Spencer's Mountain is a 1963 family film written, directed, and produced by Delmer Daves from a novel by Earl Hamner, Jr. The novel and film became the basis for the popular television series The Waltons, which followed in 1972. Differing from both the film and novel, The Waltons watered down many of the adult themes, including alcoholism and infidelity. Spencer's Mountain features the majestic scenery of Wyoming's Teton Range, as photographed by cinematographer Charles Lawton in CinemaScope. It was filmed in and around the town of Jackson and features the nearby Chapel of the... Transfiguration. The novel and the series were set in the Virginia Appalachians, but Hamner said in 1963 that Daves wanted more imposing mountains to emphasize the characters' isolation and struggles with their environment. The film centers on the trials and tribulations of the Spencers, a family living in the Grand Teton Mountains of Wyoming during the early 1960s. As the patriarch of a large and growing family, Clay Spencer is fiercely independent, yet dedicated to his family.
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| Release date: | December 1, 1963 |
| Directed by: | Delmer Daves |
| Runtime: | 118 Minutes |
| Producer: | Delmer Daves |
| Editor: | David Wages |
| Music by: | Max Steiner |
| Cinematography: | Charles Lawton |
| Screenplay by: | Delmer Daves |
| Genre: | Western, Comedy |