The Night of the Grizzly
April. 20,1966Marshall "Big Jim" Cole turns in his badge and heads to Wyoming with his family in order to settle on some land left him by a relative. He faces opposition both from a neighbor who wants that land for his own sons, and from a grizzly bear nicknamed "Satan" who keeps killing Cole's livestock.
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Reviews
That was an excellent one.
Sadly Over-hyped
It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.
This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.
Just a few years after his successful run as Cheyenne Bodie, Clint Walker returns in all his hunky glory as a former lawman attempting to settle down to ranch life with wife Angela (Martha Hyer), two kids and an older niece Meg (Candy Moore). I thought it just a bit too gratuitous that the film makers would have him take his shirt off for the wood chopping scene but I guess the Sixties had their own way of demonstrating sex appeal on screen. I certainly wouldn't mess with a guy having a physique like that.Most of the other reviews here are generally positive for the film as a family friendly movie experience, and though I agree, I couldn't help but notice that a lot of the situations and set ups seemed awkward and didn't flow very naturally. A case in point was the jump off the cliff by Cole (Walker) and his son Charlie (Kevin Brodie) when an early confrontation with Satan could have gone the wrong way. And the bear killing Sam (Don Haggerty) was probably uncalled for, I mean why mess with a potential romance for Miss Wilhelmina (Nancy Kulp) like that?But the film had a few nice touches as well. I could be wrong but I don't think Clint Walker ever sang a song during the Cheyenne series run, and whoever came up with the drunken rooster idea deserves a drink on the house. The picture's depiction of family togetherness through good times and bad is a commendable one for present day, and might even have a teachable moment if it keeps just one youngster out there from getting skunked.
When I first saw this movie I was at the drive-in with my parents. I remember hiding behind the back of the seat scared out of my wits! My father is a gunsmith and I've always had a healthy respect both for guns and wildlife. And I know for a fact that there are things in the woods that are much bigger than I am. And the fact that what occurs in this movie could actually happen without aide of CG or any other technical assistance makes it even scarier. OK, the acting itself could have been better but you have to remember the age of the movie.I hate to think how it would be "gorified" if remade. It was gory enough as it was.
I'm in complete agreement with another reviewer in that this Paramount production might well have been done by the Disney Studio. It certainly has that look and feel about it. But that doesn't mean that The Night of the Grizzly can't be enjoyed by adults as well.Clint Walker and Martha Hyer are a pair of marrieds with children, one of them being a teenage niece. He's a sheriff who's now retired and they've inherited a ranch from his late brother. Unfortunately the ranch is also loaded down with a financial obligations they've inherited as well. They have a rapacious neighbor in Keenan Wynn who'd like the property with a pair of lunkhead sons, Ron Ely and Sammy Jackson. But that's not all facing Clint and Martha. There's a local grizzly named Old Satan who's terrorizing the ranches and farms in the area. He's doing far more damage to them than anything Keenan Wynn and his sons are doing. Actually Wynn for a screen villain is a rather mild one, he much prefers working with finances to get what he wants than any violence.There's one more in the mix here. Leo Gordon has one of his best screen roles in this film, in fact he steals the film whenever he's on screen. He plays a bounty hunter and former deputy to Walker who served two years in prison due to his killing an innocent man and Walker's testimony of same. He's been hired to kill Old Satan by Wynn, setting the stage for the climax.The Night of the Grizzly does have some very nice outdoor camera work, no studio shots at all in this one of a dwindling group of B westerns.It's unfortunate that there is no market for films like The Night of the Grizzly any more.
I remember watching this film when I was about three years old the first time, and being scared to death. In fact, every time I watch this film a part of me gets a little scared at the thought of a giant grizzly terrorizing a farm.