La valle dell'orso

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.

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.

NIGHT OF THE GRIZZLY is a fun traditional western with a few horror trappings. Amusingly enough, upon the release of THE REVENANT in cinemas early this year, a couple of TV channels took the opportunity to show other 'bear attack' movies, including GRIZZLY and CLAWS. I took the opportunity to watch this one, a film I'd never heard of previously.

What's refreshing is that from the very outset NIGHT OF THE GRIZZLY is a well-mounted production with much to recommend it. It has plenty of fine cinematography and great colourful establishing shots of the western terrain. The characters are traditionally drawn (read: stereotyped) but the casting director draws in established talents (Jack Elam, Keenan Wynn) who give assured performances. And the hulking Clint Walker is an excellent choice for the lead, a man you have to believe can go up against a grizzly bear himself.

The bear action is quite limited, but that makes it more effective, and the bear himself is a believable performer. The other western staples, like romance and rivalry and of course more than a few fist fights, are present and correct here. NIGHT OF THE GRIZZLY will never be the kind of movie to set the world on fire, but it certainly proves to be a fun little watch.

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

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.