Film is Pwn

Breakheart Pass is a stellar Charles Bronson movie, a classic Western, and an old-fashioned murder mystery with a healthy dose of conspiracy to boot.

Sadly, odds are, unless you are a connoisseur of the Western genre or are a Bronson fan, you haven’t heard of this movie.  Breakheart Pass is based on a novel by Alistair MacLean, a Scottish writer best known for his World War II thrillers like the Guns of Navarone and Where Eagles Dare.  Interestingly, MacLean also wrote the screenplay for Breakheart Pass, and his name appears above the title, a token of respect for the writer reserved exclusively for Stephen King in modern times. 

Breakheart Pass opens with Governor Fairchild (Richard Crenna) leading an emergency mission via train to a remote outpost in the Rocky Mountains, Fort Humboldt.  The fort has been besieged by a plague, and they are bringing medical supplies and replacement soldiers.  At the last town before a long journey through the desolate wilderness, they pick up Marshall Pearce (Ben Johnson) and a suspected murderer he is transporting, Deakin (Charles Bronson).

Before long, it becomes evident that there is a saboteur aboard.  The doctor (David Huddleston) is found dead, and others disappear from the train, which can only mean death as no one can survive the snowbound territory.  Aboard the train are the daughter of the besieged fort (Jill Ireland – Charles Bronson’s real life wife), a suspicious reverend (Bill McKinney), the governor’s right hand man (Charles Durning), a cook (Archie Moore), and the Major commanding the replacement soldiers (Ed Lauter).

Breakheart Pass was released in 1975, a year after the most successful and high profile Agatha Christie theatrical adaptation, Murder on the Orient Express.  This is fairly bad timing for Breakheart Pass, because either by intent or coincidence it resembles Orient Express in basic structure.  Both films feature a murder on a train that is unable to stop, an investigation conducted by an outsider, and the murders are results of an intricate conspiracy.  Granted, the conclusion of Murder on the Orient Express didn’t have a dynamite tossin’, horse ridin’, and guns a blazin’ culmination, but this is an Alistair MacLean movie, not an Agatha Christie movie.

One of the oddities of the film is how the gentile passengers treat the prisoner, Deakin, with a shocking amount of trust and allow him a copious quantity of freedom on the train, even after the first murder occurs.  Though much of his investigation is conducted surreptitiously, Deakin has the opportunity to ask the entire cast questions as he strolls with free reign about the train.  Since Deakin has some medical history, he is able to examine the late doctor and determine that the cause of death is murder, and I suppose that grants him a modicum of autonomy, but is it inconceivable that his diagnosis might have been a ruse?  Though the audience knows simply based on the order of names appearing on the marquee that Charles Bronson isn’t a mere murderer on his way to the gallows, the other characters didn’t see the title cards, did they?

There’s a lot to admire in the film. The mountain scenery is breathtakingly exquisite.  There is a memorable, Western score from composer/conductor Jerry Goldsmith that is stellar.  The film builds intrigue slowly in classic murder mystery fashion before getting to the action with restraint that modern, mainstream films do not possess. 

Despite the fondness I possess for Breakheart Pass, I must grant that it will likely always exist on the periphery of classic movies, not entirely forgotten but seldom reverred.  It’s far from the top ten Westerns of all-time.

Alistair MacLean’s legacy lies in the beloved Guns of Navarone, and understandably so; Navarone is a superior film.

Bronson will likely be remembered for his work as a tough guy vigilante (as in Death Wish) rather than his more dexterous performance here.  (Not to mention Bronson’s strong supporting roles in three unforgettable 60s classics, the Dirty Dozen, the Magnificent Seven, and the Great Escape.)

So, sadly, Breakheart Pass will be in the background of the Western genre.  But for those who do seek the film out on DVD or happen to catch it on a classic movie channel, I feel safe in stating that Breakheart Pass will be a pleasant surprise. 

–Lawrence D. Oso