Tania Lewis
Residents of Cut Bank are nervously awaiting a supposedly dark movie by the name of “Cut Bank.”
Cut Bank, the rugged eastern entryway to Glacier National Park, is where wheat fields fuse with the majesty of the Rocky Mountains, where outdoor scenery is big, broad and brash.
But it’s the friendly rhythms of small-town life that keep this community of fewer than 3,000 grounded.
Pumpkin cookie recipes, along with the Cut Bank High School Wolves and Lady Wolves, receive priority placement in the weekly newspaper. Conversations touch on retirement teas, church schedules, fishing holes, and the trajectory of the class of 2014, which graduated 50. Nearby Hutterite colonies plant and pick their produce in scenic quietude.
The people of Cut Bank — which traces its history back to the Great Northern Railway in the early 1890s — believe they represent the very best of Montana.
That helps explain why many people in town are looking toward June 16 with a mixture of hope and dread. On that date, Hollywood officially serves up the movie “Cut Bank” to the rest of the world.
“We are nervously awaiting the portrayal,” said Amy Overstreet, executive director of the Cut Bank Area Chamber of Commerce. “We’ve heard that some of the film’s tag lines are things like, ‘Cut Bank, where dreams go to die,’ and ‘Cut Bank, where luck doesn’t exist.’”
To better prepare Cut Bank for what could be a wild ride, Overstreet spoke with her counterparts at the Fargo Chamber of Commerce. Since 1996, the North Dakota city has lived in the homicidal, wood-chipper shadows of “Fargo,” the Coen Brothers’ sixth film and now a cable TV series.
“A lot like the city of Fargo, we didn’t seek it out — the attention,” Overstreet said. “It’s something that is happening to us, and we’d like to turn it into something positive.”
That’s about what happened in Fargo, according to Danielle Teigen, communications and marketing manager of the Fargo-Moorhead-West Fargo Chamber of Commerce.
“We obviously don’t embrace or agree with all of the characters in the ‘Fargo’ movie or series,” Teigen said. “We still see it as something positive, though. Hopefully, it motivates or inspires people to come to Fargo and get their own perspective.”
While information is scarce as to just what “Cut Bank” and its script entail, Overstreet said “the movie seems kind of dark.”
A ‘darkish plot’
“It has a darkish plot, and it springs out of control,” said Overstreet. “It is possible that the plot it is based on an actual case in a different community, but it is not based on actual events that took place in Cut Bank.”
The cast of “Cut Bank” includes Liam Hemsworth, Billy Bob Thornton, and Bruce Dern. At least one cast member, John Malkovich, visited the real Cut Bank a few months ago. The actor posed for photos and ate lunch at the Big Sky Café.
“It was front page news,” Overstreet said.
“It’s pretty exciting and, of course, a little scary,” said Jeff Billman, president of the chamber and owner of Billman True Value, a third-generation hardware store. “I’ve been reading the description, and it’s a little scary. It’s such a big film. I’ve heard all of the names.
“It’s actually going to be a big deal. But any publicity is good publicity. It should be good for our town. As a chamber, we are preparing for it. Let’s capitalize off of it and turn it into a positive. I can’t see how it could not be good for tourism.”
The movie wasn’t filmed in Montana, but near Edmonton, Alberta. Billman said he was impressed with the visual similarities.
“I saw a few publicity photos online,” he said. “I’ve got to admit that the area where it was filmed is quite beautiful. It looks like a pretty good representation of our landscape.”
Tania Lewis
A concrete statue of a penguin on Cut Bank’s main drag may be the best-known thing in the community.
The real Cut Bank attracts people to the community because it is family-friendly, off-the-beaten path and affordable. An ad taken out by Royal Real Estate in the Cut Bank Pioneer Press splits home listings into two categories: under $75,000 and over $75,000.
Overstreet was born and raised in Great Falls and had never been to Cut Bank until the day she moved there with her husband, Matt.
“We had lived in Alaska,” Overstreet said. “After moving around and out of Montana for several years, we came to Cut Bank, and we only intended to stay for 18 months. But after 18 months, we were hooked, and we never left.”
When Overstreet first heard rumors of a film project with the name Cut Bank as its heading, she was incredulous.
“I had received emails in June 2013,” she said. “And I’m thinking, ‘is this a joke?’ ‘Is this for real?’”
“I do feel protective of the town and individuals that live here,” she continued. “This town is an amazing group of people. Like most small towns, you know everyone’s successes and struggles and develop a lot of empathy.”
The famous penguin
Cut Bank’s most famous icon has been greeting tourists on Main Street since 1989. Constructed of 10,000 pounds of concrete and approximately 27 feet tall, the penguin statue outside the Glacier Gateway Inn declares Cut Bank to be “the coldest spot in the nation.”
“It will be here forever,” Billman said. “I believe the hotel owner built it, and it once talked, it had a microphone. There was an ice cream shop across the street, and it was a good ploy — come stop to check out the penguin.”
Billman, who was born and raised in Cut Bank, said the penguin is “one of those things that people always talk about. It could turn into our claim to fame. It’s very rarely that someone doesn’t stop and take a picture with it.”
Overstreet and fellow chamber member Amie Allison will attend the world premiere of “Cut Bank” at the Los Angeles Film Festival on June 16.
Allison, who also serves as Cut Bank’s Emergency Medical Service’s chief, was raised in Cut Bank — her father ran a radio station — and she returned in 2009, following years of living in other places, including Texas and Arizona.
“In Cut Bank, whether people know you or not, they will be waving to say hi,” Allison said. “There is a sense of family, whether at work or home or when you are checking the mail. It’s a place that has molded who we are.”
Allison and Overstreet said they will go to California with an open mind.
“Maybe we’ll wear our penguin shirts,” Overstreet said. “I know that it’s kind of tacky. But why not have fun with it, right?”
Brian D’Ambrosio is a freelance writer who works with the Montana Film Office.
