MovieChat Forums > Bend of the River (1952) Discussion > The mountain in the background

The mountain in the background

posted 21 years ago by davechoquettemariners
13 replies | jump to latest

As residents of the great Northwest, a group of friends recently viewed this movie, and particularly enjoyed the scenes of the former Celilo Falls on the Columbia River. These falls disappeared with the construction of several dams on the Columbia River, but some of us recall the salmon runs over Celilo Falls back before the dams. We were wondering if anyone knows which mountain is in the background of several scenes in this movie. We would expect it to be Mt. Hood, if it was actually part of the 'location' cinematography. However, it doesn't look like Mt Hood. Any insight or actual knowledge of this was satisfy our curiosity. Thank You

[–] cheval52 20 years ago

The Mountain is Mt Hood (11,239ft) and I was camping south of there at Lake Timothy in 2001.

Patrick of Seattle

[–] underworld101 20 years ago

Mt. Hood indeed. I was watching AMC late one night and happened onto this film.

"What is Jimmy Stewart doing on Mt. Hood?!" I thought -- checked it out and sure enough...

Ahh Oregon! -- no one come here, its horrible and certainly not beautiful of pleasant... :)

[–] cheval52 20 years ago

to underworld101;

Just like Seattle, the Politicians have screwed up Portland as well. Let us pray that they heed your advice and leave Mt Hood alone..... Ahhh Oregon

Patrick of Seattle

[–] woodendreams 19 years ago

Ah yea Seattle. Been there, did the space needle thig as well as the laser show--awsome.
Now living in GODS country (got out of S cal when I could, sudden mode of smartness)Salmon, Idaho
clean air, no smog, lots of hunting and fishing.
town of 3000 people
oh isn't life grand
as for the movie--I caught it on AMC yesterday afternoon. great movie. Really like Jimmy Stewart as an actor

[–] cheval_52 19 years ago

Like you I too left Southern California in 1990 for the Seattle area,
being an asthmatic I did it out of necessity. The only thing I miss
about California is the bodysurfing and the Dodgers.

Cheval52

[–] astockton_uk 9 years ago

We spent a couple of days in Portland three years ago and were amazed that no matter what the time of day, traffic on the interstate was always bumper to bumper. It's as if the very first interstate highway was built in Portland and it occurred to no one that someday the road might need to be wider.

[–] lmcvo 18 years ago

This may sound ridiculous, but Mt. hood looks quite a bit different from the north than from the south. I used to live in the Yakima Valley in WA, and traveled occasionally to Cannon Beach, the Delles, Portland and other great places in Oregon. From the north, it looks more conical, but from the south it looks broader. Also, its snow cover wases and wanes more than any of the other big mountains in the Pac NW. Finally, it looks different from different elevations -- such as from the Columbia Gorge as opposed to from a higher plain or plateau. Thus, it looks very different from different angles, during different seasons, and in different years.

[–] delaney1971 18 years ago

Yes, Mt Hood looks very different from different directions. She is spectacular from all, however. Just an interesting note: Mt Jefferson loses a lot of snow in the summer as well, and there is a local legend about a particular "formation" that can be seen from Central Oregon. As the snow receeds one of the first areas of the Eastern flank to lose snow looks like a long eared jackrabbit. I was told about it and looked for years, without recognizing it. A few years ago I happened to be driving West from Prineville and as I crested a ridge, the rabbit seemed to "jump out" at me. Very cool.

This movie made me go outside and look at Mt Hood :) She is so familiar, like an old glove. The horizon would be so wrong without her there.

[–] m-j-mooney 16 years ago

Hmmm.... Jefferson.... rabbit.... very Jimmy Stewart!

[–] bmw-27 18 years ago

Yes, its Mt. Hood. In fact, I'd guess the location was just above Timberline lodge along the Magic Mile chair. If you look really close you can see the chair lift on the Palmer snowfield! This is where summer ski camps are held. My daughter and I spotted it while channel surfing in our hotel room while traveling to a ski race. Pretty funny!

[–] privatepw 18 years ago

Our Local Comcast station had this on today. I was channel surfing and when I go to the Afternoon movie... A photo popped up and I instantly knew it was Mt. Hood... I'm a life long home grown Oregonian... and I've seen her from just about every angle....if you really want to see just how beautiful she is..... make sure it's daylight, not overcast, and flying on a jet right over top of her along the Columbia River. It's so impressive and spectacular. I've visited a lot of different places, and I've even climbed Mt. Shasta... but Hood Is just so Panoramic and beautiful.. With/without snow!!!!!!!
I can't imagine living anywhere else but Oregon. From Just about anywhere in the Willamette Valley (WILL-AM-ETTE not WILL-A-Mett-E)you can see any one of the Cascade mountains. Thank you Lord.

[–] Hoppeelj5 18 years ago

Spent our entire summer climbing around in this area, and on the mountain with two very excited and enthusiastic kids, who had never been able to get out of the city, so they soaked all of it in. This movie came on and we just reeled from how much we recognized. There is a part where the wagon train is coming down from the mountain, that I think is the very spot where the lower parking lot now is! Might I suggest something to all Mt. Hood lovers, stop at that bend in the highway, where the "Historic Marker" sign is right before you reach Government Camp, it is Laurel Hill. This is where the Barlow Trail came through and the wagons had to go down the "chute".

The wagons would have been lashed to a felled tree and it allowed the wagon to go down the steep grade without losing it altogether. There you can not only still see how the trail winds down, although much has grown in on it, but you can see some of the actual rotting logs, which still have some sear marks where they were cut by the two man saws used. Go see it when the weather is nice, it will astound you.

Did anyone else notice in the closing shot, the place where the "settlement" is? Notice that classic close view of Mt. Hood? It appears to be where Trillium Lake is now (it is a man made lake within one of the original mountain meadows).

[–] jglapin 15 years ago

I cannot say if that is Mt. Hood in the background but it sure looks like this movie was filmed in the Cascade Range, especially around Jefferson. I spent a lot of time hiking through the Oregon range many years ago, so it looks familiar.