Napoleon and Samantha
Encyclopedia
Napoleon and Samantha is a 1972
family/adventure/drama
directed by Bernard McEveety
and written by Stewart Raffill
. Filmed in and around John Day, Oregon
, it stars Michael Douglas
, Jodie Foster
, and Johnny Whitaker
.
named Major when by chance they meet an old clown who cannot take him back to Europe. The old lion has bad teeth and only drinks milk so they put Major in the chicken cage to look after him. When Napoleon's grandfather dies of old age, Napoleon asks a young grad student named Danny (Michael Douglas) to help bury his grandfather. Uncertain about his future Napoleon runs off with the lion, a pet rooster, and his friend Samantha (Jodie Foster) to try to find Danny, now a goat herder who lives in the mountains, and so Napoleon can avoid being sent to an orphanage.
Along their way, the two children encounter many dangers. Napoleon nearly falls off a cliff, but Major manages to pull him up with a rope. They have to cross a river which Major does not like, being a cat
who's afraid of water. The rooster
is chased by a mountain lion but soon the tables are turned and the cougar is chased up a tree by Major. While Napoleon is out looking for wood he comes across an angry bear that chases him back to where Samantha is resting with Major. At first, Major is too tired and wants to sleep while Samantha desperately tries to wake him. But as soon as the lion hears the roar of the bear and stands up to challenge his opponent. The two beasts fight hard but the lion easily defeats the bear
and chases him away. Eventually the children find Danny's cabin and he takes them in with the hope of convincing Napoleon that orphanages really aren't that bad. Danny leaves the kids with a man he recently met and attempts to find Samantha's family to notify them but he is arrested and accused of kidnapping the children. While at the police station, Danny notices a photo of the man he left the kids with, who happens to be a dangerous psychopath and escapes to rescue them. He steals a motorcycle
and the police chase him all the way back to his cabin where they find and arrest the wanted man. When things are back to normal, Napoleon takes Major and tries to run away again to live with the Indians but Danny catches up. Danny explains that the Indians don't really live out in the wild anymore and that Napoleon should give foster care a try with a promise that Major could stay in the mountains and live with him. Napoleon agrees and they go back to Danny's cabin.
Major (whose full name is Major Leo McTavish) was a film veteran, having appeared in Tarzan
movies with Mike Henry
and the television series with Ron Ely, as well as being used as the MGM
logo's Leo the Lion
since 1957.
1972 in film
The year 1972 in film involved some significant events.-Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:*Avanti!, directed by Billy Wilder, starring Jack Lemmon and Juliet MillsB...
family/adventure/drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
directed by Bernard McEveety
Bernard McEveety
Bernard E. McEveety, Jr. was an American director.-Family:Born in New Rochelle, New York; his brothers, Vincent McEveety and Joseph McEveety were also Hollywood directors and producers...
and written by Stewart Raffill
Stewart Raffill
Stewart Raffill is an American director and writer of many films.Raffill's The Philadelphia Experiment, won the "Best Film" award of the 1985 Fantafestival. While You Were Waiting, won the Silver Award in the Short Dramatic category of the 2002 Atlantic City Film Festival. In 2009, he directed...
. Filmed in and around John Day, Oregon
John Day, Oregon
John Day is a city located about north of Canyon City in Grant County, Oregon, at the intersection of U.S. Routes 26 and 395. The city was named for the nearby John Day River, which had been named for a Virginian member of the 1811 Astor Expedition, John Day...
, it stars Michael Douglas
Michael Douglas
Michael Kirk Douglas is an American actor and producer, primarily in movies and television. He has won three Golden Globes and two Academy Awards; first as producer of 1975's Best Picture, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and as Best Actor in 1987 for his role in Wall Street. Douglas received the...
, Jodie Foster
Jodie Foster
Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster is an American actress, film director, producer as well as a former child actress....
, and Johnny Whitaker
Johnny Whitaker
Johnny Whitaker is an American actor and singer notable for several performances for film and television during his childhood...
.
Plot
Eleven-year-old Napoleon (Johnny Whitaker) lives with his grandfather (Will Geer). He and his grandfather adopt a lionLion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
named Major when by chance they meet an old clown who cannot take him back to Europe. The old lion has bad teeth and only drinks milk so they put Major in the chicken cage to look after him. When Napoleon's grandfather dies of old age, Napoleon asks a young grad student named Danny (Michael Douglas) to help bury his grandfather. Uncertain about his future Napoleon runs off with the lion, a pet rooster, and his friend Samantha (Jodie Foster) to try to find Danny, now a goat herder who lives in the mountains, and so Napoleon can avoid being sent to an orphanage.
