The Night of the Grizzly

This movie will no doubt seem dated and somewhat simple compared to today's overblown productions, however, it has charm and remains a childhood favorite of mine through the years. The story is engaging. It has humour, action, and suspense.

When I was a child living on a farm in the woods of Alberta, my father used to be called on by his uncle to go hunt bears that were killing too many calves. This movie sparked my imagination and I often wondered just what my dad would do if a GIANT bear came down out of the hills and started creating terror in our small community.

If you like wilderness tales or adventure stories you will enjoy this film. Perhaps Hollywood should think about a remake, today's special effects would thoroughly enhance this great story.

We often look at movies from past decades through the prism of modern eyes. You can't do that, considering the amount of sophistication the movie going public has now compared to those times. What I remember about this movie was being a young boy and being in awe of Clint Walker, Leo Gordon and that massive bear. Remember, this was before Jaws and most modern special effects. Also, we could only get a few channels on our TV and the big three networks were IT!!. The networks each had a movie of the week back then, and that was what we looked forward to watching when we were kids. Ahhh, it was such a simple life then.

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.

Was skimming through some videotapes I'd made from past TV broadcasts yesterday and, lo and behold!, came across one I'd recorded (but failed to label, oops!) of this title from an American Movie Classics broadcast quite some time ago. It was uninterrupted by commercials and promotional tidbits AND it was letterboxed, as any widescreen film, of whatever quality, deserves to be.

Ever since AMC opened the floodgates to commercial advertisers, dispensed with presenters like Bob Dorian, Nick Clooney, Cesar Romero, et al., and generally cheapened this venue into an unwatchable rival to the worst of its cable TV bedfellows, it has made the presentation of a widescreen film in the letterbox format a rarity on a par with, let's say, a politician telling the truth and/or admitting a mistake.

"The Night of the Grizzly," though it's not a work of deathless cinematic art, is a good example of what entertained us almost forty years ago: a good cast, a serviceable script, modest but not skimpy production values, and direction that builds the tension to a genuine climax, all without fiery explosions and violence that brutalizes its potential audiences

Big Cole (Clint Walker) is an ex-lawman who wants a peaceful existence as a rancher heads to Wyoming along with his family formed by wife (Marta Hyer) and children with aim to begin a new life in wild country left him by a relative. He faces off opposition from a neighbor (Keenan Wynn) who wishes that land for his own sons , and especially is threatened by a killer grizzly bear, nicknamed "Satan", that goes on a murderous rampage , attacking his family , friends and keeps killing Cole's livestock. Big Jim Cole had come to the rim of Hell and nobody but nobody was going to push him over! The story of a night lengthened by a thousand terrors!...Big Jim Cole Had Come to Stay!!!

Nice Western contains adventures , thrills , brawls , swoops , an enjoyable family life and colorful outdoors well filmed by top-notch cameramen . A decently paced , well made and decidedly action Western in which normal human lives are intertwined correctly with just that proportion of natural tragedy that have haunted families in the old West . Clint Walker gives a good acting as Marshal "Big Jim" Cole who turns in his badge attempting to forge a new life in order to settle on some land inherited from a relative . The highlights of the movie are the creepy appearances of the marauding killer bear terrorizing the residents of the Wyoming countryside that have a savage realism and some funny scenes as a drunken cockered . Support cast is pretty good , such as : Keenan Wynn ,Nancy Kulp , Ellen Corby , Jack Elam , Ron Ely , Don Haggery , Regis Toomey , and especial mention for Leo Gordon as a bounty hunter . It contains colorful and evocative cinematography by Loyal Griggs and Harold Lipstein, the photography catches perfectly the feel of countryside . Lively and stirring musical score by Leith Stevens , including songs by Jay Livingstone .

The motion picture produced by Burt Dunne was professionally directed by Joseph Pevney . This veteran filmmaker Joseph Pevney was a good artisan , being well known as a very organized and precise filmmaker who was nonetheless relaxed on the set . He was even a singer kid and participed at WWII , subsequently he acted in only five films (1946-1950) , all of them films noir, his first as a piano-playing killer in Nocturne (1946). He spent most of his career behind the camera and his first film as a director was Shakedown (1950) in which he makes a Hitchcock-style cameo as Keller the reporter, his last on-screen part. After spending the 1950s as a contract director at Universal, he switched to television where his early credits include five episodes of Alfred Hitchcock presnts (1962) , and many others . He directed a lot of movies of all kinds of genres such as Wartime : Torpedo run , Away all boats , Air cadet . Adventures as Yankee Pasha , Tammy , Twilight for the God, Congo crossing ,Ring circus , Legion of desert . Western : Lady from Texas , The plunderers . Thriller : Undercover girl , Flesh and fury , Man of a thousand faces , Iron Man , Shakedown , The strange Door , 6 bridges to cross , Istanbul. Rating : 6.5/10 . Passable and decent adventure movie . The flick will appeal to Clint Walker fans .