The Mad Trapper | |
---|---|
![]() Theatrical poster | |
Directed by | David Cobham |
Starring | Richard Alden Joe Austin Brandon Brady |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Production company | David Cobham Productions |
Original release | |
Release | 28 December 1972 |
The Mad Trapper is a 1972 British made-for-television docudrama film. The Mad Trapper is based on the 1931 Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) pursuit of a trapper named Albert Johnson, the reputed "Mad Trapper of Rat River". [1]
A later film exploring the same topic was Challenge to Be Free (a.k.a. Mad Trapper of the Yukon and Mad Trapper) (1975) directed by Tay Garnett and stars Mike Mazurki. [2] A later fictionalized account, Death Hunt (1981), also based on the story of the RCMP pursuit of Albert Johnson, was directed by Peter R. Hunt, and starred Charles Bronson, Lee Marvin, Angie Dickinson and Carl Weathers. [3]
In the Yukon, an American trapper (Del Henney) attempts to live in peace but is aware that other trappers resent his presence. When he is confronted by rival trappers, they bring along Millen (George R. Robertson), the local RCMP officer. Feeling intimidated, the trapper fights back, shooting his way out of his cabin, killing Millen and embarking on a desperate attempt to escape the authorities. The hazardous trek through the Arctic in the middle of winter becomes an epic manhunt, led by "Sarge" (Richard Alden). The RCMP eventually employ dog teams, radio and aircraft to bring down their prey.
The Mad Trapper was filmed mainly on location in the Yukon and Alaska, the same locales of the "Mad Trapper" manhunt. [5]
Reviewer Leonard Maltin noted (The) Mad Trapper was made in 1972 and was based on the story of "... a fur trapper pursued by the law in Arctic surroundings." [6]
Events from the year 1932 in Canada.
Aklavik is a hamlet located in the Inuvik Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. Until 1961, with a population over 1,500, the community served as the regional administrative centre for the territorial government.
Antony David John Penikett is a mediator and negotiator and former politician in Yukon, Canada, who served as the third premier of Yukon from 1985 to 1992.
Wilfrid Reid "Wop" May, was a Canadian flying ace in the First World War and a leading post-war aviator. He was the final Allied pilot to be pursued by Manfred von Richthofen before the German ace was shot down on the Western Front in 1918. After the war, May returned to Canada, pioneering the role of a bush pilot while working for Canadian Airways in Northern Alberta and the Northwest Territories.
The Gwichʼin are an Athabaskan-speaking First Nations people of Canada and an Alaska Native people. They live in the northwestern part of North America, mostly north of the Arctic Circle.
Albert Johnson, also known as the Mad Trapper of Rat River, was a fugitive whose actions stemming from a trapping dispute eventually sparked a huge manhunt in the Northwest Territories and Yukon in Northern Canada. The event became a media circus as Johnson eluded the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) team sent to take him into custody, which ended after a 150 mi (240 km) pursuit lasting more than a month and a shootout in which Johnson was fatally wounded on the Eagle River, Yukon. Albert Johnson is suspected to have been a pseudonym and his true identity remains unknown.
Ben is a 1972 American horror film directed by Phil Karlson and starring Lee Montgomery, Joseph Campanella, and Arthur O'Connell. It is a sequel to the film Willard (1971). The film follows a lonely boy named Danny Garrison who befriends Willard's former pet rat named Ben. Ben becomes the boy's best friend, protecting him from bullying and keeping his spirits up in the face of a heart condition. However, Ben forms an army of deadly rodents while the police attempt to control it.
Death Hunt is a 1981 Western action film directed by Peter Hunt. The film stars Charles Bronson, Lee Marvin, Angie Dickinson, Carl Weathers, Maury Chaykin, Ed Lauter and Andrew Stevens. Death Hunt was a fictionalized account of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) pursuit of a man named Albert Johnson. Earlier films exploring the same topic were The Mad Trapper (1972), a British made-for-television production and Challenge to Be Free (1975).
The Most Dangerous Game is a 1932 American pre-Code horror film, directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack and Irving Pichel, starring Joel McCrea, Fay Wray and Leslie Banks.
Canadian Mounties vs Atomic Invaders (1953) is a Republic Movie serial starring Bill Henry and both produced and directed by Franklin Adreon. It was the sixty-second serial produced by Republic. Despite the title, this is not a science fiction serial. The plot is a northern cold war adventure involving secret missile bases and a planned invasion of the United States.
The Northern or Northwestern is a genre in various arts that tell stories set primarily in the late 19th or early 20th century in the north of North America, primarily in western Canada but also in Alaska. It is similar to the Western genre, but many elements are different, as appropriate to its setting. It is common for the central character to be a Mountie instead of a cowboy or sheriff. Other common characters include fur trappers and traders, lumberjacks, prospectors, First Nations people, settlers, and townsfolk.
North West Mounted Police is a 1940 American epic north-western film produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Gary Cooper and Madeleine Carroll. Written by Alan Le May, Jesse Lasky Jr., and C. Gardner Sullivan, and based on the 1938 novel The Royal Canadian Mounted Police by R. C. Fetherstonhaugh, the film is about a Texas Ranger who joins forces with the North-West Mounted Police to put down a rebellion in the north-west prairies of Canada. The supporting cast features Paulette Goddard, Preston Foster, Robert Preston, Akim Tamiroff, Lon Chaney Jr. and George Bancroft. Regis Toomey, Richard Denning, Rod Cameron, and Robert Ryan make brief appearances in the film playing small roles.
Challenge to Be Free is an anti-hero film directed by Tay Garnett and starring Mike Mazurki. The film's plot was a loosely based on the 1931 Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) pursuit of a trapper named Albert Johnson, the reputed "Mad Trapper of Rat River". The film was shot and originally released in 1972 with the title Mad Trapper of the Yukon; it was re-released in 1975 as Challenge to Be Free.
The Wolf Hunters is a 1949 American Northern film directed by Budd Boetticher and starring Kirby Grant, Jan Clayton and Edward Norris. It was based on the novel of the same title by James Oliver Curwood, which had previously been adapted in 1926 as The Wolf Hunters and in 1934 as The Trail Beyond starring John Wayne, Noah Beery, Sr. and Noah Beery, Jr. The film was the second in a series of ten films featuring Kirby Grant as a Canadian Mountie.
Fangs of the Arctic is a 1953 American Northern film directed by Rex Bailey and starring Kirby Grant, Lorna Hanson and Warren Douglas. The film was the eighth in the series of ten films featuring Kirby Grant as a Canadian Mountie.
Snow Dog is a 1950 American Northern film directed by Frank McDonald and starring Kirby Grant, Elena Verdugo and Rick Vallin. It was the third of a series of ten films featuring Grant as a Canadian Mountie.
Northern Patrol is a 1953 American Northern film directed by Rex Bailey and starring Kirby Grant, Marian Carr and William Phipps. The film was the ninth in a series of ten films featuring Kirby Grant as a Canadian Mountie.
The following events occurred in January 1932:
Cold Front is a 1989 Canadian-American crime-thriller film directed by Allan A. Goldstein and starring Martin Sheen, Michael Ontkean and Beverly D'Angelo.
The 2019 Northern British Columbia homicides were a spree killing that took place on the Alaska Highway and Stewart–Cassiar Highway in British Columbia, Canada, between July 14–19, 2019. Kam McLeod and Bryer Schmegelsky are believed to have killed Lucas Fowler and Chynna Deese, before killing Leonard Dyck within a six-day time frame.