Never Cry Wolf (1983) is an American drama film adaption of Farley Mowat's autobiography of the same name. The film, directed by Carroll Ballard, features Charles Martin Smith, Brian Dennehy, and Zachary Ittimangnaq.[1]
The drama was made during the 1980s when Walt Disney Productions, under the guidance of Walt Disney's son-in-law Ron W. Miller, was experimenting with more mature plot material in its films. The following year Miller would start the Touchstone Pictures label.
The premise of the film is that the Arctic's caribou population is rapidly dwindling, and wolves are being blamed, yet no one has seen a wolf kill a caribou. The authorities send Tyler (Charles Martin Smith) — a biologist and a survival expert — into the wilderness to study the wolves.
Plot
Starring Charles Martin Smith as a young government biologist, Tyler, who is assigned to travel to the isolated Arctic wilderness of Northern Canada to study the area's savage population of wolves. His orders are to gather proof of the wolves' ongoing destruction of caribou herds.
Contact with his quarry comes quickly, as he discovers not a den of marauding killers, but a courageous family of skillful providers and devoted protectors of their young. As Tyler learns more and more about the wolf world, he comes to fear, along with them, the onslaught of hunters (Brian Dennehy) out to kill the wolves for their pelts and exploit the wilderness. He must now make a choice: should he return to the life he once knew, or should he take a stand, defending this breathtaking new world?
Cast
- Charles Martin Smith as Tyler, a biologist without any survival skills, yet brave enough to study wolves in their environment.
- Brian Dennehy as Rosie, the bush-pilot, a care-free type who exploits the region for money.
- Zachary Ittimangnaq as Ootek, an Inuit who helps Tyler survive the wilderness.
- Samson Jorah as Mike
- Hugh Webster as Drunk
- Martha Ittimangnaq as Woman
- Tom Dahlgren as Hunter #1
- Walker Stuart as Hunter #2
Background
The film's fundamental premise is that life in the Arctic seems to be about dying: not only are the caribou and the wolves dying, but the indigenous Inuit people as well. The animals are losing their habitat and the Inuit are losing their land and their resources while their youth are being seduced by modernity. They are trading what is real, true, and their time-honored traditions for the perceived comforts of the modern world.
Never Cry Wolf blends the documentary film style with the narrative elements of drama, resulting in a type of docudrama. It was originally written for the screen by Sam Hamm but the screenplay was altered over time and Hamm ended up sharing credit with Curtis Hanson and Richard Kletter.[2]
The picture is also noteworthy for being the first Walt Disney film to show naked adult buttocks. The buttocks shown are those of actor Charles Martin Smith.[3]
Smith devoted almost three years to Never Cry Wolf. Smith wrote, "I was much more closely involved in that picture than I had been in any other film. Not only acting, but writing and the whole creative process." He also found the process difficult. "During much of the two-year shooting schedule in Canada's Yukon and in Nome, Alaska, I was the only actor present. It was the loneliest film I've ever worked on," Smith said.[4]
L. David Mech, an internationally recognized wolf expert who has researched wolves since 1958 in places such as Minnesota, Canada, Italy, Alaska, Yellowstone National Park, and on Isle Royale, criticized the work, stating that Mowat is no scientist and that in all his studies, he had never encountered a wolf pack which regularly subsisted on small prey as shown in Mowat's book or the film adaptation.[5]
Filming locations
The film locations included Nome, Alaska, the Yukon Territory, and British Columbia, Canada.[6]
Critical reception
When the film was released, a review in the Los Angeles Times called the film, "...subtle, complex and hypnotic...triumphant filmmaking!"[7]
On the television program Siskel & Ebert At the Movies, Gene Siskel felt the film was "absolutely terrific" and Roger Ebert said "this is one of the best films I've ever seen about Man's relationship with the other animals on this planet". Both gave the film "Thumbs Up".
Brendon Hanley of Allmovie also liked the film, especially Smith's performance, and wrote, "Wolf's protagonist, wonderfully played by the reliable character actor Charles Martin Smith...The result is a quirky, deceptively simple meditation on life."[8]
Ronald Holloway, film critic of Variety magazine, gave the film a mostly positive review, and wrote "For the masses out there who love nature films, and even those who don't, Carroll Ballard's more than fits the commercial bill and should score well too with critical suds on several counts."[9]
Some critics found the premise of the film a bit hard to believe. Vincent Canby, film critic for The New York Times, wrote, "I find it difficult to accept the fact that the biologist, just after an airplane has left him in the middle of an icy wilderness, in a snowstorm, would promptly get out his typewriter and, wearing woolen gloves, attempt to type up his initial reactions.[10] Canby added, the film was "a perfectly decent if unexceptional screen adaptation of Farley Mowat's best-selling book about the author's life among Arctic wolves."
The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 100% of critics gave the film a positive review, based on eleven reviews.[11]
Distribution
The film opened in limited release October 7, 1983 and went into wide circulation January 20, 1984.
The film was in theaters for 192 days (27 weeks) and the total US gross sales were $27,668,764. In its widest release the film appeared in 540 theaters (2/17/84).[12]
Comparisons to book
There are several differences in the film when compared to Mowat's book. In the book, Ootek and Mike's roles are reversed, Mike is actually Ootek's older brother (Ootek is a teenager) and Ootek speaks fluent English and communicates openly with Mowat while Mike is more reserved.
The film adds a more spiritual element to the story while the book was a straightforward story. The film also isolates the characters while in the book, Mowat meets several people from different areas of the Arctic.
Also in the book, the wolves are not killed and neither did the bush pilot bring in investors to build a resort.[13]
Awards
Wins
Nominations
See also
References
- ^ Never Cry Wolf at the Internet Movie Database.
- ^ NNDB/Soylent Communications web site.
- ^ NNDB/Soylent Communications, ibid.
- ^ John Carpenter web site, Charles Martin Smith interview.
- ^ Shedd, Warner (2000). Owls Aren't Wise and Bats Aren't Blind: A Naturalist Debunks Our Favorite Fallacies About Wildlife. p. 336. ISBN 0609605291.
- ^ IMDb, ibid.
- ^ Los Angeles Times, Calendar Section, October 7, 1983.
- ^ Hanley, Brendon. Allmovie, film review.
- ^ Holloway, Ronald. Variety, film review, September 1, 1983.
- ^ Canby, Vincent. The New York Times, film review, October 14, 1983.
- ^ Never Cry Wolf at Rotten Tomatoes. Last accessed: January 24, 2008.
- ^ The Numbers box office data. Last accessed: November 23, 2007.
- ^ Mowat, Farley. Never Cry Wolf, Back Bay Books: 2001. ISBN 0316881791.
External links
