From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Continental Divide is a 1981 American romantic comedy. It was directed by Michael Apted from an original screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and produced by Steven Spielberg and stars John Belushi and Blair Brown. An attempt was made during the promotional phase of the film's release to sell Belushi and Brown as 'the new Hepburn and Tracy', calling to mind the gutsy creative chemistry and double-act performances of those yesteryear actors. Though this impression was not successfully carried off, Belushi's death less than six months after the film's release meant that the potential of he and Brown as a movie twosome was never explored.

Plot

A Chicago reporter, Ernie Souchak (Belushi), is investigating a corrupt city councilman. After doing an expose on some corrupt land dealings by the councilman, he is assaulted by two crooked police officers sent by the councilman, and ends up in the hospital. His editor decides to send him out of town for his own safety. Souchak reluctantly travels to the Rockies to interview Dr. Nell Porter (Brown), who has been conducting research on bald eagles for several years. The two are at odds at first. After finding out he is a reporter, she is reluctant to let him stay, but realizes he is not able to survive in the mountains without his guide, who is not scheduled to return for two weeks. He is skeptical about her work, but comes to like her for her strong character and dedication. She, in turn, grows to like him. Eventually, they fall in love. Souchak later returns to Chicago with her still very much on his mind. Souchak's mind continues to drift back to his time in the Rockies. However, when he finds out that one of his sources has been "accidentally" killed, he once again pursues the councilman until the day the councilman flees the country. The same day the councilman flees, Souchak finds out that Porter is coming to Chicago to do a presentation at a symposium. With some uncertainly, Souchak decides to attend the presentation. Meeting after she gives her presentation, they rekindle their relationship. Happy as they are together, they cannot reconcile the different paths each has taken in life, and so they reluctantly decide to part again. Souchak, seeing her off on the train, ends up traveling with her all the way back to Wyoming. After getting off at her stop, they decide that they cannot do without each other, and decide to marry. The movie ends with him catching the train back to Chicago, and the newlyweds promising to meet again very soon. Singer Helen Reddy performed the ending theme, "Never Say Goodbye". The Ernie Souchak character was loosely based on longtime Chicago newspaper columnist Mike Royko.

Filming Locations

Many of the scenes were filmed around Chicago:

• Belushi's character works for the Chicago Sun-Times with many scenes filmed in and around the now demolished Chicago Sun-Times Building on the Chicago River (now the construction site of the Trump International Hotel and Tower).
• Belushi and Brown's character meet in Chicago while she is giving a lecture at the Field Museum of Natural History next to Lake Michigan.

Many of the mountain scenes were filmed in Colorado:

• Custer County, Colorado.

Other scenes were filmed at:

• The train depot where Belushi's character says goodbye to Blair's character, but later gets back on the train is the Michigan Central Railroad Niles Depot in Niles, Michigan about 90 miles east of Chicago. It's a large sandstone building built in 1892. The depot appeared in Midnight Run with Robert DeNiro and Only the Lonely with Maureen O'Hara and John Candy.
• Glacier National Park, Montana.
• Crystal Mountain, Washington which is 40 miles south of the city of Enumclaw.
• The final scenes of the movie were filmed in an old train station in Cedar Falls, Washington with an added Amtrak station sign (a movie prop) that read "Victor, WY".

External links

• Continental Divide at the Internet Movie Database