The Day of the Wolves
| Day of the Wolves | |
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European poster
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| Directed by | Ferde Grofe Jr. |
| Produced by | Ferde Grofe Jr. |
| Written by | Ferde Grofe Jr. |
| Starring |
Richard Egan Martha Hyer Jan Murray Rick Jason Frankie Randall Smokey Roberds Andre Marquis Zaldy Zshornack Henry Capps |
| Music by | Sean Bonniwell |
| Cinematography | Ric Waite |
| Edited by | Tony Di Marco |
| Distributed by | Gold Key Entertainment |
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Release date
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Running time
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92 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $187,000 |
The Day of the Wolves is a 1971 heist movie starring Richard Egan and directed, written and produced by Ferde Grofe Jr. the son of the renowned composer who had previously worked in the Philippine film industry. It was the first movie to be made on location in the new town of Lake Havasu City, Arizona. This was the last feature film made by actress Martha Hyer.
Pete Anderson (Richard Egan) is chief of police of a small western town, Wellerton. Anderson has a run-in with the son of a council official (played by Len Travis and John Dennis respectively), who gets him fired. His warnings that the town is vulnerable to a criminal takeover were considered scaremongering.
Meanwhile, a group of thieves is being anonymously summoned to a ghost town in the desert by a criminal mastermind. Each is promised a minimum of $50,000 for participating in a heist, must wear a beard to disguise his appearance, and is blindfolded during the journey, so as not to be aware of the location of the site. The thieves are assigned a number from one to seven (number #1 being the mastermind). They are asked to wear gloves for the duration of the exploit and must not reveal any personal information about themselves, so as not to provide evidence that could lead back to them.
They are shown a map of Wellerton and told that they will fleece the entire town. The criminals are issued black jumpsuits and submachine guns and use the ghost town to train for the heist. Members of the team will destroy a bridge connecting the town to the main highway, destroy the telephone communications of the town and capture all the police officers.
Anderson hands over the running of Wellerton's police department to his deputy (John Lupton), and seeks the comfort of his wife Maggie (Martha Hyer) and young son Will (Steve Manone). He is considering for the family to leave town, and create a new life for themselves elsewhere. Maggie has reservations about this course of action.
The "wolves" fly to the outskirts of Wellerton, where they overcome a farmer and his wife (played by Percy Helton and local amateur actor Elizabeth Thomas, respectively). They proceed to blow up the bridge that provides access to Wellerton, then cut phone and power to the town. They surprise the new interim police chief and his deputies, locking them in the town jail.
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Wikipedia