The Shadow of Chikara

Last updated

The Shadow of Chikara
The Shadow of Chikara.jpg
Directed byEarl E. Smith
Screenplay byEarl E. Smith
Produced byEarl E. Smith
Barbara Pryor
Starring Joe Don Baker
Sondra Locke
Ted Neeley
Dennis Fimple
John Davis Chandler
Linda Dano
Slim Pickens
Cinematography James W. Roberson
Edited by Tom Boutross
Music by Jaime Mendoza-Nava
Production
company
Farwinds Productions
Distributed by Howco International Pictures
Release date
  • June 10, 1977 (1977-06-10)
Running time
114 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Shadow of Chikara (also known as Demon Mountain, The Ballad of Virgil Cane, Thunder Mountain, Wishbone Cutter, and The Curse of Demon Mountain) is a 1977 American Western horror film written and directed by Earl E. Smith. The film stars Joe Don Baker, Sondra Locke, Ted Neeley, Dennis Fimple, John Davis Chandler, Linda Dano and Slim Pickens. It features the song The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down by The Band.

Contents

Plot

Confederate veterans of the last battle of the American Civil War team up with a geologist and set out to find a hidden treasure: diamonds hidden in a cave in an Arkansas mountain. However, the soldiers find they are being followed by a mysterious hunter (or hunters) who may have a connection to a mythic eagle spirit, Chikara.

Cast

Production

The Shadow of Chikara is the first feature film ever shot on the Buffalo National River. [1] Principal photography commenced on October 21, 1976, in Yellville, Arkansas. [2] Production moved to Bull Shoals-White River State Park by early November and continued in the area for seven weeks. [3] The NBC affiliate KYTV aired a behind-the-scenes program on November 21, 1976. [3]

Locke's then-boyfriend Clint Eastwood flew in about three weeks into the shoot and spent his days touring the countryside and fishing while she worked. [4]

Release

It was released on June 10, 1977, by Howco International Pictures. [5] [6] [7]

Home media

The film was released on DVD by Mill Creek Entertainment on July 5, 2005. It was later released by Dead Of Night on February 20, 2006. It was re-released by Mill Creek on September 12, that same year. In 2015, it was released by Movies Unlimited and Willette Acquisition Corp. on July 10, and 20th respectively. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slim Pickens</span> American rodeo performer and actor (1919–1983)

Louis Burton Lindley Jr., better known by his stage name Slim Pickens, was an American actor and rodeo performer. Starting off in the rodeo, Pickens took up acting, and appeared in dozens of movies and TV shows. For much of his career, Pickens played cowboy roles. He played comic roles in Dr. Strangelove, Blazing Saddles, 1941, and his villainous turn in One-Eyed Jacks with Marlon Brando.

<i>The Outlaw Josey Wales</i> 1976 film by Clint Eastwood

The Outlaw Josey Wales is a 1976 American revisionist Western film set during and after the American Civil War. It was directed by and starred Clint Eastwood, with Chief Dan George, Sondra Locke, Bill McKinney and John Vernon. During the Civil War, Josey Wales is a Missouri farmer turned soldier who seeks to avenge the death of his family and gains a reputation as a feared gunfighter. At the end of the war his group surrenders but is massacred, and Wales becomes an outlaw, pursued by bounty hunters and soldiers.

<i>Bound for Glory</i> (1976 film) 1976 American film

Bound for Glory is a 1976 American biographical film directed by Hal Ashby and loosely adapted by Robert Getchell from Woody Guthrie's 1943 partly fictionalized autobiography Bound for Glory. The film stars David Carradine as folk singer Woody Guthrie, with Ronny Cox, Melinda Dillon, Gail Strickland, John Lehne, Ji-Tu Cumbuka and Randy Quaid. Much of the film is based on Guthrie's attempt to humanize the desperate Okie Dust Bowl refugees in California during the Great Depression.

<i>In the Mouth of Madness</i> 1994 American horror film by John Carpenter

In the Mouth of Madness is a 1994 American supernatural horror film directed and scored by John Carpenter and written by Michael De Luca. It stars Sam Neill, Julie Carmen, Jürgen Prochnow, David Warner and Charlton Heston. Neill stars as John Trent, an insurance investigator who visits a small town while looking into the disappearance of a successful author of horror novels, and begins to question his sanity as the lines between reality and fiction seem to blur. Informally, the film is the third installment in what Carpenter refers to as his "Apocalypse Trilogy", preceded by The Thing (1982) and Prince of Darkness (1987).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ted Neeley</span> American singer, actor, producer (born 1943)

Teddie Joe Neeley is an American singer, actor, musician, composer, and record producer. He is known for portraying the title role in the 1973 film adaptation of Jesus Christ Superstar, for which he was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and has reprised numerous times.

Linda Dano is an American actress and television host. She began her career appearing in film and prime time television before she was cast as Rae Cummings on the ABC daytime soap opera, One Life to Live from 1978 to 1980. Three years later, Dano starred as Felicia Gallant in the NBC soap opera Another World from 1983 to 1999. She returned to One Life to Live starring in the show from 1999 to 2004. Dano was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award seven times, winning once for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 1993 for her work on Another World.

