Mother Lode (1982 film)

Last updated
Mother Lode
Mother Lode.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Charlton Heston
Written by Fraser Clarke Heston
Produced byFraser Clarke Heston
Starring
CinematographyRichard Leiterman
Edited byEric Boyd-Perkins
Music by Ken Wannberg
Production
company
Distributed byAgamemnon Films
Release date
  • 23 September 1982 (1982-09-23)
(Australia)
Running time
101 minutes
LanguageEnglish
Budget$9 million [1]

Mother Lode (also called Search for the Mother Lode: The Last Great Treasure) is a 1982 adventure thriller film directed by and starring Charlton Heston. It was written and produced by his son Fraser Clarke Heston. The film also stars Nick Mancuso and Kim Basinger as a gold-hunting couple.

Contents

Plot

Mollyco Company employee George Spalding disappears after a flight into northern British Columbia's interior wilderness to search for gold. His friend and colleague, Jean Dupre, contacts his wife Andrea to ask if George told her where he was going before he left. Dupre, who just happens to be available to search for George, having been fired after intimidating a surly manager with aerobatic manoeuvres in a Mollyco Company Cessna 206 aircraft by landing and walking away from the plane as it continues to taxi onto an active runway into the path of a landing Cessna 185, with the Mollyco executive still on board.

Together, Dupre and Spalding embark on a search in a dilapidated de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver. Along the way, they recover from a mechanical breakdown and encounter native fisherman Elijah, who earnestly urges them to stay away from "the headwaters".

On arrival at the headwaters, Dupre accidentally crashes the aircraft during the water landing, yet he and Spalding survive, shaken but unhurt. From there, the pair become involved in suspicious activities with Silas McGee, a prospector and hermit intent on protecting his silver mine. Encountering his brother, Ian McGee, their search turns into a whodunit mystery/adventure, involving mistaken identities, greed and murder. When Dupre discovers the Mollyco aircraft in which George Spalding was last seen, submerged in a lake, the searchers eventually learn the truth about Spalding's disappearance.

Cast

Production

Mother Lode involved members of Charlton Heston's family. While he directed and starred, his son Fraser Clarke Heston came up with the idea, wrote the script and acted as producer, while his wife Lydia is credited as still photographer. "The family firm, Agamemnon Films, produced the film, and along with several other long-lost titles it has been licensed for distribution through Warner Home Video." [2] The featurette that accompanied the DVD release revealed: "... Fraser Heston admits to being heavily influenced by John Huston's masterpiece The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) though structurally the film is like a Canuck version of Peter Benchley's The Deep: young adventurer becomes obsessed with buried treasure; voluptuous girlfriend wants to pack up and go home; eccentric but experienced treasure hunter manipulates them both." [2]

Filming for Mother Lode took place primarily at Lake Lovely Water near Squamish, British Columbia, with most aerial scenes filmed along the Fraser River Valley. Additional photography took place near Vancouver, British Columbia. [3]

Aircraft used

A de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver Mk 1 on floats VH-IDO De Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver Mk1 Airwaves Gold Coast (8402101541).jpg
A de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver Mk 1 on floats

The de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver floatplane used in Mother Lode was not intended to be crashed, nor was a crash part of the original storyline. Trying a "glassy water landing", the pilot reduced his descent too late as the left float contacted, created drag and hooked, followed by the right float doing the same, whereupon all control was lost and the aircraft slewed around, flipped over, and sank. [Note 1] With no fiscal options remaining, the Hestons were forced to incorporate the crash into the plot. The scene is regarded by many fans as the highlight of the film.[ citation needed ]

The Beaver floatplane was recovered from the lake and transported to Kelowna, British Columbia, where it was fully restored, put back on wheels and sold to an American business, which licensed the aircraft as N323RS. [4]

The aircraft which is landing when the Mollyco Cessna 206 wanders onto its runway is a Cessna 185, which performs an abrupt "firewall" (application of full power) and pull-up to clear the 206. Neither the Cessna 206 nor 185 was normally rated for such aerial maneuvers as depicted in the film.

The submerged Cessna floatplane is either a Cessna 180 or 185, exact model indeterminate; the wing flap width distinguishes it from a Cessna 206. It cannot be determined if the submerged aircraft was a scratch-built movie prop or an actual salvaged airframe.

