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Never Cry Wolf (film)
Encyclopedia
Never Cry Wolf is a 1983 American drama film directed by Carroll Ballard
. The film is an adaption of Farley Mowat
's 1963 autobiography
of the same name
and stars Charles Martin Smith
as a government biologist
sent into the wilderness to study the caribou population, whose decline is believed to be caused by wolves, even though no one has seen a wolf kill a caribou. Although Smith is the only actor starring in most of the film it also features Brian Dennehy
and Zachary Ittimangnaq.
The film has been credited as being responsible for the creation of Touchstone Pictures
. At the time Walt Disney Productions, then under the guidance of Walt Disney
's son-in-law Ron W. Miller
, was experimenting with more mature plot material in its films and the following year started Touchstone Pictures.
The narration for the film was written by Charles Martin Smith, Eugene Corr and Christina Luescher.
, a young government biologist
named Tyler (Charles Martin Smith
) is assigned to travel to the isolated Arctic
wilderness to study the area's 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. Tyler is befriended by two Inuit who tell him their own stories about the wolves. 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.
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.
The picture is the first Walt Disney
film to show naked adult buttocks
. (of actor Charles Martin Smith).
Smith, who had previously worked with Disney on films such as No Deposit, No Return
and Herbie Goes Bananas
, 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.
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 of Mech's own studies, he had never encountered a wolf pack that regularly subsisted on small prey, as related in Mowat's book or in the film adaptation.
, the Yukon Territory, and British Columbia, Canada.
called the film, "...subtle, complex and hypnotic...triumphant filmmaking!"
Brendon Hanley of Allmovie also liked the film, especially Smith's performance, and wrote, "Wolf's protagonist [is] wonderfully played by the reliable character actor Charles Martin Smith...The result is a quirky, deceptively simple meditation on life."
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."
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. 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 aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes
gives the film a score of 100% based on reviews from 17 critics, with an average rating of 7.7 out of 10.
Nominations
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.
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.
Carroll Ballard
-Biography:Carroll Ballard started out making documentaries for the U.S. Information Agency, Beyond This Winter's Wheat and Harvest ; the latter was nominated for an Academy Award...
. The film is an adaption of Farley Mowat
Farley Mowat
Farley McGill Mowat, , born May 12, 1921 is a conservationist and one of Canada's most widely-read authors.His works have been translated into 52 languages and he has sold more than 14 million books. He achieved fame with the publication of his books on the Canadian North, such as People of the...
's 1963 autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
of the same name
Never Cry Wolf (book)
Never Cry Wolf is a book by Canadian author Farley Mowat, first published in 1963 by McClelland and Stewart. It was adapted into a film of the same name in 1983. It has been credited for dramatically changing the public image of the wolf to a more positive one. It is presented as a first-person...
and stars Charles Martin Smith
Charles Martin Smith
Charles Martin Smith is an American film actor, writer, and director.-Early life:Smith was born in Van Nuys, California. His father, Frank Smith, was a film cartoonist and animator, while his uncle Paul J. Smith was an animator as well as a director for the Walter Lantz Studios...
as a government biologist
Biologist
A biologist is a scientist devoted to and producing results in biology through the study of life. Typically biologists study organisms and their relationship to their environment. Biologists involved in basic research attempt to discover underlying mechanisms that govern how organisms work...
sent into the wilderness to study the caribou population, whose decline is believed to be caused by wolves, even though no one has seen a wolf kill a caribou. Although Smith is the only actor starring in most of the film it also features Brian Dennehy
Brian Dennehy
Brian Mannion Dennehy is an American actor of film, stage and screen.-Early years:Dennehy was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the son of Hannah and Edward Dennehy, who was a wire service editor for the Associated Press; he has two brothers, Michael and Edward. Dennehy is of Irish ancestry and was...
and Zachary Ittimangnaq.
The film has been credited as being responsible for the creation of Touchstone Pictures
Touchstone Pictures
Touchstone Pictures is an American film production label and is one of several film labels of the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group. Established in 1984, its releases typically feature more mature themes and darker tones than those that are released under the Walt Disney Pictures banner.Touchstone...
. At the time Walt Disney Productions, then under the guidance of Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
's son-in-law Ron W. Miller
Ron W. Miller
Ronald William "Ron" Miller is a former professional American football player, the son-in-law of Walt Disney, and a former president and CEO of what is now The Walt Disney Company.-Marriage and early career:...
, was experimenting with more mature plot material in its films and the following year started Touchstone Pictures.
The narration for the film was written by Charles Martin Smith, Eugene Corr and Christina Luescher.