<i>The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz</i> (film) 1974 Canadian film

The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz is a 1974 Canadian comedy drama film directed by Ted Kotcheff, and adapted by Mordechai Richler and Lionel Chetwynd from Richler’s 1959 novel. It stars Richard Dreyfuss as the title character, a brash young Jewish Montrealer who embarks on a string of get-rich-quick schemes in a bid to gain respect. The cast also features Micheline Lanctôt, Randy Quaid, Joseph Wiseman, Denholm Elliott, Joe Silver and Jack Warden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sondra Locke</span> American actress (1944–2018)

Sandra Louise Anderson, professionally known as Sondra Locke, was an American actress, director, and singer.

Joe Don Baker is an American retired actor, known for playing "tough guy" characters on both sides of the law. He established himself as an action star with supporting roles the Westerns in Guns of the Magnificent Seven (1969) and Wild Rovers (1971), before his breakthrough role as real-life Tennessee Sheriff Buford Pusser in the film Walking Tall (1973).

<i>The Apple Dumpling Gang</i> (film) 1975 film directed by Norman Tokar

The Apple Dumpling Gang is a 1975 American comedy-Western film directed by Norman Tokar. It is about a slick gambler named Russell Donovan who is duped into taking care of three orphans who eventually strike gold. It was produced by Walt Disney Productions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Dano</span> American actor (1922–1994)

Royal Edward Dano Sr. was an American actor. In a career spanning 46 years, he was perhaps best known for playing cowboys, villains, and Abraham Lincoln. Dano also provided the voice of the Audio-Animatronic Lincoln for Walt Disney's Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln attraction at the 1964 World's Fair, as well as Lincoln's voice at the "Hall of Presidents" attraction at Disney's Magic Kingdom in 1971.

<i>Rawhide</i> (TV series) American Western television series

Rawhide is an American Western television series starring Eric Fleming and Clint Eastwood. The show aired for eight seasons on the CBS network on Friday nights from January 9, 1959, to September 3, 1965, before moving to Tuesday nights from September 14, 1965, until December 7, 1965, with a total of 217 black-and-white episodes. The series was produced and sometimes directed by Charles Marquis Warren, who also produced early episodes of Gunsmoke. The show is remembered by many for its theme song, "Rawhide".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dennis Fimple</span> American actor (1940–2002)

Dennis Clarke Fimple was an American actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Davis Chandler</span> American actor (1935–2010)

John Davis Chandler was an American actor.

<i>Jesus Christ Superstar</i> (film) 1973 musical historical drama film adaptation by Norman Jewison

Jesus Christ Superstar is a 1973 American musical historical drama film directed by Norman Jewison, and co-written by Jewison and Melvyn Bragg, based on the 1970 concept album of the same name written by Tim Rice and composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, which in turn inspired a 1971 musical. The film, which stars Ted Neeley, Carl Anderson, Yvonne Elliman and Barry Dennen, depicts the conflict between Judas and Jesus and the emotions and motivations of the main characters during the week of the crucifixion of Jesus.

<i>The White Buffalo</i> 1977 film by J. Lee Thompson

The White Buffalo is a 1977 fantasy Western film directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring Charles Bronson, Kim Novak, Jack Warden, Slim Pickens and Will Sampson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Me and My Shadow</span> 1927 popular song written by Al Jolson, Billy Rose, and Dave Dreyer

"Me and My Shadow" is a 1927 popular song. Al Jolson, Billy Rose, and Dave Dreyer are credited as the writers, with Jolson and Dreyer listed on the sheet music as responsible for the music and Rose the lyrics. Jolson was often given credits on sheet music so he could earn more by popularizing the tunes, but he played no part in writing this song. Jolson never recorded "Shadow", but in 1927, he used it in the touring version of "Big Boy".

<i>Locke & Key</i> American comic book series

Locke & Key is an American comic book series written by Joe Hill, illustrated by Gabriel Rodríguez, and published by IDW Publishing.

<i>Death Game</i> 1977 American psychological thriller film

Death Game is a 1977 American psychological thriller film directed by Peter S. Traynor, and starring Sondra Locke, Seymour Cassel, and Colleen Camp. The film follows an affluent San Francisco businessman who finds himself at the mercy of two violent, deranged women with a fetish for violence, whom he unwittingly allows into his home during a rainstorm.

<i>Death in Small Doses</i> (1995 film) 1995 television film by Sondra Locke

Death in Small Doses is a 1995 American true crime television film directed by Sondra Locke and written by Scott Swanton. It was produced by Robert Greenwald Productions and stars Richard Thomas, Tess Harper, Glynnis O'Connor and Shawn Elliot. The film is a dramatization of the 1991 death of wealthy Dallas resident Nancy Lyon by arsenic poisoning, a crime for which her husband Richard Lyon (Thomas) was the police's main suspect.

References

  1. "Bloody warfare, mining renewed on Buffalo River". The Mountain Echo. November 4, 1976. p. 6.
  2. "Y" Knot News. The Mountain Echo. October 14, 1976. p. 17.
  3. 1 2 "Movie-makers come to the Buffalo". The Baxter Bulletin. November 18, 1976. Section B, p. 5.
  4. Locke, Sondra (1997). The Good, The Bad & The Very Ugly: A Hollywood Journey. William Morrow and Company. p. 145. ISBN   9780688154622.
  5. Print advertisement in the June 9, 1977 Reporter Times
  6. "The Shadow of Chikara". Internet archive. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  7. "The Shadow of Chikara film review". moria.co.nz. March 9, 2000. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  8. "Shadow of Chikara (1977) - Earl E. Smith". Allmovie.com. AllMovie. Retrieved June 20, 2018.