These Thousand Hills

These Thousand Hills
Name	These Thousand Hills
Director	Richard Fleischer
Producer	John Houseman
Screenplay	A. Sanford Wolf
Based on	novel by A. B. Guthrie Jr.
Starring	Richard Egan, Don Taylor, Lee Remick, Walter Brennan
Music	Alfred Newman
Cinematography	Charles G. Clarke
Studio	20th Century Fox
Released	1959
Runtime	108 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

These Thousand Hills is a 1959 American Western film directed by Richard Fleischer and produced by John Houseman, adapted from the 1956 novel by A. B. Guthrie Jr.. The picture stars Richard Egan, Don Taylor, Lee Remick, and Walter Brennan, and features music by Alfred Newman with cinematography by Charles G. Clarke. Distributed by 20th Century Fox, the film situates personal drama against the post‑Frontier transformation of Wyoming ranching life and reflects mid‑twentieth century Hollywood treatments of Western literature.

Plot

The narrative follows Craig Breem (played by Richard Egan), a young man who leaves Missouri for Wyoming to claim land and fortune in the late nineteenth century. Craig's ambitions intersect with old rancher Matt Brennan (played by Walter Brennan), neighbor and moral foil, while his friendship with Luke (portrayed by Don Taylor) complicates loyalties as cattle barons and homesteaders clash. Romantic entanglements involve Molly (played by Lee Remick), whose ties to both men echo themes explored in novels like Shane and films produced by William Wyler and John Ford. The plot traces Craig's rise and fall amid disputes over grazing rights, water, and cattle drives, culminating in decisions that mirror legal contests seen in historical events such as the Johnson County War and the settlement struggles depicted in works by Willa Cather and Larry McMurtry.

Cast and Characters

- Richard Egan as Craig Breem — an ambitious homesteader whose trajectory recalls protagonists in The Ox-Bow Incident and Red River. - Don Taylor as Luke Grog — Craig's friend whose loyalties invoke rivalries like those in My Darling Clementine and Rio Bravo. - Lee Remick as Molly — love interest torn between frontier independence and domestic expectations associated with characters in How the West Was Won and novels by Zane Grey. - Walter Brennan as Matt Brennan — elder rancher embodying archetypes established by actors such as John Wayne and Henry Fonda in Western cinema. - Supporting cast includes character actors linked to studios like 20th Century Fox and producers like Darryl F. Zanuck and collaborators from films such as The Searchers.

Production

Adaptation rights were acquired by 20th Century Fox, where producer John Houseman assembled a team including director Richard Fleischer, who had helmed genre films and studio dramas for producers like Darryl F. Zanuck and worked with stars from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Columbia Pictures. Screenwriter A. Sanford Wolf condensed A. B. Guthrie Jr.'s novel, paralleling previous literary adaptations such as How the West Was Won and The Big Sky. Principal photography employed widescreen Technicolor cinematography under Charles G. Clarke, echoing visual strategies used by cinematographers in The Magnificent Seven and The Searchers. Alfred Newman composed the score, continuing a lineage of scoring by composers associated with 20th Century Fox and composers like Max Steiner and Elmer Bernstein. Location shooting in arid ranges aimed to evoke settings used in films by Howard Hawks and Anthony Mann, while studio sequences were shot on backlots employed by 20th Century Fox alongside set designers from productions such as Ben-Hur.

Reception

Upon release, the film drew comparisons to literary Western adaptations and was reviewed by critics writing for outlets covering films by directors like John Ford and Howard Hawks. Contemporary reviews referenced performances by Richard Egan and Lee Remick alongside veteran Walter Brennan, situating the film within a wave of Westerns addressing moral ambiguity, as in The Searchers and High Noon. Box office receipts reflected audience interest in frontier dramas popularized by studios including Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. Retrospective criticism links the film to the revisionist turn that would culminate in works by filmmakers such as Sergio Leone and Sam Peckinpah.

Themes and Analysis

The film explores ambition, moral compromise, and the transformation of the Western frontier, themes resonant with novels by A. B. Guthrie Jr., Willa Cather, and Larry McMurtry, and films by John Ford and Anthony Mann. Issues of land use and conflict mirror real events such as the Johnson County War and debates found in the literature of Frederick Jackson Turner's frontier thesis. Character dynamics reflect American archetypes established in works starring John Wayne, Gary Cooper, and Henry Fonda, while the film's visual language connects to the widescreen compositions of Anthony Mann and the moral realism of Sam Peckinpah. Themes of friendship and betrayal align with narrative structures in Red River and The Ox-Bow Incident, and the film's moral center is interrogated through performances tied to acting traditions from the Academy Awards era.

Adaptations and Legacy

Based on A. B. Guthrie Jr.'s novel, the film participated in a mid‑century trend of adapting Western literature for the screen alongside projects by Zane Grey, Cormac McCarthy, and Louis L'Amour. Though not as commercially iconic as Stagecoach or Shane, it influenced portrayals of homesteading and frontier ethics in later films and television series produced by companies like Desilu Productions and networks including NBC and CBS. The film is referenced in studies of Western cinema alongside critical works on Revisionist Westerns, and performances by its leads are cited in biographies of Lee Remick and Richard Egan. Its legacy endures in academic discussions at institutions such as UCLA Film School and American Film Institute retrospectives.

Category:1959 films Category:American Western films Category:Films directed by Richard Fleischer