Hi Tom – Below is a story that appeared last week in the Great Falls Tribune. The Hi-Line may be getting even more attention via cinema (hopefully Winter in the Blood will see the screens sometime soon). However, this movie looks to be pure Hollywood with the "A-list" actors probably only looking to pad bank accounts rather than resumes.
Doesn’t sound like it will be filmed in Cut Bank, and except to document the horrifyingly harsh landscapes, it seems there would be no reason it would need to be. The remarks by Cut Bank’s chamber president are interesting – as though she takes issue with the term "frozen in time" to characterize Cut Bank. Okay then – how about just simply "frozen"? So many bleak words come to mind when I think about Cut Bank, they should just be happy that something interesting is potentially going to happen regarding their town. Still, I am somewhat sympathetic to the President of the Chamber of Commerce of Cut Bank, Montana. It would be a very tough job to positively promote a place when so much reality keeps getting in the way.
Jay
A-list actors star in Cut Bank-focused film
Written by
PATRICK DOUGLAS
The town of Cut Bank is about to be the focal point of a film starring a handful of A-list actors, but it has not been determined whether the movie will be filmed in the small Hi-Line community.
"Cut Bank," stars Sir Ben Kingsley, John Malkovich, Michael Sheen, Armie Hammer and Teresa Palmer. It will be directed by Matt Shakman, who is best known for directing episodes of TV shows "Revenge," "It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia," "House M.D." and "Mad Men."
The script, written by Roberto Patino, was recognized in 2009 by Black List, which is an organization that compiles unproduced scripts and showcases them for production companies. "The King’s Speech," "30 Minutes or Less," "Water For Elephants," "The Social Network" and "The Sitter," also were included on the same list as "Cut Bank." All of those films have since been released and met with varying levels of success, including a few Academy Awards.
"Cut Bank," is the story of auto mechanic Dwayne McLaren, a former high school football star who has never managed to leave Cut Bank. When the opportunity arrives for him to move to a bigger city with his girlfriend, Cassandra, a series of bad luck follows him, leaving a wake of destruction in the small Montana town.
While the list of actors for the crime thriller has been revealed, it’s unclear who will play particular characters.
The Oscar-nominated Malkovich is best known for his roles in "Of Mice and Men," "Con Air" and "Being John Malkovich."
Kingsley won an Oscar in 1983 for his lead performance in "Ghandi," and also has starred in "Schindler’s List" and the recently released "Hugo."
Sheen most recently appeared in "Tron: Legacy," "Underworld," "Midnight in Paris" and "The Twilight Saga."
Hammer is best known for playing both parts of the Winklevoss twins in "The Social Network," and Palmer was a star in "I Am Number Four."
"Cut Bank," is set to begin shooting in the fall, and is tentatively scheduled to be released in 2013. Although the film is based in Cut Bank, it is unclear where filming will take place.
When reached Tuesday, representatives with the Montana Film Office said they had no information on the film and could not confirm or deny any plans to film in the state.
"As a rule, we don’t comment on the details of film production this early in the process, as often many details are fluid," said Montana Film Office Location Coordinator Deny Staggs. "However, the Montana Film Office and the Office of Tourism works diligently to promote Montana as a great place to visit and make films. We think Montana has the best locations and the best people for getting films made."
Cut Bank Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Amy Overstreet said Tuesday night that she had no information on possible filming plans, but added that people have been buzzing around the community about the film.
"People have been talking about it today," she said. "It really looks like it’s in the beginning stages."
As far as the notion that Cut Bank will be featured in a crime thriller, Overstreet said she is anxious to see the details of any plans.
"I don’t know about the whole crime thriller thing," she said with a laugh.
"The description said ‘a town frozen in time.’ I don’t know how I feel about that."
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My birthplace, ready for its "close-up" at long last! LOL
[Hint: Look just below the word Alberta! Havre is to the east, Browning (my actual Blackfeet Indian Reservation hometown when I was a baby) slightly to the west, for those not born or raised under The Big Sky!]
