In fact, from the beginning, the movie had all the markings of a perfect Hollywood disaster. Their habits structure Tyler's days, and in the end they propel the film's dramatic climax.Īlmost as remarkable as the wolf scenes are the difficulties the 'Never Cry Wolf' crew encountered filming them. In particular, the three animals Tyler comes to call George, Angeline and Uncle Albert emerge as real characters who watch Tyler when he doesn't realize it, but only allow him to watch them when they choose. The same directorial eye that made Ballard's previous feature, 'The Black Stallion,' a landmark in animal photography is evident in the handling of the wolves here. The movie that Ballard has brought to the screen is a tale about the loss of wildness in the world. What the biologist, a bearded chap named Tyler, discovers serves to confirm the Inuit saying, 'The wolf keeps the caribou strong.' And when they do kill a caribou, it is invariably a sick or injured animal. He finds that, rather than decimating the caribou herds, as many white hunters claimed, the wolves actually eat mice and rodents most of the year. Like the classic Farley Mowat best seller of the same title, published in 1963, 'Never Cry Wolf' is the story of arctic wolves and a young biologist who is sent to study them by the Canadian Wildlife Service. Viewers of Carroll Ballard's new movie, 'Never Cry Wolf,' which opened in New York on Friday, may find their own nostrils flaring a bit, too, for this hunting scene vividly conveys both the power of the wolf pack and the misconceptions many people have regarding the animal called Canis lupus. The wolves knocked the deer down on the first strike and killed it while the other caribou hurried by, sniffing the air. In an instant, five timber wolves flew at him like blades from a knife thrower's hand. The fatigued buck finally turned to face his attackers on a small rise, but it was already too late.

Then they poured on the speed, isolating the animal from the rest of the herd and running it hard. It was only when the wolves sensed a sick caribou that their manner changed. Close around him he saw the way the wolves worked, testing the caribou with quick bursts, which were just as quickly abandoned if the deer seemed strong and healthy. Zigzagging across the irregular tundra, he was swept along with the chase.

Scanning the river-like herd, the man saw why: They were being driven by a pack of wolves hunting along their flank. Some of the animals seemed agitated as they jostled past. He had dozed off after a solitary swim in a nameless lake near the Arctic Circle, and now he found himself in the path of a heavy-breathing herd of elaborately antlered caribou. The complete Saga In Itself by Bruce Brown is now available on Kindle! Saga In ItselfĮVEN BEFORE he was fully awake, the man could feel the late summer afternoon change course. 'Never Cry Wolf' Check it out or buy it now.

Farley mowat wolves