How “A River Runs Through It” Changed Montana

Riverruns

Here’s a story I’ve been meaning to post all week: A cool article in Sunday’s Bozeman Chronicle explored the ways in which Montana was changed by the success of Robert Redford’s “A River Runs Through It,” which debuted 20 years ago. The images of Brad Pitt, Craig Sheffer, and Tom Skerritt gracefully casting in beautiful settings captured the imaginations of many Americans, many of whom headed to Big Sky Country.


“There was a huge romantic Montana wave the movie contributed to,” Lutton said. “There was a big attraction to Montana. People were excited about it.” After the movie’s release, people began contacting Lutton about wanting to live on a ranch in Montana, someplace close to water. Michelle Becker, a real estate broker and the owner of Maverick Realty, said there was a surge of interest and prices climbed.

The Chronicle article quotes many of the state’s fly-fishing luminaries, as well as Tom McGuane, who says that it was he who introduced Redford to Norman Maclean’s novella. It’s a fascinating read that sheds considerable light on the past two decades in fly fishing.

Click here to read the entire story.

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