Reception

Mother Lode was not well received by critics. The review in TV Guide dismissed the film as "mediocre". [5]

Variety was more positive: "As the title indicates, the consuming issue in Mother Lode is a search for gold. The picture is not without shortcomings, but is long on good performances, charismatic people in the three principal roles, compelling outdoor aerial sequences in the Cassiar Mountains of British Columbia and high-level suspense throughout." [3]

Mother Lode had a very limited cinematic release in the United States, and a limited VHS release shortly after, with a DVD release on March 29, 2011. The film has yet to be released in Blu-ray format. In a review of the DVD version, Stuart Galbraith IV of DVD Talk thought the film worked best as a thriller and was "occasionally extremely effective". [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlton Heston</span> American actor and political activist (1923–2008)

Charlton Heston was an American actor and political activist. He gained stardom for his leading man roles in numerous Hollywood films including biblical epics, science-fiction films and action films. He won the Academy Award as well as nominations for three Golden Globe Awards, and three Primetime Emmy Awards. He won numerous honorary accolades including the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1978, the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1967, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 1971, the Kennedy Center Honors in 1997, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Air North</span> Airline in Yukon, Canada

Air North Charter and Training Ltd., operating as Air North, Yukon's Airline, is a Canadian airline based in Whitehorse, Yukon. It operates scheduled passenger and cargo flights throughout Yukon, as well as between Yukon and the Northwest Territories, British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario. The airline also operates charter flights throughout Canada and Alaska. The airline also provides ground handling services and fuel services to other airlines throughout Yukon, and it also provides ground handling services at Vancouver International Airport and Edmonton International Airport. Its main base is Erik Nielsen Whitehorse International Airport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mother lode</span> Principal vein of gold or silver ore

Mother lode is a principal vein or zone of gold or silver ore. The term is also used colloquially to refer to the real or imaginary origin of something valuable or in great abundance.

de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter Utility aircraft family

The de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter is a single-engined, high-wing, propeller-driven, short take-off and landing (STOL) aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada. It was conceived to be capable of performing the same roles as the earlier and highly successful Beaver, including as a bush plane, but is overall a larger aircraft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harbour Air</span> Floatplane airline in British Columbia, Canada

Harbour Air Seaplanes is a scheduled floatplane service, tour and charter airline based in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. The predominantly seaplane airline specializes in routes between Vancouver, Nanaimo, Victoria, Sechelt, Comox, Whistler and the Gulf Islands, primarily with de Havilland Canada floatplanes. Harbour Air operates de Havilland Beavers, Otters and Twin Otters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bush plane</span> Airplane used in remote or underdeveloped areas

A bush airplane is a general aviation aircraft used to provide both scheduled and unscheduled passenger and flight services to remote, undeveloped areas, such as the Canadian north or bush, Alaskan tundra, the African bush, or savanna, Amazon rainforest and the Australian Outback. They are used where ground transportation infrastructure is inadequate or does not exist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cessna 206</span> American light aircraft

The Cessna 205, 206 and 207, known primarily as the Stationair, are a family of single-engined, general aviation aircraft with fixed landing gear, used in commercial air service as well as for personal use. The family was originally developed from the popular retractable-gear Cessna 210 and produced by the Cessna Aircraft Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Austin Airways</span> Defunct airline of Canada (1934–1987)

Austin Airways was a passenger airline and freight carrier based in Timmins, Ontario, and one of the oldest in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ministry of Natural Resources (Ontario)</span> Ontario provincial government department

The Natural Resources is a government ministry of the Canadian province of Ontario that is responsible for Ontario's provincial parks, forests, fisheries, wildlife, mineral aggregates and the Crown lands and waters that make up 87 per cent of the province. Its offices are divided into Northwestern, Northeastern and Southern Ontario regions with the main headquarters in Peterborough, Ontario. The current minister is Graydon Smith].

<i>Airport 1975</i> 1974 American disaster film

Airport 1975 is a 1974 American air disaster film and the first sequel to the successful 1970 film Airport. It was directed by Jack Smight, produced by William Frye, executive produced by Jennings Lang, and written by Don Ingalls. The film stars Charlton Heston, Karen Black, George Kennedy and Gloria Swanson – as a fictionalized version of herself – in her final film role.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenmore Air</span> Airline of the United States

Kenmore Air Harbor, Inc., doing business as Kenmore Air, is an American airline with its headquarters on the grounds of Kenmore Air Harbor in Kenmore, Washington, United States, north of Seattle. It operates scheduled and charter seaplane and landplane service to destinations throughout western Washington and southwestern British Columbia, as well as seaplane "flightseeing" flights around Seattle. In addition to its corporate headquarters, seaplane maintenance facility and terminal in Kenmore, the airline has hub operations in Seattle for seaplanes at Lake Union Seaplane Base and for land-based airplanes at Boeing Field. It also operates a maintenance facility for its airplane fleet at Boeing Field.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alkan Air</span> Canadian charter airline and air ambulance

