A Whale for the Killing

February. 01,1981      NR
Rating:
6.5
Trailer Synopsis Cast

A conservationst, stranded with his family at a Newfoundland coastal resort, flies in the face of custom and fights an entire community to prevent a trapped whale's slaughter with only the support of his wife and one of the locals.

Peter Strauss as  Charles Landon
Dee Wallace as  Janet Landon
Kathryn Walker as  Dr. Linda McFarland
Bruce McGill as  Glenn
Ken James as  Lorne
David Ferry as  Johnny Goodenough
Richard Widmark as  Tom Goodenough
Bill Calvert as  Tony Landon

Similar titles

They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
In the midst of the Great Depression, manipulative emcee Rocky enlists contestants for a dance marathon offering a $1,500 cash prize. Among them are a failed actress, a middle-aged sailor, a delusional blonde and a pregnant girl.
They Shoot Horses, Don't They? 1969
Summer Camp Nightmare
Summer Camp Nightmare
A group of campers revolt against their strict camp director and take over the camp for themselves.
Summer Camp Nightmare 1987
Prick Up Your Ears
Prick Up Your Ears
When the young, attractive Joe Orton meets the older, more introverted Kenneth Halliwell at drama school, he befriends the kindred spirit and they start an affair. As Orton becomes more comfortable with his sexuality and starts to find success with his writing, Halliwell becomes increasingly alienated and jealous, ultimately tapping into a dangerous rage.
Prick Up Your Ears 1987
A Wrinkle in Time
A Wrinkle in Time
Meg and Charles Wallace are aided by Calvin and three interesting women in the search for their father who disappeared during a government experiment. Their travels take them around the universe to a place unlike any other.
A Wrinkle in Time 2003
Little Caesar
Little Caesar
A small-time hood shoots his way to the top, but how long can he stay there?
Little Caesar 1931
Call of the Wild
Prime Video
Call of the Wild
Self-centered and status-conscious, ten year old Ryann Hale journeys to Montana to visit her down-to-earth grandpa, Bill Hale. Ryann bonds with a wolf-dog, Buck, and schemes to save him from a cruel dogsledder.
Call of the Wild 2009
Death Goes to School
Death Goes to School
Detective Inspector Campbell (Gordon Jackson) looks into the murder of a teacher at a girls school where there are a number of suspects, including her colleagues and the married man she had been seeing.
Death Goes to School 1953

You May Also Like

Hanna-Barbera's 50th
Hanna-Barbera's 50th
The special is hosted by Tony Danza and Annie Potts celebrating 50 years of William Hanna and Joseph Barbera's partnership in animation. This is the first animated project to be broadcast in Dolby Surround sound system.
Hanna-Barbera's 50th 1989
Muzzle
AMC+
Muzzle
LAPD K-9 officer Jake Rosser has just witnessed the shocking murder of his dedicated partner by a mysterious assailant. As he investigates the shooter’s identity, he uncovers a vast conspiracy that has a chokehold on the city in this thrilling journey through the tangled streets of Los Angeles and the corrupt bureaucracy of the LAPD.
Muzzle 2023
Barbie: The Princess & The Popstar
Barbie: The Princess & The Popstar
Tori is a blonde princess who is bored of living her royal life, and has dreams of becoming a popstar. Keira, on the other hand, is a brunette popstar who dreams of being a princess. When the two meet, they magically trade places, but after realising it is best to be themselves.
Barbie: The Princess & The Popstar 2012
Rustin
Rustin
Activist Bayard Rustin faces racism and homophobia as he helps change the course of Civil Rights history by orchestrating the 1963 March on Washington.
Rustin 2023
Robin Robin
Netflix
Robin Robin
A bird raised by mice begins to question where she belongs and sets off on a daring journey of self-discovery.
Robin Robin 2021
Mindcage
Mindcage
Detectives Jake Doyle and Mary Kelly seek the help of an incarcerated serial killer named The Artist when a copycat killer strikes. While Mary searches for clues in The Artist's brilliant but twisted psyche, she and Jake are lured into a diabolical game of cat and mouse, racing against time to stay one step ahead of The Artist and his copycat.
Mindcage 2022
MTV Unplugged Presents: BTS
MTV Unplugged Presents: BTS
MTV Unplugged is the music television station's classic. In this program, top artists perform acoustically with an unusual appearance. MTV said that BTS's appearance on MTV Unplugged would later be "an unprecedented performance". They will be singing songs from the album "BE (Essential Edition)" with an intimate concept.
MTV Unplugged Presents: BTS 2021
The Painter
Paramount+
The Painter
An ex-CIA operative is thrown back into a dangerous world when a mysterious woman from his past resurfaces. Now exposed and targeted by a relentless killer and a rogue black ops program, he must rely on skills he thought he left behind in a high-stakes game of survival.
The Painter 2024
Untold: Deal with the Devil
Untold: Deal with the Devil
Christy Martin broke boundaries and noses as she rose in the boxing world, but her public persona belied personal demons, abuse and a threat on her life.
Untold: Deal with the Devil 2021

