond the historical liberties no doubt taken I still enjoyed it. Great cinematography showcased through the VistaVision process that Paramount used then. Image looked quite good so if you like films of this sort check it out.

 

[Robert Harris]

The Far Horizons is indeed a beautifully shot VistaVision production from Paramount, and is nicely rendered on DVD, as is most of Paramount's current fare...

It was photographed by Daniel Fapp, who shot numerous Paramount films from 1941 to 1959, and was later responsible for The Great Escape and West Sde Story.

But that'a about as far as it goes.

The casting, acting and storyline are about as unrealistic as one might hope in a beautiful, bad film.

From the attempted realism of underarm sweat stains in the opening as Herbert Heyes, as President Jeffersson, discusses the journey, to the extrememly odd casting of Donna Reed as Sacajawea (looking in no way native American, inclusive of darkened facial makeup ending at her hair line (thank you VistaVision), the film has nowhere to go.

If one is looking for an example of a poorly thought out studo film to be used as part of a film class, this is a likely candidate.

At a later date, the studio took another stab at distributing the film, and re-issued it as Untamed West, cutting new title credits onto the old prints.

With neither chariots nor flubber to be seen, the film quickly sinks into the nether regions of cinema history.

RAH