Details

Release year: 1981

Storyline

In 1931 Canada, Yukon trapper Albert Johnson has a feud with a dog owner who retaliates by publicly accusing Johnson of murder, triggering a police manhunt in the wilderness.

Top credits

Directors

Peter R. Hunt

Writers

Cast

Charles Bronson — Albert Johnson
Lee Marvin — Millen
Andrew Stevens — Alvin
Carl Weathers — Sundog

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Did you know

• Charles Bronson once said of his Albert Johnson character in this movie: "There are two schools of thought about the characters . . . Some believe the man [Albert Johnson] was a criminal. Others believe, as I do, that he was innocent of any wrongdoing. We decided to show him as a man who was a victim of someone else's need to perform violence. In trying to protect himself against an unprovoked attack, he was forced to kill one of his assailants."

• The manhunt that this movie is based on was the first time that airplanes were used by authorities in Canada to track down a wanted fugitive. The type of plane used was a a Bristol open cockpit bi-plane and a real-life replica was constructed for this movie.

• The Sgt. Edgar Millen character of the Royal Canadian Mountain Police was fictionalized for this movie. Played by Lee Marvin, the character was changed from being a young man--as he was in 1931-32-- to a hardened, middle-aged, hard-drinking man typical of Marvin's persona, both on-screen and off. In the true story that this movie is based on, Constable Edgar Millen was shot dead by Albert Johnson (played by Charles Bronson), but this doesn't happen in the movie.