Breakheart Pass

Set in the frontier era, Breakheart Pass follows a train carrying medical supplies and replacement soldiers through the Rocky Mountains to the remote Fort Humboldt, where an epidemic is said to be raging. As the journey proceeds, passengers are killed one after another and the train is sabotaged. A prisoner being taken to trial, John Deakin, emerges as the person who can work out what is really happening, and he proves to have more to him than his escort, Deputy U.S. Marshal Nathan Pearce, suspected. The film is a mystery thriller with western trappings, based on a novel by Alistair MacLean, who also wrote the screenplay. Charles Bronson leads the cast as Deakin, with Ben Johnson as Pearce, Richard Crenna as Governor Fairchild, Jill Ireland as Marica Scoville, Charles Durning as Frank O'Brien and Ed Lauter as Major Claremont. Tom Gries directed; it was the fourth of the five features he made in the order listed, arriving between Lady Ice and Breakout, and it was produced by Jerry Gershwin.

Made for about 6 million dollars, the film took roughly 2 million at the worldwide box office, a return well below its cost. On IMDb it holds 6.7 out of 10 from around 10,000 votes, and on TMDB 6.6 from 239 votes. A critics' rating of 6.7 from 19 reviews sits close to the audience figures on IMDb.