Robert Redford in “ Jeremiah Johnson.”
I saw this movie on the big screen as a young lad and was awestruck by the incredible scenery, filmed on location near the American Fork Canyon area of Utah.
The plot is quite simple and straightforward. Johnson decides to eschew civilization and heads west to become a trapper and mountain man in the rugged, pristine wilderness of 1840’s Colorado Territory. He meets up with Grandpa Walton who likes to poke sticks at grizzly bears. Under the tutelage of Grandpa Walton Johnson becomes an expert trapper, haunting the lakes and streams in in pursuit of mink, sable and beaver.
Johnson marries a Flathead Indian woman named "The Swan" in an arrangement proposed by her father, a chief who runs a riverboat casino on the Eel River. Despite being an arranged marriage The Swan soon learns to love Johnson’s rugged good looks, stylish mountain man hat and his long musket. Not to mention his uncanny skill with the beaver.
Johnson eventually tires of the harsh climate and becomes completely disillusioned with beaver. He begins to dress in loincloths of imported European silk and decorating his cabin with garish art deco furnishings. He soon meets and falls in love with a handsome Algonquin fur trader. They start a torrid, volatile relationship and together open a chain of boutiques specializing in buckskin undergarments and designer handbags.
For every fine beaver there is a man who has become completely disillusioned with it.
ReplyDeleteRobert Redford, whatta dreamboat.
I musta been half stoned when I saw that flick, and fell asleep....don't remember all those torrid details...
ReplyDelete