BROKEN TRAIL

'''Broken Trail''' is a June 2006 revisionist Western miniseries that originally aired on American Movie Classics as their first original movie. It stars Robert Duvall and Thomas Haden Church, and was directed by Walter Hill.
The screenplay for Broken Trail was written by Alan Geoffrion, who also wrote the novel of the same name. (ISBN 1555916058, Fulcrum Publishing, June 2006). Novelist and screenwriter Alan Geoffrion weaves together two facts — British were buying horses in the American West in the late 1800s and Chinese women were being transported from the West Coast to the interior to serve as prostitutes — along with a series of Western vignettes.

Contents

Plot summary

Cast

Reception

Emmy nominations

References

External links

Plot summary

Set in 1898, the film concerns Prentice "Print" Ritter (Duvall), an aging cowboy who wants to buy a ranch of his own. To accomplish this, he agrees to transport 500 mustangs from Oregon to Wyoming, where he will sell them to the British Army. He recruits his estranged nephew, Tom Harte (Church), to join him, hoping to reconnect with him on the ride.
What starts out as a simple horse drive is complicated when Print and Tom encounter a particularly vile white slaver who is transporting five Chinese women to a lawless mining town, where they will face a life of prostitution and indentured servitude. Compelled to do the right thing, Print and Tom rescue the women and take them in, but as they continue their perilous trek across the frontier, they are tailed by a vicious gang of outlaws sent by the whorehouse madam who originally paid for the women.

Cast

★ Robert Duvall as Print Ritter

★ Thomas Haden Church as Tom Harte

★ Greta Scacchi as Mrs. Nola Johns

★ Scott Cooper as Henry "Heck" Gilpin

★ James Russo as Captain Billy Fender

★ Rusty Schwimmer as "Big Rump Kate" Becker

★ Olivia Cheng as Ye Fung

★ Gwendoline Yeo as Sun Foy

★ Chris Mulkey as Ed "Big Ears" Bywaters

★ Donald Fong as Lung Hay

★ Caroline Chan as Mai Ling

★ Jadyn Wong as Ghee Moon

★ Valerie Tian as Ging Wa

Reception

The miniseries received generally favorable reviews from critics. As of August 7, 2007, the film had a score of 78 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 15 reviews. Charlie McCollum of the San Jose Mercury News called it "the finest purely American TV film to come along in some time."^[1] Allison Benedikt of the Chicago Tribune said it was "a gorgeous piece of cinema."^[2] Alessandra Stanley of The New York Times said it was "not as well written or compelling as ''Lonesome Dove'', but Mr. Duvall brings an earthy believability to even the most plodding lines."^[3] The miniseries received 16 nominations at the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards, having the second most overall nominations. It received one less nomination than another film set in America in the late nineteenth century, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.

Emmy nominations

★ Broken Trail...for Outstanding Art Direction for a Miniseries, Movie or Special

★ Broken Trail...for Outstanding Casting for a Miniseries, Movie or Special

★ Broken Trail...for Outstanding Cinematography for a Miniseries or Movie

★ Broken Trail...for Outstanding Hairstyling for a miniseries, movie or special

★ Broken Trail...for Outstanding Makeup for a Miniseries, Movie or Special (Non-prosthetic)

★ Broken Trail...for Outstanding Miniseries

★ Broken Trail Part 2...for Outstanding Costumes for a Miniseries, movie or a Special

★ Broken Trail Part 2...for Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Miniseries, Movie or Special

★ Broken Trail Part 2...for Outstanding Single-Camera Sound Mixing for a Miniseries or a Movie

★ Broken Trail Part 2...for Outstanding Sound Editing for a Miniseries, Movie or Special

★ Alan Geoffrion...for Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries or a Movie

★ Greta Scacchi...for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie

★ Robert Duvall...for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie

★ Thomas Haden Church...for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie

★ Van Dyke & David Mansfield...for Outstanding Music Composition for a Miniseries, Movie or Special (Dramatic Underscore)

★ Walter Hill...for Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or Special

References

1. http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/entertainment/columnists/charlie_mccollum/14875524.htm
2. http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/tv/chi-0606220356jun23,1,7613626.story?coll=chi-ent_tv-hed
3. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/23/arts/television/23trai.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

External links

★ Official site

★

★

★