North Star (1996 film)

Last updated

North Star
NorthStar1996.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Nils Gaup
Screenplay by
Story by
  • Gilles Behat
  • Phillipe Schwartz
  • Marc Pecas
Based onThe North Star
1956 novel
by Henry Wilson Allen
Produced byAnne Francois
Starring
CinematographyBruno de Keyzer
Edited by
Music by Bruce Rowland
Production
companies
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release date
  • October 20, 1996 (1996-10-20)(United States)
[ citation needed ]
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$18 million

North Star is a 1996 American Western film starring James Caan, Christopher Lambert and Catherine McCormack. Directed by Nils Gaup, it was written by Sergio Donati and loosely based on Henry Wilson Allen's 1956 Western novel The North Star. Lambert executive produced the film.

Contents

Plot summary

At the beginning of the Nome Gold Rush in 1899, Sean McLennon (Caan), a Scots-Irish-American land baron, owns the majority of property titles surrounding Nome and declares that only American citizens are legally entitled to placer claims. He uses power, influence and nationalism to make local politics and law enforcement work in his favor. Unbeknownst to those outside of McLennon's gang, the original owners of the land were all killed on McLennon's orders.

The gang's latest target, Hudson Santeek (Lambert) narrowly escapes the attempt on his life but not before witnessing McLennon's right-hand thug, Reno (Burt Young) murder Santeek's adoptive father - an elderly Athabaskan tribal chief - in cold blood. Santeek, who is half white and half American Indian, had "purchased" his surrogate family's land in a bid to keep miners away.

Santeek returns to Nome to confront McLennon at knifepoint in his bedroom, but Sarah (McCormack) McLennon's young Irish immigrant trophy wife, intervenes at gunpoint; McLennon disarms Santeek and the two engage in a fight. After Santeek floors McLennon, he kidnaps Sarah, steals a dogsled and rides off into the Alaskan wilderness. Without the permission of the local sheriff, McLennon forms a posse and treks out into the tundra to kill Santeek and rescue his wife.

On the course of the journey, Santeek talks to his captive about her husband's murderous property deed scams, but she does not immediately believe him and re-avows her loyalty to her husband. However, when McLennon and his men locate Santeek's cabin hideout and shoot at it indiscriminately, Sarah pleas for her husband not to kill her abductor. McLennon notices that she is wearing a shirt made of animal skin that Santeek had given to her earlier to keep her warm. He erroneously assumes that she betrayed him and had an affair with Santeek. Calling her a "whore," he disowns her and orders his men to continue firing at Santeek's cabin.

Santeek escapes while his pet wolf fatally lunges at the throat of one of the posse gunmen. Santeek's wolf then attacks the gang's sled dogs, but Reno shoots and kills the animal. With no clear objective and unfamiliarity with the freezing, unpredictable terrain, members of McLennon's posse begin to turn on one another, but McLennon kills the burnouts in his gang and sets out to finish the job he started.

Meanwhile, back in Nome, Col. Henry Johnson (Jacques Francois) and the U.S. Marshals begin their own investigation of McLennon's land seizures, noticing that all of the original trustees are mysteriously deceased and that Santeek (the most recent disseisee) was witnessed in town alive. On the basis of this discrepancy, the federals declare Martial Law on Nome and accompany the town's top lawman, Sheriff Lamont (Nicholas Hope) to bring McLennon and Santeek back for questioning. The enforcers locate McLennon and his gang, but McLennon refuses to obey their orders and the posse shoot Lamont and the other officials to death.

McLennon and the surviving members of his gang eventually track and corner Santeek in a glacier cave. While Santeek scuffles with Reno, McLennon tips over a wood totem and Reno and Santeek slide down and fall through the sheath of a frozen lake. Reno drowns during the struggle, while Santeek, with his naturalist survival skills, makes it out of the icy water alive.

Once again thinking that Santeek is dead, McLennon returns to Nome alone and conducts another town speech, reaffirming his mining policies to the chagrin of immigrant prospectors and the delight of his cronies. However, Johnson and the U.S. Marshals interrupt the huddle and arrest McLennon for the murder of sheriff Lamont and the other constables. Sarah, McLennon's disillusioned wife, had witnessed the massacre and ultimately informed on him.