Along their way, the two children encounter many dangers. Napoleon nearly falls off a cliff, but Major manages to pull him up with a rope. They have to cross a river which Major does not like, being a cat
Cat
The cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...
who's afraid of water. The rooster
Rooster
A rooster, also known as a cockerel, cock or chanticleer, is a male chicken with the female being called a hen. Immature male chickens of less than a year's age are called cockerels...
is chased by a mountain lion but soon the tables are turned and the cougar is chased up a tree by Major. While Napoleon is out looking for wood he comes across an angry bear that chases him back to where Samantha is resting with Major. At first, Major is too tired and wants to sleep while Samantha desperately tries to wake him. But as soon as the lion hears the roar of the bear and stands up to challenge his opponent. The two beasts fight hard but the lion easily defeats the bear
American black bear
The American black bear is a medium-sized bear native to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most common bear species. Black bears are omnivores, with their diets varying greatly depending on season and location. They typically live in largely forested areas, but do leave forests in...
and chases him away. Eventually the children find Danny's cabin and he takes them in with the hope of convincing Napoleon that orphanages really aren't that bad. Danny leaves the kids with a man he recently met and attempts to find Samantha's family to notify them but he is arrested and accused of kidnapping the children. While at the police station, Danny notices a photo of the man he left the kids with, who happens to be a dangerous psychopath and escapes to rescue them. He steals a motorcycle
Motorcycle
A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...
and the police chase him all the way back to his cabin where they find and arrest the wanted man. When things are back to normal, Napoleon takes Major and tries to run away again to live with the Indians but Danny catches up. Danny explains that the Indians don't really live out in the wild anymore and that Napoleon should give foster care a try with a promise that Major could stay in the mountains and live with him. Napoleon agrees and they go back to Danny's cabin.
Major (whose full name is Major Leo McTavish) was a film veteran, having appeared in Tarzan
Tarzan
Tarzan is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungles by the Mangani "great apes"; he later experiences civilization only to largely reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer...
movies with Mike Henry
Mike Henry
Michael Dennis "Mike" Henry is a former American football linebacker and actor.Henry's football career as a linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Los Angeles Rams led him to be noticed by Warner Bros.His most prominent role was as Tarzan in three 1960s movies, Tarzan and the Valley of...
and the television series with Ron Ely, as well as being used as the MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
logo's Leo the Lion
Leo the Lion (MGM)
Leo the Lion is the mascot for the Hollywood film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and one of its predecessors, Goldwyn Pictures, featured in the studio's production logo, which was created by the Paramount Studios art director Lionel S. Reiss....
since 1957.
Cast
- Michael DouglasMichael DouglasMichael Kirk Douglas is an American actor and producer, primarily in movies and television. He has won three Golden Globes and two Academy Awards; first as producer of 1975's Best Picture, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and as Best Actor in 1987 for his role in Wall Street. Douglas received the...
as Danny - Will GeerWill GeerWill Geer was an American actor and social activist. His original name was William Aughe Ghere. He is remembered for his portrayal of Grandpa Zebulon Tyler Walton in the 1970s TV series, The Waltons....
as Grandpa - Arch JohnsonArch JohnsonArchibald "Arch" Winchester Johnson was an American actor appearing on Broadway and in over 100 television shows.Johnson was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1922...
as Chief of Police - Johnny WhitakerJohnny WhitakerJohnny Whitaker is an American actor and singer notable for several performances for film and television during his childhood...
as Napoleon Wilson - Jodie FosterJodie FosterAlicia Christian "Jodie" Foster is an American actress, film director, producer as well as a former child actress....
as Samantha - Henry JonesHenry Jones (actor)Henry Burk Jones was an American actor of stage, film and television.Jones was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Helen and John Francis Xavier Jones. He was the grandson of Pennsylvania Representative Henry Burk...
as Mr. Gutteridge - Vito ScottiVito ScottiVito Scotti was a veteran character actor who played many roles, primarily from the late-1940s to the mid-1990s. He was known as a man of a thousand faces, for his ability to assume so many divergent roles in more than 200 screen roles, in a nearly 50 year career. He was known for his resourceful...
as Clown Dimetri - John CrawfordJohn Crawford (actor)John Crawford was an American actor.Crawford was born Cleve Allen Richardson in Colfax, Washington. In films from the 1940s, Crawford appeared in bit parts for many years before playing leads in several films in the UK in the late 1950s and early 1960s...
as Desk Sergeant - Mary WickesMary WickesMary Wickes was an American film and television actress.-Career:Wickes was born as Mary Isabelle Wickenhauser in St. Louis, Missouri, of German Irish Protestant extraction. She graduated at the age of eighteen with a degree in political science from Washington University in St. Louis, where she...
as Clara - Ellen CorbyEllen CorbyEllen Corby was an American actress. She is most widely remembered for the role of "Grandma Esther Walton" on the CBS television series The Waltons, for which she won three Emmy Awards...
as Gertrude - Rex Holman as Mark
- Claude Johnson as Gary
- John LuptonJohn LuptonJohn Rollin Lupton was an American film and television actor.Upon graduation from New York's American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Lupton secured immediate stage work. Then he was signed as a contract player at MGM in Hollywood...
as Pete - James MacDonaldJames MacDonald-Politics:*James David Macdonald , City of Calgary alderman and author of Grand Cayman's tax haven law*James Ramsay MacDonald, British Prime Minister*James MacDonald , Secretary of the London Trades Council...
as the Wolf