Personally, I think Cut Bank would make a fine “Friday Night Lights”/Small Town high school football vibe locale, perhaps with an ACTUAL Tastee Freez prominently featured, though that’s not what sells da tix!
Need some bleak-ass murder/mayhem t’sell us city folk da boondocks, apparently! Might this turn out to be a rough equivalent to Terence Malick’s BADLANDS for our more cynical time?! That’d be fine wit’ me….
Thanks Jay,
Tom
P.S. Deny Staggs (highlighted above) was an actor whom John Kappes and I knew slightly back in mid-Eighties Missoula!
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Hi Jay:
Yeah, the Government Folk who worked for The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) weren’t allowed to have their children at the Public Health facility in Browning, except in an emergency, so my mom drove 30 miles east along Highway 2 to Cut Bank (just past the Blackfeet Reservation boundary line), both for pre-natal visits and for the birth itself on January 31st, 1963.
A Dr. West handled everything, and at some point, after Mom had driven there for an appointment on glare ice roads, he told her NEVER TO DO THAT AGAIN! LOL (He said just to re-schedule the app’t if conditions were that treacherous.)
We still have the birth announcement from the Cut Bank paper, from sometime in early February 1963, which I saw for the first time after my dad died!
So while I never lived there, it is most certainly my birthplace….
Tom
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Anyhow, I well recall a few visits to The Point Drive Inn o’er the years, which is more or less Cut Bank’s version of that all-time Havre Classic, Rod’s Drive-In!
In particular I fondly remember eating there with John Kappes and his father, as we returned to Havre in September 1983, having swung up to Kalispell (from Missoula) to pick up John’s dad, who’d been visiting relatives on a farm not far from town.
I suspect I also ate there, or if not THERE, then wolfed down burgers from there, when my Havre High sophomore football team (The Blue Herd, as opposed to the varsity Blue Ponies!) played there during the fall of 1978.
Must also have made an appearance during a Babe Ruth All-Stars baseball tournament the summer prior.
Here’s hopin’ The Point was NOT in fact killed by McD’s! (fingers crossed…tightly)
Well done, Mr. Schuschke….
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Thanks to EPB, we will be famous for this one, Tommy, I just know it. Our break-through moment. lucrative jobs with the Montana department of tourism combined with the film department await. Hey, if Montana governor Brian Schweitzer can appear on Letterman (last week) as part of his tourism promotion tour in New York, we oughta score something major for our work.
Note that Letterman is a prominent figure in Montana as he has a big ranch outside of Choteau, plus he is friends with the Gov. Letterman has quite a bit of history with the Choteau area, you may recall the plot to kidnap his wife and child which was thwarted by local law enforcement a few years ago.
Normally it woulda been very bad – by typical – press for the state, but Letterman turned it into something very positive because of his gratitude to the people up there that stepped up, he loves it there, and the community really seems to like him – unlike the reception that most celebs buying up the really nice areas of the state, example: Bozeman area is fine with Peter Fonda as he has been there for ages and ages, but when sister Jane and hubby Ted T. moved in…not so much a warm reception; however I understand things have thawed considerable since they split with Teddy being a (supposedly) fine steward of the lands and Hanoi Jane exiting back to La La Land for extensive cosmetic surgery and a horrifying attempt to return to films.]
By the way, as a result of the govs tourism promotion, they are going to be a daily NON-STOP FLIGHT between Montana and the Big Apple!! That’s right, Newark to Bozeman for $150 each way, the flight running from now through September. If the airline (don’t know which one) makes any money, it could be a permanent seasonal route – if not more. (The same thing is underway for Californians – San Francisco non-stop to Missoula for $99 each way).
Ah, yes, only a former Montanan appreciates these obscure stories, but with the combined commentary, we (mostly you) can turn them into something fun for the average educated person.
Jay
