Man in the Wilderness (1971) on Netflix
GP19711h 44mAdventureDramaWestern
A fur-trading expedition hauls its boat on wheels toward the Missouri River, racing the coming winter. When a bear mauls scout Zachary Bass, the men leave him in the wilderness.
- Netflix3.4/5
- IMDb6.8/103,968 votes
- Rotten TomatoesNot available
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Plot summary
In 1820, Captain Filmore Henry leads a fur-trading party out of the Northwest territory after two years of work, bound for the Missouri River before winter closes the way south. Lowrie, a young trapper, hunts a deer, and Zachary Bass, the expedition's scout, follows the animal until a brown bear mauls him. Lowrie is too frightened to step in and sends for Henry, whose men kill the bear. The doctor Ferris judges that Bass cannot survive the journey, and Henry orders Lowrie and Fogarty to stay beside him. By morning the two leave Bass, still conscious, behind.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Man in the Wilderness (1971)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The bear that mauls Harris's character Zachary Bass was called Peg, and the attack sequence was filmed with a dummy rather than the real animal.
- John Huston joined Man in the Wilderness just a few days after quitting as director of The Last Run because of on-set fights with George C. Scott.
- Producer Sandy Howard bought Jack DeWitt's original script and announced in December 1970 that Richard Harris would star; Elliot Silverstein had directed A Man Called Horse but clashed with Harris, so Richard Sarafian was brought in to direct.
- Spain stood in for the American Northwest: the film was shot near Covaleda, in the Province of Soria's rugged highlands where David Lean had filmed scenes for Doctor Zhivago in 1964.
- The film is loosely based on the real 1818-20 Missouri Expedition, and Captain Filmore Henry is likely a fictionalized Major Andrew Henry of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company.