Alkan Air Ltd. is an airline headquartered in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada. The company operates seven-day-a-week charter and air ambulance (medevac) services. The Whitehorse and Mayo (seasonal) bases generally focus on wheel and floatplane charter and medevac services in northern and western Canada and Alaska. The Nanaimo, BC base provides charter and medevac services, focused primarily in western Canada, the western United States and Mexico. From 2016 to 2018, Alkan also operated scheduled flights between Erik Nielsen Whitehorse International Airport and Watson Lake Airport.

<i>Alaska</i> (1996 film) 1996 film by Fraser Clarke Heston

Alaska is a 1996 American adventure survival film directed by Fraser Clarke Heston and produced by Carol Fuchs and Andy Burg. The story, written by Burg and Scott Myers, centers on two children who search through the Alaskan wilderness for their lost father. During their journey, they find a polar bear who helps lead them to their father. However, a poacher with a desire to capture the bear follows close behind the children and the polar bear. The director's father, Charlton Heston, plays the main antagonist. The movie was filmed primarily in the Purcell Mountains of British Columbia in Canada and the city of Vancouver. The film was a box office bomb, grossing only $11,829,959 over a $24 million budget. It received negative reviews upon its release.

Fraser Clarke Heston is an American film director, film producer, screenwriter and actor. He is the son of actors Charlton Heston and Lydia Clarke, and has a sister, Holly Ann Heston.

<i>Treasure Island</i> (1990 film) 1990 television film by Fraser Clarke Heston

Treasure Island is a 1990 British-American made-for-television film adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1883 novel of the same name, written and directed by Fraser Clarke Heston, and also starring several notable British actors, including Christian Bale, Oliver Reed, Christopher Lee, Julian Glover and Pete Postlethwaite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Thunderbird Air</span> Canadian charter airline and medevac service

Northern Thunderbird Air Inc or NT Air is a Canadian charter airline and medevac service based in Prince George, British Columbia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brooks Seaplane Base</span> Airport

Brooks Seaplane Base is a city-owned, public-use seaplane base located in the city of Coeur d'Alene, Kootenai County, Idaho, United States. It is located on Lake Coeur d'Alene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seair Seaplanes</span> Scheduled and charter airline based in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada

Seair Seaplanes is a scheduled and charter airline based in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. The airline flies routes between the Vancouver International Water Airport and the Nanaimo Harbour Water Airport, as well as other Gulf Islands in the Strait of Georgia, exclusively with float planes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northway Aviation</span> Canadian airline

Northway Aviation Ltd is a Canadian bush airline providing scheduled and charter passenger and freight service from St. Andrews Airport, St Andrews, Manitoba, Canada utilizing both wheel and float equipped aircraft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taquan Air Flight 20</span> 2019 aviation accident

Taquan Air Flight 20 was a regularly scheduled commuter flight operated by Taquan Air from Ketchikan Harbor Seaplane Base to Metlakatla Seaplane Base. On May 20, 2019, the pilot lost control of the de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver floatplane while landing in the harbor at Metlakatla, Alaska, United States. The airplane overturned, destroying the aircraft and killing both persons aboard. The accident was attributed to challenging wind conditions that proved too difficult for the relatively inexperienced pilot to handle.

References

Notes

  1. When attempting a "glassy water landing", where the glass-like surface can lead pilots into misjudging relative height and rate of descent during landing, a crash can occur. This was the case as the film clearly depicts the aircraft descending at both a high sink rate and a high rate of forward speed.

Citations

  1. Rosenfield, Paul (Jan 30, 1983). "HESTON: HE'S STUCK WITH STUFFY IMAGE". Los Angeles Times. p. k3.
  2. 1 2 3 Galbraith, Stuart, IV. "Review: 'Mother Lode'." DVD Talk, March 29, 2011. Retrieved: December 27, 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Review: 'Mother Lode'." Variety, December 31, 1981. Retrieved: December 27, 2015.
  4. "Sun N' Fun 200 Results." Vintage Airplane, p. 4. Retrieved: December 27, 2015.
  5. "Review: 'Mother Lode'." TV Guide. Retrieved: December 27, 2015.

Bibliography

  • Heston, Charlton. In the Arena: An Autobiography. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995. ISBN   978-0-6848-0394-4.