Cry of the Wild
{{for|the 1990 feature film|A Cry in the Wild}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Cry of the Wild
| image =
| director = Bill Mason
| producer = William Brind
| writer = Bill Mason
| narrator = Bill Mason
| starring =
| music = Larry Crosley
Bruce Mackay
| cinematography = Bill Mason
| editing = Bill Mason
| studio = National Film Board of Canada
| distributor =
| released = {{Film date|1972}}
| runtime = 88 min 04 s
| country = Canada
| language = English
| budget = $74,871
| gross = $4.5 – $5+ million
}}
Cry of the Wild is a 1972 feature-length documentary film by Bill Mason and his second of three films about wolves. The film is a personal account of the two years Mason spent shooting his first film on wolves, Death of a Legend, incorporating footage from the earlier film. Cry of the Wild was shot in the Northwest Territories, British Columbia and Canadian Arctic, as well as near Mason's home in the Gatineau Hills, where he kept and observed three grown wolves and, eventually, a litter of cubs.{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://filmreferencelibrary.ca/index.asp?layid=44&csid1=186&navid=46|title=Cry of the Wild|encyclopedia=Canadian Film Encyclopedia|publisher=Film Reference Library|accessdate=2009-11-15|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012130843/http://www.filmreferencelibrary.ca/index.asp?layid=44&csid1=186&navid=46|archivedate=2007-10-12}}{{cite web |url= http://www.onf-nfb.gc.ca/eng/collection/film/?id=12945 |title= Cry of the Wild |work=Collection |publisher= National Film Board of Canada |accessdate=2009-11-15}}{{cite news |url= https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?_r=1&res=9905E2DC143CE63BBC4B53DFB766838F669EDE |title= Life of Wolf Pack Seen in 'Cry of the Wild' |last=Thompson |first=Howard |date= January 3, 1974 |work= "Movie review", The New York Times |accessdate= 2009-11-15}}
Release
Produced by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) for $74,871, Cry of the Wild was launched in over 500 theatres in the United States, grossed over one million dollars in its opening week,{{cite book |last=Wise |first= Wyndham |title= Take One's Essential Guide to Canadian Film |publisher=University of Toronto Press |date=2001 |pages=53 |isbn=0-8020-3512-4 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=m4Y_OgckDmIC&q=%22Cry+of+the+Wild%22+mason&pg=PA53}} generating a reported $4.5 million to $5+ million in gross box office. The film earned $1.8 million from 80 theatres in New York and was shown in 500 theatres in the United States. It was the most financially successful film in NFB history.{{Cite news |date=2 October 2013 |last=Ohayon |first=Albert |title=The NFB’s 5 Biggest Box Office Successes |work=National Film Board of Canada |url=https://blog.nfb.ca/blog/2013/10/02/nfb-biggest-box-office-successes/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240129011518/https://blog.nfb.ca/blog/2013/10/02/nfb-biggest-box-office-successes/ |archive-date=29 January 2024}}
The feature documentary was initially planned to be released in Canada on a small scale. At a showing in Edmonton, the NFB was approached by an American distributor interested in releasing it in the USA. The company bought the North American rights and released it in New York City, renting out theatres and showing the film on a continuous basis in a formula known as "four-walling." The film was released subsequently all over the U.S. and throughout Canada.{{cite web |url= http://www.nfb.ca/film/cry_of_the_wild |title=Cry of the Wild |last=Ohayon |first=Albert |work=Curator's comments |publisher= National Film Board of Canada |accessdate= 2009-11-15 |location= Montreal}}
However, the release was not without problems. According to Gary Evans in his book In the National Interest: A Chronicle of the National Film Board of Canada from 1949 to 1989, the NFB only recouped several hundred thousand dollars because of a contract that allowed the American distributor to pocket the bulk of the proceeds and declare bankruptcy.{{cite book|last=Evans|first=Gary|title=In the National Interest: A Chronicle of the National Film Board of Canada from 1949 to 1989|publisher=University of Toronto Press|date=1991|pages=[https://archive.org/details/innationalintere0000evan/page/200 200]|isbn=0-8020-2784-9|url= https://archive.org/details/innationalintere0000evan|url-access=registration|quote=Death of a Legend mason.}} Mason completed his third and final film on wolves, Wolf Pack, in 1974.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{NFB film|cry_of_the_wild}}
{{Bill Mason}}
Category:Films directed by Bill Mason
Category:Documentary films about nature
Category:National Film Board of Canada documentaries
Category:Canadian sequel films
Category:Films shot in British Columbia
Category:1972 documentary films
Category:Films shot in the Northwest Territories
Category:1970s English-language films