Stalk the Wild Child (1976 TV Movie) User Reviews

The voices of the wild will never leave.

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 27 April 2021]

An interesting but rather exploitative story of a feral boy raised by wild dogs taken in by researchers Trish Van Devere and David Jansen who have different ideals of how to help him. Van Devere is of course more nurturing, and Jansen has more hands-on, masculine approach. Both have their benefits, but is one really a better method? We get to see the young man (whom they named Cal Farrell) grow from preaching ager to young adult, going from younger brother Ben Bottoms to older brother Joseph Bottoms. Certainly, it is joyful when Ben calls out for Maggie (Van Devere's character), but that doesn't mean that he's cured, at one point presenting her with the gift of a dead bird, something she just looks at and politely thanks him for. Obviously if it had been Jansen, he would have said that it wasn't right.

You get to go on the journey of a decade in abandoned child's life, and for some reason, Van Devere and Jansen never age. It becomes a bit disturbing that Jansen seems like he's exploiting the situation, showing filmed moments from Cal's life, and Cal runs out of the auditorium at the college where this is being shown, feeling like he's on display as some kind of clown or circus freak. This isn't the kind of movie you can call entertaining, a bit enlightening perhaps, but ultimately, it seems to be missing the element of purpose even though everything wraps up neatly in the end.

sad and poignant

[polly_anna_drist · 7/10 · 14 July 2001]

unclear as to whether this is based on one of the real cases of feral children but believable and interesting if only to see how well dog behaviour has been studied to demonstrate a believable doglike child. Slow and no big names, but still interesting if you are interested in the topic. Fairly average TV movie stuff, but worth a look.

A Hit and Miss Film

[BloodTheTelepathicDog · 5/10 · 14 October 2012]

Stalk the Wild Child tells the story of a feral child, found by two hunters at the age of eleven, who is removed from his wild home and canine family and placed under the care of civilized humans. David Janssen plays Dr. Hazard who goes against the law and begins treatment for the child he names Cal, with the help of speech therapist Maggie (well played by Trish Van Devere). When the government steps in and informs Dr. Hazard that Cal must be a ward of the state, he makes the rash decision to adopt the boy. With the help of Maggie, Dr. Hazard tries to re-acclimate Cal into civilized society.

This film makes many social statements with the methods of Dr. Hazard too overbearing and forceful and Maggie's methods too nurturing and careful. Who best raises a child, the film asks--man or woman? We watch as Cal ages into his teen years, learning to speak and interact with others, but his life revolves around his pseudo parents Maggie and Dr. Hazard until Dr. Hazard publishes his papers on how he saved a feral child. When Dr. Hazard goes public with his story, Cal comes to the realization, which isn't altogether false, that Dr. Hazard adopted him simply as a means to establish his legacy in his occupational field. Cal then sets out into the world and finds that humans are quick to take advantage of him.

There are many plot elements that go underdeveloped in this made-for-TV movie. One reviewer claimed that the wild dogs showed more compassion to Cal than the humans, which is false. We never see much interaction between Cal and his canine companions, thus negating the role of the dogs as nurturing entities. Trish Van Devere's Maggie certainly shows Cal a level of care he has never seen before, as he rewards her with gifts best given in the animal kingdom--such as a dead bird.

This is an okay time waster, but nothing worthy of repeated viewings, lest you be a fan of one of the stars. As a fan of Trish Van Devere, I was drawn to this film and when it first began, with narration from David Janssen, I imagined that Trish was able to talk her husband George C. Scott, the greatest actor that ever lived, to led his voice for the narrative, given the similarities between Scott and Janseen's gravelly speech.

Realistic take on the trials of feral children

[cosmic_quest · 8/10 · 13 May 2006]

'Stalk the Wild Child' is probably one of cinema's more accurate interpretations of feral/wild children and the plight of rehabilitating them. In this film, we follow Cal, a young boy dumped in a forest as a toddler only to find a new family in the wolves who raise him. When he is discovered, aged around ten, it is a strenuous task for psychologist Dr Hazard and his assistant to reacclimatises this child, who thinks and acts very much in an animalistic manner, back into normal human society. Yet, while on the surface they do succeed to some degree, Cal experiences problems right into adulthood as his wolfish childhood is always lurking under the surface.

A far cry from fuzzy Disney -esque Mowgli stories, this film explores what it is to be a feral child and the ethics of the psychologists who try to help them. Often, the audience does wonder if Hazard is rehabilitating Cal for the child's sake or because it makes a good journal paper (an issue raised in the case of Genie, one of the world's most famous socially-isolated/feral children). It also deals with how such children cope with eventually being introduced to civilisation and how they fare in adulthood, where they can no longer always be protected from the public's glare and from their own past. What is most poignant is the wolves show Cal more love and care than many humans show each other.

'Stalk the Wild Child' is a film definitely suited to those with an interest in the realities of feral children and the complexities of their situation. It is a good visual companion to books covering this topic.

The wild child

[searchanddestroy-1 · 13 March 2016]

Well, this looks pretty familiar to me because I watched François Truffaut's L'Infant SAUVAGE a couple of days ago, from a true story. So this TV movie brings less elements than I would have got without the French feature seen just before. Yes, the Truffaut's film was far better than this one. But that doesn't remove any quality to this American movie at all, on the contrary. I am surprised that no one has commented this resemblance with the French film, which was rather well widely shown on the US territory.

The perfect topic for a TV feature, inspired by I guess true events too. Touching story supported by very good performances, especially Maggie's character, played by Georges C Scott's wife.