The Far Horizons (1955)

In 1803, Lewis (Fred MacMurray) and Clark (Charlton Heston) are given the go ahead by President Thomas Jefferson (Herbert Heyes) to embark on a government sponsored expedition to discover a water route connecting Missouri with the Pacific Ocean. Based on the novel SACAJAWEA OF THE SHOSHONES by Della Gould Emmons and directed by Rudolph Mate (WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE). Not surprisingly, this is a highly fictionalized and historically inaccurate version of the actual Lewis and Clark expedition. Although top billed, Fred MacMurray recedes into the background and the film focuses on Heston's Clark and a fabricated romance with Sacajawea (Donna Reed). In reality, Sacajawea was a married 16 year old (Reed was about 33 years old). The movie's antagonism between Lewis and Clark is also fabricated. No one goes to movies for historical accuracy so all this aside, it might have been less annoying if the movie were any good but it's pedestrian. On the plus side is Daniel L. Fapp's (WEST SIDE STORY) handsome color lensing of the Wyoming landscape in VistaVision. With Barbara Hale, William Demarest, Alan Reed and Larry Pennell.