Soon after, Santeek returns to town to settle scores with the incarcerated McLennon, but finds the former had escaped from his cell and slit the throats of the jailguards in the process. McLennon breaks into his loft apartment (above the saloon which he had owned) and attempts to kill Sarah for turning on him, but Santeek appears behind McLennon and plunges a dagger into his back.

Cast

Production

Although set in the U.S. state of Alaska, the movie was shot entirely in Norway in Maridalen, Møsvatn, and Orre bach. [1] [ better source needed ]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnson County War</span> 1888-1893 range conflict in Johnson County, Wyoming

The Johnson County War, also known as the War on Powder River and the Wyoming Range War, was a range conflict that took place in Johnson County, Wyoming from 1889 to 1893. The conflict began when cattle companies started ruthlessly persecuting alleged rustlers in the area, many of whom were settlers who competed with them for livestock, land and water rights. As violence swelled between the large established ranchers and the smaller settlers in the state, it culminated in the Powder River Country when the former hired gunmen to invade the county. The gunmen's initial incursion in the territory alerted the small farmers and ranchers, as well as the state lawmen, and they formed a posse of 200 men that led to a grueling stand-off. The siege ended when the United States Cavalry on the orders of President Benjamin Harrison relieved the two forces, although further fighting persisted in the following months.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lincoln County War</span> 1878–1881 conflict in the Old West of the US

The Lincoln County War was an Old West conflict between rival factions which began in 1878 in Lincoln County, New Mexico Territory, the predecessor of the state of New Mexico, and continued until 1881. The feud became famous because of the participation of William H. Bonney. Other notable participants included Sheriff William J. Brady, cattle rancher John Chisum, lawyer and businessmen Alexander McSween, James Dolan and Lawrence Murphy.

<i>Gunfight at the O.K. Corral</i> (film) 1957 film by John Sturges

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral is a 1957 American Western film starring Burt Lancaster as Wyatt Earp and Kirk Douglas as Doc Holliday, and loosely based on the actual event in 1881. The film was directed by John Sturges from a screenplay written by novelist Leon Uris. It was a remake of the 1939 film Frontier Marshall starring Randolph Scott, which was until 1957 the definitive film of the gunfight story.

<i>Neath the Arizona Skies</i> 1934 film

'Neath the Arizona Skies is a 1934 Western film directed by Harry L. Fraser, produced by Lone Star Productions, released by Monogram Pictures and starring John Wayne. Wayne's character attempts to locate a little girl's father, so that she may claim a $50,000 Indian oil claim. The film co-stars Sheila Terry and Shirley Jean Rickert. George "Gabby" Hayes played a featured character with a speaking role, but his name was omitted from the cast list in the opening credits.

<i>Colorado Territory</i> (film) 1949 film by Raoul Walsh, Anthony Veiller

Colorado Territory is a 1949 American Western film noir directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Joel McCrea, Virginia Mayo, and Dorothy Malone. Written by Edmund H. North and John Twist, and based on the novel High Sierra by W.R. Burnett, the film is about an outlaw who is sprung from jail to help pull one last railroad job.

<i>Bandolero!</i> 1968 film by Andrew V. McLaglen

Bandolero! is a 1968 American Western film directed by Andrew V. McLaglen and starring James Stewart, Dean Martin, Raquel Welch and George Kennedy. The story centers on two brothers on the run from a posse, led by a local sheriff who wants to arrest the runaways and free a hostage that they took along the way. They head into the wrong territory, which is controlled by "Bandoleros".

<i>Reno 911!: Miami</i> 2007 American film by Robert Ben Garant

Reno 911!: Miami is a 2007 American cop comedy film based on Comedy Central's Reno 911! and directed by Robert Ben Garant. Distributed in the United States and Canada by 20th Century Fox and internationally by Paramount Pictures alongside Comedy Central Films, the film was theatrically released on February 23, 2007 to mixed reviews, with much of the criticism aimed at its lack of appeal to non-fans.

<i>Johnny Reno</i> 1966 film by R. G. Springsteen

Johnny Reno is a 1966 American Western film made by A. C. Lyles Productions and released by Paramount Pictures. It starred Dana Andrews and Jane Russell. It was directed by R. G. Springsteen, produced by A. C. Lyles, with a screenplay by Andrew Craddock, Steve Fisher and A.C. Lyles.

