Bear Island (film)
Encyclopedia
Bear Island is a 1979 British
-Canadian thriller film based on the novel Bear Island
by Alistair MacLean
. It was directed by Don Sharp
and starred Donald Sutherland
, Vanessa Redgrave
, Richard Widmark
, Christopher Lee
and Lloyd Bridges
.
and northern Norway
, to study climate change. However, several of them turn out to be more interested in the fact that (according to the film) there was a German U-boat
base on the island during World War II
. American scientist Frank Lansing (Donald Sutherland
) has come because his father was a U-boat commander who died there, and as accidents start to decimate the expedition he begins to realise that some of his colleagues are after a shipment of gold aboard the U-boat that his father commanded.
outside London
, the outdoor scenes were shot in British Columbia
and Alaska
, depicting a much more dramatic landscape than the real Bear Island offers. According to the book The Hollywood Hall of Shame
it was the most expensive film ever made in Canada up till then.
The Swedish
invention
called Larven
(The Caterpillar
) by Lennart Nilsson is used in the chases around the island.
The film is rated R13 in New Zealand and it contains violence.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
-Canadian thriller film based on the novel Bear Island
Bear Island (novel)
Bear Island is a thriller novel by Scottish author Alistair MacLean. Originally published in 1971, it was the last of MacLean's novels to be written in first-person narrative...
by Alistair MacLean
Alistair MacLean
Alistair Stuart MacLean was a Scottish novelist who wrote popular thrillers or adventure stories, the best known of which are perhaps The Guns of Navarone, Ice Station Zebra and Where Eagles Dare, all three having been made into successful films...
. It was directed by Don Sharp
Don Sharp
Donald Sharp is a British film director.His most famous films were made for Hammer Studios in the sixties, and included The Kiss of the Vampire and Rasputin, the Mad Monk . Also in 1965 he directed The Face of Fu Manchu, based on the character created by Sax Rohmer, here played by Christopher Lee...
and starred Donald Sutherland
Donald Sutherland
Donald McNichol Sutherland, OC is a Canadian actor with a film career spanning nearly 50 years. Some of Sutherland's more notable movie roles included offbeat warriors in such war movies as The Dirty Dozen, , MASH , and Kelly's Heroes , as well as in such popular films as Klute, Invasion of the...
, Vanessa Redgrave
Vanessa Redgrave
Vanessa Redgrave, CBE is an English actress of stage, screen and television, as well as a political activist.She rose to prominence in 1961 playing Rosalind in As You Like It with the Royal Shakespeare Company and has since made more than 35 appearances on London's West End and Broadway, winning...
, Richard Widmark
Richard Widmark
Richard Weedt Widmark was an American film, stage and television actor.He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as the villainous Tommy Udo in his debut film, Kiss of Death...
, Christopher Lee
Christopher Lee
Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE, CStJ is an English actor and musician. Lee initially portrayed villains and became famous for his role as Count Dracula in a string of Hammer Horror films...
and Lloyd Bridges
Lloyd Bridges
Lloyd Vernet Bridges, Jr. was an American actor who starred in a number of television series and appeared in more than 150 feature films. Bridges is best known for his role of Mike Nelson in Sea Hunt, the most-popular syndicated American TV series in 1958...
.
Plot
A UN expedition of scientists from different countries come to barren arctic Bear Island, between SvalbardSvalbard
Svalbard is an archipelago in the Arctic, constituting the northernmost part of Norway. It is located north of mainland Europe, midway between mainland Norway and the North Pole. The group of islands range from 74° to 81° north latitude , and from 10° to 35° east longitude. Spitsbergen is the...
and northern Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, to study climate change. However, several of them turn out to be more interested in the fact that (according to the film) there was a German U-boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
base on the island during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. American scientist Frank Lansing (Donald Sutherland
Donald Sutherland
Donald McNichol Sutherland, OC is a Canadian actor with a film career spanning nearly 50 years. Some of Sutherland's more notable movie roles included offbeat warriors in such war movies as The Dirty Dozen, , MASH , and Kelly's Heroes , as well as in such popular films as Klute, Invasion of the...
) has come because his father was a U-boat commander who died there, and as accidents start to decimate the expedition he begins to realise that some of his colleagues are after a shipment of gold aboard the U-boat that his father commanded.
Cast
- Donald SutherlandDonald SutherlandDonald McNichol Sutherland, OC is a Canadian actor with a film career spanning nearly 50 years. Some of Sutherland's more notable movie roles included offbeat warriors in such war movies as The Dirty Dozen, , MASH , and Kelly's Heroes , as well as in such popular films as Klute, Invasion of the...
