Alberta: God's Screen Country

Back To God's Country poster. Courtesy of Richard C. Allen and Northeast Historic Film.

A bit of Alberta's film history is discussed in an article by Erik Floren for the Edmonton Sun. The article commences with Back to God's Country, filmed in Alberta around 1919, and moves on to more recent features such as Brokeback Mountain:

In addition to Lesser Slave Lake standing in for "God's Country," areas of Alberta have stood in for various places around the world for production companies shooting on location here.

The most popular hat Alberta seems to wear is American, especially cowboy - from the Wild West of The Assassination of Jesse James, starring Brad Pitt, which hits theatres later this year - to the more modern Brokeback Mountain, which was set for a Dec. 23 local release but is now postponed until Jan 13.

Alberta also represented the U.S. west in such classic oaters as Clint Eastwood's Oscar-winning Unforgiven, Dustin Hoffman's Little Big Man and Paul Newman's Buffalo Bill and the Indians. And don't forget Texas Rangers, The Virginian, Shanghai Noon and Kevin Costner's Open Range.

As well, Alberta has masqueraded as the Old American South in Children of the Dust, Montana and First World War Europe in Legends of the Fall, the far North in Ordeal in the Arctic, Japan in Heaven & Earth and Running Brave - and both Metropolis and Smallville in the Superman trilogy.

The province played the future as well, as in Firebird 2015, which featured the badlands of Drumheller

According to information supplied by the Alberta Film Commission, the province has provided location for many other film productions since 1942. Here are just a few: Almost American, Hard Rain, Rat Race, Caitlin's Way, Anthrax, War Bride, Last of the Dogmen, Cool Runnings, Samurai Cowboy, Days of Heaven, The Silver Streak, Millionaire Express, Paper Marriage, Eastern Condor, Hand in Hand, The Edge, Lonesome Dove, Destiny Ridge, How the West was Fun, Snow Day, The Sheldon Kennedy Story, The Arrangement, Mystery Alaska, In Cold Blood (the remake), Loyalties, Dead Bang, Bye Bye Blues and Cowboys Don't Cry...

Beside being the site for an assortment of American cities, small towns and states, Alberta has stood in for Austria, Russia, Scotland and even Mars.

In a little bit less of a stretch, Alberta countryside filled in for that of our provincial neighbour when Alan Ladd came here in 1950 to film Saskatchewan. Our scenery must have looked fantastic back in Hollywood. Less than two years later, Marilyn Monroe and Robert Mitchum were up here busy filming River of No Return in Banff and Jasper, and Jimmy Stewart arrived to shoot The Far Country.

Read the full article at this link.

I'll be discussing more of Alberta's film history on here and in the eventual book version of The Alberta Movie Guide. So stay tuned!