Alien Thunder

1974 film

22 February 1974 (1974-02-22)

Running time

93 minutesCountryCanadaLanguageEnglishBudget$1,500,000

Alien Thunder (also known as Dan Candy's Law) is a 1974 Canadian Northern film directed by Claude Fournier and starring Donald Sutherland. Its original screenplay was written by W.O. Mitchell but Mitchell removed his name from the final release due to changes that were made.^[1]

Synopsis

Set in 1890s Saskatchewan after the North-West Rebellion, Alien Thunder is based on a true story about a Woods Cree (Gordon Tootoosis in his first film role) who kills a North-West Mounted Police sergeant (Kevin McCarthy) under desperate circumstances. Hunted for two years by the sergeant's resolute partner (Donald Sutherland), the ending brings tragedy for all those involved.

Cast

Donald Sutherland as Sgt. Dan Candy
Gordon Tootoosis as Almighty Voice
Chief Dan George as Sounding Sky
Kevin McCarthy as Sgt. Malcolm Grant
Jean Duceppe as Inspector Brisebois
Francine Racette as Emilie Grant
Jack Creley as Arthur Ballentyne – Indian Agent
James O'Shea as Edouard
John Boylan as Cpl. Harold Bellringer
Lenny George as Rolling Grass
Ernestine Gamble as Small Face
Vincent Daniels as Many Birds
Sarain Stump as Napoleon Royal

Production

Alien Thunder was filmed in Saskatchewan's Battleford, Duck Lake, and Saskatoon.

The RCMP, which had originally seen the film as a centrepiece of its 1973 centennial celebrations, withdrew its backing. Donald Sutherland called Mr. Fournier’s direction of the project “wretched".^[2]

Release

The film was not a financial success.^[3] "Suspense is lacking and characters are generally underdeveloped, as is the tension between the Mounties and the Indians.", stated Natalie Edwards for Cinema Canada.^{[page needed]}

An article in Luma found that "Though it laudably uses Indigenous (and principally Cree) actors and some of the Cree language, Alien Thunder is ultimately a film about Mounties and settlers; as sympathetic as it may be to the Cree, they are, as the native peoples of the Americas tend to be in Westerns, reduced to supporting players in their own story. "^[4]

References

^ Conway, Alana. ""Blood on the Poplars: ALIEN THUNDER (1974) and the Story of Almighty Voice"". Luna Quarterly. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
^ "Quebec filmmaker Claude Fournier adapted Gabrielle Roy's the Tin Flute". The Globe and Mail. 26 March 2023.
^ Lerner, Loren R. (January 1997). Canadian Film and Video: A Bibliography and Guide to the Literature. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 9780802029881.
^ "Blood on the Poplars: ALIEN THUNDER (1974) and the Story of Almighty Voice". Luma Quarterly. Retrieved 17 June 2023.