Grey Owl (1999)

The story of the life and work of the Canadian fur trapper-turned-conservationist who claimed to be an aboriginal North American.

Director:

Richard Attenborough

Writer:

William Nicholson (screenplay)

Stars:

Pierce Brosnan, Stewart Bick, Vlasta Vrana

1 win & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Pierce Brosnan	...	Archie Grey Owl
Stewart Bick	...	Cyrus Finney
Vlasta Vrana	...	Harry Champlin
Annie Galipeau	...	Pony
Neil Kroetsch	...	First Hunter
Serge Houde	...	Second Hunter
Peter Colvey	...	Hotel Guest
Nathaniel Arcand	...	Ned White Bear
Jacques Lussier	...	Hotel Manager
Lee-Roy Jacobs	...	Hotel Porter
Jimmy Herman	...	Chief Pete Misebi
John Dunn-Hill	...	Sim Hancock
Graham Greene	...	Jim Bernard
Gordon Masten	...	Gus Mitchell
Chip Chuipka	...	First Trapper

Storyline

Archie Grey Owl is a trapper in Canada in the early 1930s when a young Iroquois woman from town asks him to teach her Indian ways. They live in the woods, where she is appalled at how trapped animals die. She adopts two orphaned beaver kits and helps Archie see his way to stop trapping. Instead, he works as a guide, a naturalist writer, and then the Canadian government hires him to save the beaver in a conserve by Lake Ajawaan in Prince Albert National Park. He writes a biography, which brings him attention in Canada and invitations to lecture in England. Before he leaves, he and Anahareo (Pony) marry. In England, his secret is revealed. Will Anahareo continue to love him?

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Plot Keywords:

canada | beaver | iroquois | writer | love | 

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Taglines:

He Fought To Change The World

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Western

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some sensuality/nudity

Details

Country:

UK Canada

Language:

English Ojibwa Sioux French

Release Date:

1 October 1999 (Canada)

Also Known As:

Búho Gris

Filming Locations:

Chelsea, Québec, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$162,360, 1 October 1999

Gross USA:

$632,617, 1 January 2005

Company Credits

Production Co:

Beaver Productions, Ajawaan Productions, Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit (CPTC)

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The autobiography "Grey Owl and Me" by Canadian environmentalist Hap Wilson devotes a chapter to the author's time working on this film. Wilson served as Pierce Brosnan's personal skills trainer.

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Goofs

When Grey Owl's publisher Champlin arrives by airplane, to convince Grey Owl to go on tour in England, the airplane shown is clearly a DeHavilland DHC-2 "Beaver" on floats. This scene is set in approximately 1935, but the DeHavilland Beaver did not make its first flight until 1947.

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Quotes

[last lines]
Cyrus Finney: He never spoke in public again. That night, when we watched Archie strip away all pretense of being an Indian; I knew that what he was saying was far more important than who he really was. Afterwards, he slipped silently into the night and went back to his remote cabin on Lake Ajawaan. He died there, suddenly, of pneumonia, two years later, in April, 1938. In recognition of what Archie was trying to achieve, the North Bay Nugget agreed to hold my story while he lived. They ran it ...

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Connections

Featured in Reel Injun (2009)

User Reviews

Grey Owl is the hole in the doughnut.

The movie is more about Pony than Grey Owl. It's also about aboriginals, Canada, the English, Grey Owl's aunts and the North Bay Nugget. Excellent story.

This is an excellent movie, more like a book, that raises interesting questions about cultural identity and values. The key scene is Grey Owl admitting his imposture to Pony and her reaction.

A few observations on the user ratings. Note that the user ratings are bi-polar clustering at 5 and 7; it's not for everyone, but has a strong following. This movie is underrated and overlooked but will be noticed for years to come. Also, few women have watched the movie but they rate it more highly than men. Has it been marketed properly?