Reviews

Raetsonwe
1981/02/01

Redundant and unnecessary.

... more
SnoReptilePlenty
1981/02/02

Memorable, crazy movie

... more
Chirphymium
1981/02/03

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

... more
Rosie Searle
1981/02/04

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

... more
Dylan Keyne
1981/02/05

I am shocked...For once, a Peter Strauss film that has not been interesting in the slightest.This is one of those that I'd call 'pocket money' films, in that the lead actors usually only sign up because they need some extra spends for that second yacht, or something. But being a bit of a fan of Peter Strauss, I know he tends to take roles based on the script and whether the role appeals. Him being quite a philanthropist and this essentially being a film about saving whales, I can see why he took it. I suspect the same from the likes of Richard Widmark, too.I only picked it up because it has Peter Strauss in it. As a film overall, I think it fails to deliver. The supporting characters are quite one-dimensional and serve as plot vehicles only. The main cast are fairly single-tracked and there's almost no character development.What threw me the most is the lack of dynamic between Charlie Lyndon and his family. There's a nice scene at the beginning which does set him up as having a bit of a loner mindset, but for the rest of the film it's like they were completely superfluous aside from a couple of scenes where they just wanted him to give up and go home. For a married man, I'd have thought he'd rely more on his family for support, rather than have them hanging around while he goes off on a crusade... but maybe that was the point.There was more of a dynamic between Lyndon and the doctor. Indeed, at one point I thought this would be the start of an affair between them and the final parting shows this might have been the case.I found the dialogue clichéd and unimaginitive, with the acting that delivered it utterly stilted. If I were to guess, I'd say the actors were forced to stick rigidly to some swiftly written script and not given a single inch within which to actually act. I've seen other works by each of the main cast and I know they both have done and later did do far better than this.Overall, the film works well enough for, say, a Sunday afternoon and it has that feel of a 1980s straight-to-video release. Perhaps good to watch with young children. But beyond that, there are many, many other Peter Strauss films more worthwhile.

... more
jbaronde
1981/02/06

Barely remember this and uncertain if it is exactly the movie I am thinking of. There is a humpback whale stuck in a bay because of current low tides but there was high tides when the whale went into the bay. When discovered by locals in small, harbor town, some of the gun nuts or hunters want to go shoot it as it would be pretty awesome to say you shot a whale in the bay near your town. Think of THAT head on your mantle!! Some non-locals who happen to be there for some reason....I think it was they were ship wrecked, step in, reluctantly, to stop them from shooting the whale and try to get the whale back into the ocean. I don't remember how it ended or what happened but there is some good drama btw the redneck hunters and the visiting "whale savers".I was a young kid when I saw this and later got a high fever up to 105-106 F from some virus or hot summer heat. I started hallucinating and starting picturing this movie happening in the window of my bedroom and was freaked out about how we could fit all the fish and whale in my bedroom. My mother was very worried about me and thought I was possessed by the devil because once during this illness i apparently turned and told her "Mom, I hate God!" Well, a few days later on the way to the doctor and sitting in front of an air conditioner, my fever broke and I was fine. I only remember the hallucinations about the fish and this movie. It took me forever to remember what the name of the movie was and thanks to IMDb.com I believe this is it.I am a hunter and enjoy guns, but am not a fan of killing endangered species and don't condone shooting humpback whales in your local harbor just because you can. My earlier comments were satirical and tongue-in-cheek. It is possible to enjoy guns without being ridiculous about it...but then you don't get to be on TV or the NRA because they only accept crazies and those good for TV ratings. Common sense and reason aren't good for TV ratings.Anyhow, wish I could find a copy of this movie so I could watch it again.

... more