Bucolic Western with Clint Walker tangling with a satanic bruin
A man & his loved ones (Clint Walker, Martha Hyer, Don Haggerty, etc.) take over an inherited ranch in Wyoming, but are beset by a rogue grizzly, a mogul who wants the land (Keenan Wynn), his troublemaking sons (Ron Ely and Sammy Jackson) and a mysterious man from the past (Leo Gordon).
“The Night of the Grizzly” (1966) was reworked from an unused script of Walker’s successful Western series Cheyenne with some fans of that show viewing it as the unofficial epilogue since Clint’s character often spoke of getting a ranch.
The tone is reminiscent of “Shane,” which also featured Ellen Corby and Nancy Kulp, but this is less cinematic, no doubt due to the lesser budget and the fact that it was helmed by Joseph Pevney, known for directing some of the better episodes of Star Trek, like “Arena” and “The City on the Edge of Forever.” This happened to be Pevney’s final theatrical film, although he continued to direct TV movies and shows.
Western fans might be turned off by a cutesy vibe that smacks of Disney-goes-West but, if you can roll with that side element, there’s more than enough for maturer viewers to appreciate, not to mention quite a bit of action, like brawls, gunfights, knife fights and an extremely violent bear. Speaking of the latter, while exaggerated, savage bear attacks did happen in the Old West, such as the three cowboys massacred in 1870 near the San Benito Ranch by Hollister, California (south of the Bay Area). One of them was decapitated (!).
The flick has a welcome warm heart amidst the mayhem and is augmented by Walker’s quality example of manhood. For instance, he says to his beloved: “Angie, there ain’t a man alive that doesn't have trouble. How he handles that trouble is what counts. In every man's life there’s a Cass or a Satan, one kind or another, trying to whip him, beat him down, destroy him. He can't run away from it. He's got to stand strong and fight! Whatever it is, he's got to fight! That’s how God made a man.”
It runs 1 hours, 41 minutes, and was shot in San Bernardino National Forest at Holcomb Valley north of Big Bear Lake, as well as Big Bear Valley, which is east of the lake. Studio stuff was done a Paramount Studios. Jack Elam is also on hand in the cast.
GRADE: B
