“Breakheart Pass”

Movie Review

An American Western movie called Breakheart Pass, starring Charles Bronson, Ben Johnson, Richard Crenna, and Jill Ireland, was first released in 1975. It was filmed in north central Idaho and is based on Alistair MacLean's 1974 book of the same name.

The plot of the film is as follows: In the 1870s, a diphtheria outbreak is reportedly affecting the troops at the American Army's Fort Humboldt frontier outpost. A special express train carrying troops and medical supplies is ascending into the distant mountain ranges toward the fort. Nevada Governor Fairchild, played by Richard Crenna, and his fiancée Marica, played by Jill Ireland, the commander of the fort, are also civilian passengers on the train in the back sumptuous private car.

The train makes a brief stop in the sleepy town of Myrtle, where it picks up local lawman United States Marshal Pearce (Ben Johnson) and his prisoner John Deakin (Charles Bronson), a reputed bandit who was recognized by a photograph in a newspaper ad offering a $2,000 prize. Nevertheless, as the journey continues through the stunning landscape of the snow-covered mountains, a number of railway passengers, including the majority of the train's soldier escort, inexplicably die or vanish. The "epidemic" at the outpost is actually a conspiracy between a group of killers led by the infamous bandit Levi Calhoun and a tribe of Indians under the leadership of Chief White Hand, according to Deakin, who is actually an undercover agent for the U.S. Secret Service. The train's boxcars aren't carrying medical supplies; rather, they're carrying a sizable secret shipment of weapons, rifles, ammo, and dynamite stolen from American arms producers for sale to the Indians in exchange for their cooperation in allowing Calhoun and his men to mine and smuggle gold from their territories. The vast majority of passengers, including Governor Fairchild and Marshal Pearce, are accomplices of Calhoun's criminal enterprise, and any innocents who uncover the proof of his evil scheme are eliminated. In the end, Deakin settles on Marica and Army Major Claremont as potential uninvolved allies because they are both willing to help the agent stop the armaments’ transport.

Indians assault the train at the snow-covered Breakheart Pass in order to get the promised weapons, and Calhoun and his men ride out to the train to see what is happening. Before the train reaches the fort, Deakin and Major Claremont use dynamite to blow up and damage the track rails, stopping it. While Deakin causes trouble, Claremont heads straight for Fort Humboldt to free the men held captive by Calhoun's gang. When the liberated troops struggle with the Indians and robbers at the train, a gunfight erupts. When Calhoun threatens Marica, Gov. Fairchild kills him; however, the governor is later killed by Major Claremont. When the dishonest lawman resolves to fight to the bitter end, Marshal Pearce is intercepted by Deakin and shot.

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