This Popular Classic Gangster Film Was Partly Filmed in Montana

Did you know this classic film had a pivotal scene filmed in Montana? We had no idea, and we did a little digging.

We typically don't have massive Hollywood productions come to Montana to shoot films. A few notable films were shot in Montana, like A River Runs Through It, Legends of the Fall, and Dances With Wolves. These films involved iconic movie stars like Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, and Kevin Costner.

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Most of the films shot in Montana are Westerns, and it makes sense with the landscape of our geography. We have sprawling land perfect for shots of cattle, horses, and Old West towns.

That's what we thought until now.

One of the best films from the '80s had a pivotal scene shot in Montana and featured some of the biggest movie stars that people still love today. That film was The Untouchables.

The Untouchables was a film about how real FBI agent Eliot Ness took down one of the most notorious gangsters in U.S. history, Al Capone, for tax evasion. The film starred Kevin Costner as Eliot Ness, Sean Connery, and the iconic Robert De Niro as Al Capone.

The movie is primarily shot in Chicago, but one scene where Kevin Costner's character with his crew takes down Capone's illegal shipping of alcohol over the Canadian border. This scene helped the FBI to make the case against Capone in court.

In 1986, Paramount Pictures called the Montana Film Commission to find a 1930's 1930s-era bridge that would fit the border crossing scene. They found Hardy Bridge near Cascade, which would be perfect.

Paramount Pictures even hired two dozen locals to ride horseback as the Royal Mounted Canadian Police on the scene. Even locals were allowed to watch the production from a field during the shooting.

The movie was a massive success financially and won Sean Connery an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

So, who's down for a movie night?