Alien Thunder

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]

Alien Thunder
Video cover
Directed byClaude Fournier
Written byGeorge Malko
Produced byMarie-José Raymond
StarringDonald Sutherland
Gordon Tootoosis
Chief Dan George
Kevin McCarthy
Jean Duceppe
CinematographyClaude Fournier
Edited byYves Langlois
Music byGeorges Delerue
Production
company
Onyx Films
Distributed byAmbassador Film Distributors (Canada)
American International Pictures (USA release)
Cinerama Releasing Corporation
Release date
22 February 1974
Running time
93 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1,500,000

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

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.

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


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