Legends of the Fall

Montana is played by Canada in Edward Zwick’s film. The Ludlow ranch was shot in the Ghost River wilderness in Alberta, the funeral and cemetery scenes by the Bow River near Banff, and the streets of Helena in the Gastown district of Vancouver with period facades added, while the overseas passages went to Jamaica. The First World War material took two weeks near Morley, using hundreds of local people along with a number of Canadian Forces soldiers as extras. The narrator is not a neutral voice but a member of the household. Gordon Tootoosis, who plays One Stab, had the character’s nation changed from Cheyenne to Cree at his own insistence, and regarded the production as the favourite of his career. The honours landed on the camera. At the 67th Academy Awards John Toll won Cinematography, and the film also drew nominations in Art Direction and Sound, with nothing at all in writing, acting or Best Picture. Toll won the same award again the following year for Braveheart. Four Golden Globe nominations produced no wins. A good fit if you accept a film that leans on Toll’s camera and the Canadian landscape rather than on its script, and want the family history delivered through One Stab. Not for anyone expecting the choice between the three brothers to be handled coolly.