Gentle Giant (film)
| Gentle Giant | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | James Neilson |
| Produced by | Ivan Tors |
| Screenplay by |
Edward J. Lakso Andy White |
| Starring |
Dennis Weaver Vera Miles Ralph Meeker Clint Howard Huntz Hall Charles Martin Rance Howard |
| Music by | Samuel Matlovsky |
| Cinematography | Howard Winner |
| Edited by | Peter Colbert |
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Production
company |
Ivan Tors Productions
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| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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93 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Gentle Giant is a 1967 American drama film about a young boy's friendship with an American black bear, based on the 1965 book Gentle Ben by Walt Morey. It was produced by Ivan Tors, directed by James Neilson and written by Edward J. Lakso and Andy White. The film stars Clint Howard, Dennis Weaver, Vera Miles, Ralph Meeker, Huntz Hall, and Bruno the Bear. The film was released on November 15, 1967, by Paramount Pictures.
The film was also the pilot for the CBS TV series, Gentle Ben (1967–69), based on the same characters and also starring Clint Howard, Dennis Weaver, and Bruno. The film is a prequel to the TV series, providing the backstory of how the boy Mark Wedloe met Ben the bear, tamed him and adopted him as a companion. Originally, the film was scheduled for release before the TV series began to air, but the film's release date was changed to be closer to Thanksgiving 1967, meaning that the film came out after the TV series had already been running for about two months.Gentle Giant therefore served as additional promotion for the Gentle Ben TV series rather than introducing it.
Tom (Dennis Weaver) and Ellen Wedloe (Vera Miles) live with their young son Mark (Clint Howard) near a Florida game reserve. Tom is a pilot who works as a spotter to locate schools of fish for the local fishermen to catch, but recently fish have been scarce, causing economic hardship for the local fishermen and Tom. Young Mark loves animals of all kinds.
One day Mark is exploring the reserve when he encounters a black bear cub, and starts to make friends with it, only to have the protective mother bear appear and chase Mark up a tree. While still hidden in the tree, Mark watches, horrified, as a gang of poachers, led by local fisherman and bully Fog Hanson (Ralph Meeker), illegally shoot the mother bear and capture the cub. Mark reports the poaching to the local wildlife officer, who fines Fog. The angry Fog and his buddies try to beat up Tom in retaliation for Mark's reporting and because they blame Tom for not spotting any fish for them lately, but Tom and his friend (the local justice of the peace) win the fight and throw Fog and his gang off the pier.
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