Plot
In Northern CanadaCanada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, a young government biologist
Biologist
A biologist is a scientist devoted to and producing results in biology through the study of life. Typically biologists study organisms and their relationship to their environment. Biologists involved in basic research attempt to discover underlying mechanisms that govern how organisms work...
named Tyler (Charles Martin Smith
Charles Martin Smith
Charles Martin Smith is an American film actor, writer, and director.-Early life:Smith was born in Van Nuys, California. His father, Frank Smith, was a film cartoonist and animator, while his uncle Paul J. Smith was an animator as well as a director for the Walter Lantz Studios...
) is assigned to travel to the isolated Arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
wilderness to study the area's 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. Tyler is befriended by two Inuit who tell him their own stories about the wolves. As Tyler learns more and more about the wolf world he comes to fear, along with them, the onslaught of hunters (Brian Dennehy
Brian Dennehy
Brian Mannion Dennehy is an American actor of film, stage and screen.-Early years:Dennehy was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the son of Hannah and Edward Dennehy, who was a wire service editor for the Associated Press; he has two brothers, Michael and Edward. Dennehy is of Irish ancestry and was...
) out to kill the wolves for their pelts and exploit the wilderness.
Cast
- Charles Martin SmithCharles Martin SmithCharles Martin Smith is an American film actor, writer, and director.-Early life:Smith was born in Van Nuys, California. His father, Frank Smith, was a film cartoonist and animator, while his uncle Paul J. Smith was an animator as well as a director for the Walter Lantz Studios...
as Tyler, a biologist without any survival skills, yet brave enough to study wolves in their environment. - Brian DennehyBrian DennehyBrian Mannion Dennehy is an American actor of film, stage and screen.-Early years:Dennehy was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the son of Hannah and Edward Dennehy, who was a wire service editor for the Associated Press; he has two brothers, Michael and Edward. Dennehy is of Irish ancestry and was...
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
Production
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 indigenousIndigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
Inuit
Inuit
The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...
people as well. The animals are losing their habitat
Habitat
* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...
and the Inuit are losing their land and their resources
Natural resource
Natural resources occur naturally within environments that exist relatively undisturbed by mankind, in a natural form. A natural resource is often characterized by amounts of biodiversity and geodiversity existent in various ecosystems....
while their youth are being seduced by modernity
Modernity
Modernity typically refers to a post-traditional, post-medieval historical period, one marked by the move from feudalism toward capitalism, industrialization, secularization, rationalization, the nation-state and its constituent institutions and forms of surveillance...
. They are trading what is real, true, and their time-honored traditions for the perceived comforts of the modern world
Modernity
Modernity typically refers to a post-traditional, post-medieval historical period, one marked by the move from feudalism toward capitalism, industrialization, secularization, rationalization, the nation-state and its constituent institutions and forms of surveillance...
.
Never Cry Wolf blends the documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
style with the narrative elements of 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...
, resulting in a type of docudrama
Docudrama
In film, television programming and staged theatre, docudrama is a documentary-style genre that features dramatized re-enactments of actual historical events. As a neologism, the term is often confused with docufiction....
.
It was originally written for the screen by Sam Hamm
Sam Hamm
Sam Hamm is an American screenwriter, perhaps best known for writing the screenplay for Tim Burton's Batman and an unused screenplay for the sequel. As a result of his work, he was invited to write for the Batman comic. The result was Batman: Blind Justice, which introduced Bruce Wayne's mentor,...
but the screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
was altered over time and Hamm ended up sharing credit with Curtis Hanson
Curtis Hanson
Curtis Lee Hanson is an American film director, film producer and screenwriter. His directing work includes The Hand That Rocks the Cradle , L.A...
and Richard Kletter.
The picture is the first Walt Disney
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
film to show naked adult buttocks
Buttocks
The buttocks are two rounded portions of the anatomy, located on the posterior of the pelvic region of apes and humans, and many other bipeds or quadrupeds, and comprise a layer of fat superimposed on the gluteus maximus and gluteus medius muscles. Physiologically, the buttocks enable weight to...
. (of actor Charles Martin Smith).
Smith, who had previously worked with Disney on films such as No Deposit, No Return
No Deposit, No Return
No Deposit, No Return is a 1976 comedy film directed by Norman Tokar. It was written by Arthur Alsberg and Don Nelson. It is the story of two children who hold themselves for ransom, reluctantly aided by an expert safecracker and his sidekick .-Cast:*David Niven - J.W...
and Herbie Goes Bananas
Herbie Goes Bananas
Herbie Goes Bananas is the fourth of a series of films made by Walt Disney Productions starring Herbie – the white Volkswagen racing Beetle with a mind of its own. The film stars former Mel Brooks collaborators Cloris Leachman and Harvey Korman....
