April 10, 2008

Gratuitous Netflix Moovie Observation

FarCountry.jpg

Last evening I popped in The Far Country, one of the line of great Ja-Ja-Ja-Jimmy Stewart/Anthony Mann westerns, and was impressed again by the absolutely gahrgious mountainy setting of the film.

The story, a cross-border affair, is supposed to take place in far southeastern Alaska and the Yukon Territory, yet I couldn't help noticing in the credits that it was filmed on location in some park in Alberta.

For some reason, this surprised me. I'd always thought of Alberta as the northern extension of the Great Plains. Isn't it where Canada grows all that wheat?

Posted by Robert at April 10, 2008 08:48 AM | TrackBack
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My wife and I honeymooned in Alberta: Lake Louise, in Banff National Park. Search Google images for Lake Louise if you want a gorgeous wallpaper for your computer. The Canadian Rockies are awe-inspiring.

My wife's grandmother ran into Jimmy Stewart (has a picture, I think) on the shore of Lake Louise back in the 1950s. I wonder if it was during the filming of this movie?

Side note: I'm taking the wife and kids to Banff this coming Christmas, so that we're guaranteed a white Christmas.

Posted by: JohnL at April 10, 2008 10:30 AM

And to answer your question, Alberta is much more like Canada's Texas, both politically and economically. The real "great plains" provinces are further east, in Manitoba and Saskatchewan (half of my ancestors came to America via Canada).

Posted by: JohnL at April 10, 2008 10:35 AM

Yeah, that's just my ignorance of the Great White North showing through. I suppose I'll get tagged as a Canadaphobe now.

Posted by: Robbo the LB at April 10, 2008 02:30 PM

And geographically, Alberta is a lot more like the States south of it -- Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado: Flat in the east, rising to the Rockies.

Posted by: Boy Named Sous at April 10, 2008 03:09 PM

Good Lord! Don't let my friend from Alberta hear you. And don't mention anything about French influence in Canada.

Posted by: tee bee at April 16, 2008 09:06 AM