<i>Sidekicks</i> (1974 film) 1974 American TV series or program

Sidekicks is a 1974 American made-for-television comedy Western film directed by Burt Kennedy and starring Larry Hagman and Louis Gossett Jr. The film was a pilot for a proposed television show as a continuation of the 1971 theatrical release Skin Game, with James Garner and Gossett.

<i>Black Killer</i> 1971 film

Black Killer is a 1971 Italian Spaghetti Western film directed by Carlo Croccolo and starring Klaus Kinski.

<i>Steel Frontier</i> 1995 film

Steel Frontier is a 1995 post-apocalyptic science fiction Western film directed by Jacobsen Hart and Paul G. Volk and starring Joe Lara, Bo Svenson, Stacie Foster, Brion James, Kane Hodder, James C. Victor, Billy L. Sullivan, Robert O'Reilly, Brian Huckeba, and Adolfo Quinones.

<i>Wyoming Renegades</i> 1955 film by Fred F. Sears

Wyoming Renegades is a 1955 American Western film directed by Fred F. Sears and starring Philip Carey, Gene Evans and Martha Hyer.

<i>Posse from Hell</i> 1961 film by Herbert Coleman

Posse from Hell is a 1961 American Western film directed by Herbert Coleman and starring Audie Murphy and John Saxon.

<i>Run for Cover</i> (film) 1955 film by Nicholas Ray

Run for Cover is a 1955 American Western film directed by Nicholas Ray and starring James Cagney, Viveca Lindfors, John Derek, and in his final film, Jean Hersholt. Distributed by Paramount Pictures, this film was made in VistaVision.

Gunsmoke: The Long Ride is a 1993 American made-for-television Western film based on the series Gunsmoke, in which the main character, Matt Dillon is again played by James Arness.

<i>Outlaws of Sonora</i> 1938 film

Outlaws of Sonora is a 1938 American Western "Three Mesquiteers" B-movie directed by George Sherman. It stars Bob Livingston, Ray Corrigan and Max Terhune. Livingston has a dual role as Mesquiteer Stony Brooke and his outlaw doppelgänger Dude Brannen. Films in the Mesquiteer series are normally considered traditional Westerns but Outlaws of Sonora is an exception; it has a revisionist theme as an early example of the Outlaw/Gunfighter sub-genre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Augustine Chacon</span> Outlaw and folk hero of the Arizona Territory (1861–1902)

Augustine Chacon, nicknamed El Peludo, was a Mexican outlaw and folk hero active in the Arizona Territory and along the U.S.–Mexico border at the end of the 19th century and the early 20th century. Although a self-proclaimed badman, he was well-liked by many settlers, who treated him as a Robin Hood-like character rather than a typical criminal. According to Old West historian Marshall Trimble, Chacon was "one of the last of the hard-riding desperados who rode the hoot-owl trail in Arizona around the turn of the century." He was considered extremely dangerous, having killed about thirty people before being captured by Burton C. Mossman and hanged in 1902.

<i>Special Investigator</i> (film) 1936 film by Louis King

Special Investigator is a 1936 RKO Radio Pictures American crime-drama film, starring Richard Dix and featuring Margaret Callahan, Erik Rhodes and Owen Davis, Jr. It was directed by Louis King from a screenplay by Louis Stevens, Thomas Lennon and Ferdinand Reyher, based on "Fugitive Gold", a story by Erle Stanley Gardner originally serialized in the New York Herald Tribune's This Week magazine from May 26–July 7, 1935.

The Dalton Gang is a 1949 American Western film starring Don "Red" Barry and Julie Adams. It was directed by Ford Beebe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Downing</span> American Wild West outlaw

Bill Downing a.k.a. William F. Downing was a notorious outlaw during the Wild West era in Arizona. Downing had fled from the Texas Rangers posse who was after him when he came to Arizona. In Arizona, he was involved in the killing of William S. “Slim” Traynor and in various train robberies including the robbery of the Train Depot in the town of Cochise. Downing was so unpopular that even members of his gang couldn't stand him.

References

  1. "North Star (1996) - IMDb". IMDb .