Richard Attenborough directed Grey Owl, a biopic starring Pierce Brosnan as real-life British schoolboy turned Native American trapper “Grey Owl,” Archibald Belaney (1888–1938).
Grade: C
Annie Galipeau plays his wife Anahareo, and there are brief appearances by Graham Greene and others.
The screenplay was written by William Nicholson (Oscar nominated for Shadowland).
It was the last film made by Largo Entertainment before it went defunct in 1999.
Brit Archibald Belaney grew up fascinated with Native American culture. In the early 1900s, he left the UK for Canada, where he reinvented himself as Archie Grey Owl and pretended to be a First Nations native who was a trapper.
Eventually, Belaney became an environmentalist after renouncing trapping and hunting.
Attenborough his brother, presenter and naturalist David Attenborough, had attended “Grey Owl’s” De Montfort Hall, Leicester lecture in 1936, depicted in the film, and been influenced by his advocacy of conservation.
The musical group Northern Cree Singers is featured in the soundtrack.
Canadian naturalist and canoe tripper Hap Wilson taught Pierce Brosnan how to throw an axe and paddle a canoe for his role.
Met with negative reviews, Grey Owl flopped at the box office upon its limited release, grossing $632,617 against a $30 million budget.
Cast
Pierce Brosnan as Archibald “Grey Owl” Belaney
Annie Galipeau as Anahareo
Nathaniel Arcand as Ned White Bear
Vlasta Vrána as Harry Champlin
David Fox as Jim Wood
Charles Powell as Walter Perry
Stephanie Cole as Ada Belaney
Renée Asherson as Carrie Belaney
Stewart Bick as Cyrrus Finney
Graham Greene as Jim Bernard
Saginaw Grant as Pow Wow Chief
