As "Away All Boats" director Joseph Pevney's final cinematic outing, "The Night of the Grizzly" amounts to a solid but unsurprising western about the trials and tribulations Clint Walker faces as a rancher plagued by a grizzly name nicknamed 'Satan' by the locals. "Cry Vengeance" scenarist Warren Douglas, who penned several episode of Walker's tv western "Cheyenne," has written a predictable, occasionally exciting oater. Our ex-lawman hero Jim Cole (Clint Walker of "Fort Dobbs") has given up his badge and relocated his family, including his wife, Angela Cole (Martha Hyer of "The Sons of Katie Elder"), his nearly adult daughter, Meg (Candy Moore of "Raging Bull"), and his younger son Charlie (Kevin Brodie of "The Giant Spider Invasion") to a ranch that was left him by a relative. When the family arrives, they find the ranch needs a severe case of remodeling. Meantime, lurking on the periphery is back-up villain, Jed Curry (Keenan Wynn of "The War Wagon"), is an affluent local business man with his own outfit who is bursting at the seams to get the land bequeathed Jim. Curry's two lame-brained sons, Tad (Ron Ely of "Tarzan") and Cal (Sammy Jackson of "The Fastest Guitar Alive"), aggravate the situation for their father by hazing the Cole family. Eventually, Jim refuses to tolerate their shenanigans and whips them in a rough & tumble fistfight. The local banker Cotton Benson (dependable character actor Regis Toomey of "The Big Sleep") tries to help out Jim with his struggles. Inevitably, one of Cotton's stockholders, predictably Jed, objects to his extending credit to our protagonist. Were this not trouble enough, Cotton warns big Jim about Satan, a treacherous grizzly that has made everybody's life miserable.
Douglas and Pevney make good use of their 102-minute running time and never let the action grind to a halt. The theme of man versus animal alone, however, doesn't generate enough tension, even though Jed's sons harass Jim at every turn. Indeed, this grizzly mauls Charlie's pooch, destroys all of Jim's best-laid traps, and constitutes a major thorn in Jim's side. Indeed, Satan slays all of Jim's livestock. Just when things are looking less than interesting, the filmmakers enliven the drama and have one of Jim's former deputies, Cass (Leo V. Gordon of "Tobruk"), who served time for killing an innocent man in cold blood, show up. At this point, stretched for cash as he is, Jim figures he can kill the troublesome grizzly and receive a hefty reward which will settle all his debts. Cass vows to beat Jim to the Bear, but the wily creature tears up Cass' dogs (off-screen) and Jim and he tangle when Cass tampers with Jim's traps. Meantime, Jim's impatient wife Angie threatens to leave him if he pits himself against the bear. Of course, big Jim remains adamant about killing the bear and getting the bounty. Things take a turn for the predictable worse when Jim's son Charlie decides to hunt the bear so his parents won't split up. A family oriented epic sans profanity, blood in copious quantities, and just enough suspense to make you grit your teeth, the above-average "The Night of the Grizzly" boasts a stellar cast of character actors, including Jack Elam, Ellen Corby, and Don Haggerty, and was lensed on some awesome locales in and around Big Bear Valley, San Bernardino National Forest, California, USA.
Douglas and Pevney make good use of their 102-minute running time and never let the action grind to a halt. The theme of man versus animal alone, however, doesn't generate enough tension, even though Jed's sons harass Jim at every turn. Indeed, this grizzly mauls Charlie's pooch, destroys all of Jim's best-laid traps, and constitutes a major thorn in Jim's side. Indeed, Satan slays all of Jim's livestock. Just when things are looking less than interesting, the filmmakers enliven the drama and have one of Jim's former deputies, Cass (Leo V. Gordon of "Tobruk"), who served time for killing an innocent man in cold blood, show up. At this point, stretched for cash as he is, Jim figures he can kill the troublesome grizzly and receive a hefty reward which will settle all his debts. Cass vows to beat Jim to the Bear, but the wily creature tears up Cass' dogs (off-screen) and Jim and he tangle when Cass tampers with Jim's traps. Meantime, Jim's impatient wife Angie threatens to leave him if he pits himself against the bear. Of course, big Jim remains adamant about killing the bear and getting the bounty. Things take a turn for the predictable worse when Jim's son Charlie decides to hunt the bear so his parents won't split up. A family oriented epic sans profanity, blood in copious quantities, and just enough suspense to make you grit your teeth, the above-average "The Night of the Grizzly" boasts a stellar cast of character actors, including Jack Elam, Ellen Corby, and Don Haggerty, and was lensed on some awesome locales in and around Big Bear Valley, San Bernardino National Forest, California, USA.