, 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
Nome, Alaska
Nome is a city in the Nome Census Area in the Unorganized Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska, located on the southern Seward Peninsula coast on Norton Sound of the Bering Sea. According to the 2010 Census, the city population was 3,598. Nome was incorporated on April 9, 1901, and was once the...
, I was the only actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
present. It was the loneliest film I've ever worked on," Smith said.
L. David Mech
L. David Mech
Lucyan David "Dave" Mech is an internationally recognized wolf expert, a senior research scientist for the U.S. Department of the Interior's U.S. Geological Survey , and an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul...
, an internationally recognized wolf expert who has researched wolves since 1958 in places such as Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
, Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park, established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872, is a national park located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, although it also extends into Montana and Idaho...
, and on Isle Royale
Isle Royale
Isle Royale is an island of the Great Lakes, located in the northwest of Lake Superior, and part of the state of Michigan. The island and the 450 surrounding smaller islands and waters make up Isle Royale National Park....
, criticized the work, stating that Mowat is no scientist and that in all of Mech's own studies, he had never encountered a wolf pack that regularly subsisted on small prey, as related in Mowat's book or in the film adaptation.
Filming locations
The film locations included Nome, AlaskaNome, Alaska
Nome is a city in the Nome Census Area in the Unorganized Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska, located on the southern Seward Peninsula coast on Norton Sound of the Bering Sea. According to the 2010 Census, the city population was 3,598. Nome was incorporated on April 9, 1901, and was once the...
, the Yukon Territory, and British Columbia, Canada.
Critical response
When the film was released, a review in the Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
called the film, "...subtle, complex and hypnotic...triumphant filmmaking!"
Brendon Hanley of Allmovie also liked the film, especially Smith's performance, and wrote, "Wolf's protagonist [is] wonderfully played by the reliable character actor Charles Martin Smith...The result is a quirky, deceptively simple meditation on life."
Ronald Holloway, film critic of Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
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."
Some critics found the premise of the film a bit hard to believe. Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby was an American film critic who became the chief film critic for The New York Times in 1969 and reviewed more than 1000 films during his tenure there.-Life and career:...
, film critic for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, wrote, "I find it difficult to accept the fact that the biologist
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
, 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. Canby added, the film was "a perfectly decent if unexceptional screen adaptation
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
of Farley Mowat's best-selling book about the author's life among Arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
wolves."
The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
gives the film a score of 100% based on reviews from 17 critics, with an average rating of 7.7 out of 10.
Awards
Wins- Boston Society of Film Critics Awards: 4th BSFC AwardBoston Society of Film Critics Awards 1983----Best Film: The Night ofthe Shooting Stars The 4th Boston Society of Film Critics Awards honored the best filmmaking of 1983. The awards were given on 29 January 1984.-Winners:*Best Film:...
; Best Cinematography, Hiro Narita; 1984. - Hawaii International Film FestivalHawaii International Film FestivalThe Hawaii International Film Festival is a film festival held in the U.S. state of Hawaii. It was started in 1981 by Jeannette Paulson Hereniko and has been held annually in the fall for two weeks...
: Excellence in Cinematography Award, Hiro Narita; 1984. - Motion Picture Sound EditorsMotion Picture Sound EditorsFounded in 1953, Motion Picture Sound Editors is an honorary society of motion picture sound editors. The society's goals are to educate others about and increase the recognition of the sound editors, show the artistic merit of the soundtracks, and improve the professional relationship of its...
: Golden Reel Award; Best Sound Editing - Sound Effects; 1984. - National Society of Film Critics AwardsNational Society of Film CriticsThe National Society of Film Critics is an American film critic organization. As of December 2007 the NSFC had approximately 60 members who wrote for a variety of weekly and daily newspapers.-History:...
: NSFC Award Best Cinematography, Hiro Narita; 1984. - Western Heritage Awards: Bronze Wrangler; Theatrical Motion Picture, Carroll Ballard; 1984.
Nominations
- Academy AwardsAcademy AwardsAn Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
: Best Sound; Alan SpletAlan SpletAlan Splet was a sound designer and sound editor. He worked on numerous film projects throughout his career, including Eraserhead, Dune, Blue Velvet and The Black Stallion for which he won the Oscar. He had a long-lasting and fruitful working relationship with the director David Lynch, with whom...
, Todd BoekelheideTodd BoekelheideTodd Boekelheide is an American sound engineer. He won an Academy Award for Best Sound and was nominated for another in the same category.-Selected filmography:Boekelheide won an Academy Award for Best Sound and was nominated for another:Won...
, Randy Thom and David ParkerDavid Parker (sound engineer)David Parker is an American sound engineer. He won two Academy Awards for Best Sound and was nominated for another four in the same category...
; 1984.
Box office
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
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
gross sales were $27,668,764. In its widest release the film appeared in 540 theaters.
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.