– Frank Lansing - Vanessa RedgraveVanessa RedgraveVanessa Redgrave, CBE is an English actress of stage, screen and television, as well as a political activist.She rose to prominence in 1961 playing Rosalind in As You Like It with the Royal Shakespeare Company and has since made more than 35 appearances on London's West End and Broadway, winning...
– Heddi Lindquist - Richard WidmarkRichard WidmarkRichard Weedt Widmark was an American film, stage and television actor.He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as the villainous Tommy Udo in his debut film, Kiss of Death...
– Otto Gerran - Christopher LeeChristopher LeeSir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE, CStJ is an English actor and musician. Lee initially portrayed villains and became famous for his role as Count Dracula in a string of Hammer Horror films...
– Lechinski - Lloyd BridgesLloyd BridgesLloyd Vernet Bridges, Jr. was an American actor who starred in a number of television series and appeared in more than 150 feature films. Bridges is best known for his role of Mike Nelson in Sea Hunt, the most-popular syndicated American TV series in 1958...
– Smithy - Bruce GreenwoodBruce GreenwoodBruce Greenwood is a Canadian actor and musician. He is generally known for his roles as U.S. presidents in Thirteen Days and National Treasure: Book of Secrets and for his role as Captain Christopher Pike in the 2009 Star Trek film...
– Technician Tommy - Barbara ParkinsBarbara ParkinsBarbara Parkins is a Canadian television and film actress.-Early life and rise to stardom:Parkins was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. At the age of sixteen, she and her mother moved to Los Angeles, where she enrolled at Hollywood High School and began to study acting, tap, ballet, and...
– Judith Rubin - Patricia Collins – Inge Van Zipper
- Mark JonesMark Jones (actor)Mark Jones was a British actor, who appeared frequently in various television series.Credits include: A Family at War, Z Cars, Van der Valk, Doctor Who , The New Avengers, The Onedin Line, Target, Secret Army, Tales of the Unexpected, Buccaneer, Blott on the Landscape,...
– Cook - August SchellenbergAugust SchellenbergAugust Schellenberg is a Canadian actor. His ethnicity is Mohawk and Swiss-German. He was trained at the National Theatre School of Canada.His first film was Rip-Off in 1971. In 1981, he did voices for the animated film Heavy Metal...
– Marine Technician - Candace O'ConnorCandace O'ConnorCandace O'Connor is a St. Louis, Missouri-based freelance writer and editor.Her recent book projects include a history of Northwest Community Hospital called 'Rooted in Community; Reaching New Heights' ; a history of the George Warren Brown School of Social Work called 'What We Believe'; a history...
– Laboratory Assistant - Michael Collins – Ship's Captain
- Michael J. Reynolds – Heyter
- Lawrence Dane – Paul Hartman
- Nicholas Cortland – Jungbeck
- Joseph Golland – Meteorological Assistant
- Richard Wren – Radio Operator
- Hagan Beggs – Larsen
- Robert Stelmach – Ship's Radio Operator
- Terry Waterhouse – Helicopter Crewman
Production notes
While the interiors were shot in Pinewood StudiosPinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios is a major British film studio situated in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, approximately west of central London. The studios have played host to many productions over the years from huge blockbuster films to television shows to commercials to pop promos.The purchase of Shepperton...
outside London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, the outdoor scenes were shot in British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
and Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
, depicting a much more dramatic landscape than the real Bear Island offers. According to the book The Hollywood Hall of Shame
The Hollywood Hall of Shame
The Hollywood Hall of Shame is a 1984 book by brothers Harry Medved and Michael Medved. The authors had previously written or been involved in the creation of similar books exploring "bad movies" or "cinematic mistakes": The Fifty Worst Films of All Time, and The Golden Turkey Awards.While those...
it was the most expensive film ever made in Canada up till then.
The Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
invention
Invention
An invention is a novel composition, device, or process. An invention may be derived from a pre-existing model or idea, or it could be independently conceived, in which case it may be a radical breakthrough. In addition, there is cultural invention, which is an innovative set of useful social...
called Larven
Larven
Larven "Caterpillar" was a Swedish snowmobile that was manufactured from the 1960s to the 1980s in Östersund. The rider had to wear skis as well. This was for steering the vehicle, since the machine itself only provided propulsion. The design was easy to stow in a car due its small size.A Larven...
(The Caterpillar
Caterpillar
Caterpillars are the larval form of members of the order Lepidoptera . They are mostly herbivorous in food habit, although some species are insectivorous. Caterpillars are voracious feeders and many of them are considered to be pests in agriculture...
) by Lennart Nilsson is used in the chases around the island.
The film is rated R13 in New Zealand and it contains violence.