Editing Man in the Wilderness

{{Short description|1971 film}}
{{Use American English|date=August 2021}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Man in the Wilderness
| image          = Man in the wilderness.jpg
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Richard C. Sarafian]]
| producer       = [[Sandy Howard]]
| writer         = [[Jack DeWitt (writer)|Jack DeWitt]]
| starring       = [[Richard Harris]]<br>[[John Huston]]<br>[[Prunella Ransome]]<br>[[Percy Herbert (actor)|Percy Herbert]]<br>[[Henry Wilcoxon]]<br>[[Norman Rossington]]<br>[[Dennis Waterman]]
| music          = [[Johnny Harris (musician)|Johnny Harris]]
| cinematography = [[Gerry Fisher]]
| editing        = [[Geoffrey Foot (film editor)|Geoffrey Foot]]
| studio         = Limbridge<br>Wilderness Films
| distributor    = [[Warner Bros.]]
| released       = {{Film date|1971|11|24}}
| runtime        = 104 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = Less than $2 million<ref name="man"/>
}}
'''''Man in the Wilderness''''' is a 1971 American [[revisionist Western]] film about a scout for a group of [[mountain men]] who are traversing the [[Northwestern United States]] during the 1820s.  The scout is mauled by a [[bear]] and left to die by his companions.  He survives and recuperates sufficiently to track his former comrades, forcing a confrontation over his abandonment.  The story is loosely based on the life of [[Hugh Glass]]. It stars [[Richard Harris (actor)|Richard Harris]] as Zachary Bass and [[John Huston]] as Captain Henry.<ref name="Thompson">{{cite news |last=Thompson |first=Howard |title=Film: 'The Pioneer Spirit' |date=November 25, 1971 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/11/25/archives/film-the-pioneer-spirit-man-in-the-wilderness-is-at-loews-state-1.html |access-date=January 12, 2016}}</ref>

The expedition in the movie is notable for bringing a large boat with it, borne on wheels.

==Plot==
In 1820, an expedition led by Captain Henry has completed two years of [[Trapping|fur trapping]] in the unexplored Northwest territory. They are determined to reach the [[Missouri River]] before winter so they can sail south and trade their goods. Lowrie, a young trapper, hunts a deer and Zachary Bass follows after it until he is mauled by a brown bear. Too afraid to intervene, Lowrie sends for Henry and his men, who eventually kill the bear. 

Zachary's flesh wounds are examined by the expedition's doctor, Ferris, who believes he will not survive the journey. Henry orders Lowrie and Fogarty, another trapper, to have Zachary buried if he is not dead by morning and have Lowrie delivery a eulogy. Both men remain at Zachary's side as the expedition departs. By the next morning, both men leave Zachary, who is still conscious, for dead as the [[Arikara]] natives approach. The natives approach him and leave without incident, as Zachary drifts in and out of consciousness. He first remembers his days as a student, and his then-pregnant wife Grace, who urges him to believe God is in him and all living things. 

Within hours, Lowrie and Fogarty return to Henry's expedition and report they had left Zachary for dead. Henry decides not to return for him, believing Zachary would want the expedition to continue. Meanwhile, Zachary, though injured, scavenges for food by consuming berries and raw bison meat. He builds himself a leg crutch and salvages wire, a knife, and a spear to kindle a fire. He traps a rabbit and uses its fur as an armpit cushion. Within days, Zachary's strength regains, and he traps and skins a cougar for its coat. 

As the winter approaches, Zachary hides as a native couple approaches, and watches as the woman gives birth. This rekindles past memories of Grace, who had died in childbirth to an infant son. Fogarty, who is on the night watch, believes he sees Zachary and shoots him, but it turns out he had killed Lowrie. The next morning, the expedition arrive at a frozen river, and are forced to carry the boat for the duration of the expedition.

One morning, the natives head towards Henry's expedition, and a gunfight ensues. Zachary pushes forward to help the expedition until the native chief stops the fighting when he recognizes Zachary. The chief blesses Zachary and returns his spear to him. Zachary returns to the expedition and approaches Henry, who returns his rifle back to him. Henry fears he will be shot, but Zachary decides to return to his son. He leaves, and the expedition follows after him. 

==Cast==
* [[Richard Harris]] – Zachary Bass
* [[John Huston]] – Captain Henry
* [[Henry Wilcoxon]] – Indian Chief
* [[Prunella Ransome]] – Grace
* [[Percy Herbert (actor)|Percy Herbert]] – Fogarty
* [[Dennis Waterman]] – Lowrie
* [[Norman Rossington]] – Ferris
* [[James Doohan]] – Benoit
* [[Bryan Marshall]] – Potts
* [[Ben Carruthers]] – Longbow
* [[John Bindon]] – Coulter
* [[Robert Russell (English actor)|Robert Russell]] – Smith
* [[Sheila Raynor]] – Grace's Mother
* [[Judith Furse]] – Nurse

==Production==
''Man in the Wilderness'' is based loosely on the [[Yellowstone expedition|1818–20 Missouri Expedition]] and "Capt. Henry" is likely a fictionalized Major [[Andrew Henry (fur trader)|Andrew Henry]] of the [[Rocky Mountain Fur Company]]. It was based on an original script by Jack De Witt, and bought by producer Sandy Howard. In December 1970 Howard announced that the film would star Richard Harris, who had made ''[[A Man Called Horse (film)|A Man Called Horse]]'' for Howard.<ref>MOVIE CALL SHEET: Palomar Sets Two Films
Martin, Betty. Los Angeles Times December 25, 1970: e28.</ref> [[Elliot Silverstein]] directed ''Horse'' but clashed with Harris so Richard Sarafian was brought in to direct this film. Howard said he was "convinced" that Sarafian "is going to be one of the most important directors in America very soon."<ref name="man"/>

Filming took three months from April to June 1971. The film was shot near [[Covaleda]], [[Province of Soria]], [[Spain]], with the terrain looking more like the [[Adirondack Mountains|Adirondack]] wilderness and less like the [[Absaroka Range]] country of the [[Yellowstone River]].{{citation needed|date=May 2024}} Not technically a "[[Spaghetti Western]]",{{explain|date=May 2024}} ''Man'' was filmed in the rugged highlands where [[David Lean]] had shot some of the scenes for ''[[Doctor Zhivago (film)|Doctor Zhivago]]'' in 1964.<ref>Anthony Quinn to Star, Coproduce 'Huelga!'
Martin, Betty. Los Angeles Times (Mar 2, 1971: f9.</ref>

[[John Huston]] joined the production a few days after quitting as director of the film ''[[The Last Run]]'' due to on-set fights with [[George C. Scott]].<ref name="man">'Wilderness' Captures Ecology Mood
Johnson, Patricia. Los Angeles Times May 16, 1971: r16.</ref>

The bear who attacks Harris' character was called Peg. The attack sequence was filmed using a dummy.<ref name="man"/>

"This movie is Genesis to me," said Harris. "It's my apocalypse. It's a very special and very personal statement about a man struggling for personal identity, looking for God and discovering Him in the wilderness, in leaves and trees. It's all the things that the young people, and we, are missing today."<ref>Richard Harris London's No. 1 Bobby Outfoxer
Los Angeles Times November 28, 1971: w21</ref>

Harris only had nine lines of dialogue.<ref>Returns of a Man Called Howard Los Angeles Times January 18, 1976: m1.</ref>

==Themes==
Though survival and revenge are the main themes, [[Christianity]] and religion play a significant role in the evolution of the main character, who is shown through flashbacks to be at odds with religion and [[God]] in general due to his lonely and abusive childhood involving indoctrination into Christianity.

==Release==
The film was theatrically released in the United States on November 24, 1971, including [[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], and [[Los Angeles]], [[California]].

The film was the first feature to be shown in years at the newly refurbished [[Princess Theatre (Edmonton)|Princess Theatre]] (renamed the Klondike Theatre, at the time) in [[Edmonton]], Alberta, Canada, on December 25, 1971.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}}

==See also==
* [[List of American films of 1971]]
* ''[[Lord Grizzly]]'', a 1954 biographical novel by [[Frederick Manfred]], about the Hugh Glass story
* [[Survival film]], about the film genre, with a list of related films
* ''[[The Revenant (2015 film)|The Revenant]]'' (2015), also about [[Hugh Glass]]<ref>{{cite web|title=MAN IN THE WILDERNESS (1971)|url=http://motionstatereview.com/2015/03/07/man-in-the-wilderness-1971/|website=Motion State Review|date=March 7, 2015 |publisher=motionstatereview.com|accessdate=January 19, 2016}}</ref>
* ''[[Cycle of the West#The Song of Hugh Glass|The Song of Hugh Glass]]'', an epic poem from 1915, part of ''A Cycle of the West'', written by [[John Neihardt]], who is most famous for his book ''[[Black Elk Speaks]]''.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{IMDb title|0067388}}
* {{TCMDb title|19244}}
* {{AFI film|54085}}
* {{Rotten-tomatoes|man_in_the_wilderness|Man in the Wilderness}}

{{Richard C. Sarafian}}

[[Category:1971 films]]
[[Category:1971 drama films]]
[[Category:1971 Western (genre) films]]
[[Category:1970s action drama films]]
[[Category:1970s adventure drama films]]
[[Category:Western (genre) films based on actual events]]
[[Category:American Western (genre) films]]
[[Category:American adventure drama films]]
[[Category:American biographical drama films]]
[[Category:American films about revenge]]
[[Category:American survival films]]
[[Category:Films about Native Americans]]
[[Category:Works about mountain men]]
[[Category:Films directed by Richard C. Sarafian]]
[[Category:Films set in Montana]]
[[Category:Films set in North Dakota]]
[[Category:Films set in South Dakota]]
[[Category:Films set in Wyoming]]
[[Category:Films set in the 1820s]]
[[Category:Films shot in Mexico]]
[[Category:Films shot in Spain]]
[[Category:Warner Bros. films]]
[[Category:1970s English-language films]]
[[Category:Hugh Glass]]
[[Category:1970s American films]]
[[Category:English-language biographical drama films]]
[[Category:English-language Western (genre) films]]
[[Category:English-language action drama films]]
[[Category:English-language adventure drama films]]