''Grey Owl'' is a 1999 biopic directed by Richard Attenborough and starring Pierce Brosnan in the role of real-life British schoolboy turned Native American trapper "Grey Owl", Archibald Belaney (1888–1938), and Annie Galipeau as his wife Anahareo, with brief appearances by

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...

and others. The screenplay was written by William Nicholson. The film was released on 10 September 1999 in Spain and 15 February 2000 in US. It was the last film made by

Largo Entertainment Largo Entertainment was a production company founded in 1989. It was run by film producer Lawrence Gordon and was backed by electronics firm Victor Company of Japan, Ltd. (JVC) in an investment that cost more than $100 million. The production c ...

before it went defunct in 1999.

Plot

Archibald Belaney (Brosnan) was a British man who grew up fascinated with Native American culture—so much so that in the early 1900s he left the

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was a sovereign state in the British Isles that existed between 1801 and 1922, when it included all of Ireland. It was established by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the Kingdom of Grea ...

for

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, where he reinvented himself as Archie Grey Owl and pretended to be a First Nations native who was a trapper. Eventually, Belaney becomes an

environmentalist An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...

after renouncing trapping and hunting.

Cast

* Pierce Brosnan as Archibald "Grey Owl" Belaney * Annie Galipeau as Anahareo *

Nathaniel Arcand Nathaniel Arcand (born November 13, 1971) is a Canadian actor. He is known for his first major role in the Canadian drama series ''North of 60'', in which for three seasons he played William MacNeil, smart-mouthed and cocky, a troubled, misunders ...

as Ned White Bear *

Vlasta Vrána Vlasta Vrána (born 1950), is a Canadian actor of Czech descent. Life and career Vrána, born to Czech parents in Norway, moved to Canada at age four. He made his feature-film debut in Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg's '' Shivers''. Vrána ...

as Harry Champlin * David Fox as Jim Wood * Charles Powell as Walter Perry *

Stephanie Cole Patricia Stephanie Cole (born 5 October 1941) is an English stage, television, radio and film actress, known for high-profile roles in shows such as '' Tenko'' (1981–1985), ''Open All Hours'' (1982–1985), ''A Bit of a Do'' (1989), '' Waiti ...

as Ada Belaney *

Renée Asherson Dorothy Renée Ascherson (19 May 1915 – 30 October 2014), known professionally as Renée Asherson, was an English actress. Much of her theatrical career was spent in Shakespearean plays, appearing at such venues as the Old Vic, the Liverpoo ...

as Carrie Belaney * Stewart Bick as Cyrrus Finney *

as Jim Bernard *

Saginaw Grant Saginaw Morgan Grant (July 20, 1936 – July 27, 2021) was a Native American character actor. He appeared in '' The Lone Ranger'', '' The World's Fastest Indian'', ''Community'', and ''Breaking Bad'' and was a musician, pow wow dancer, motivatio ...

as Pow Wow Chief

Production

The film was shot in the English town of

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

towns

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

and

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

, Jacques Cartier Park and

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...

Prince Albert National Park Prince Albert National Park encompasses in central Saskatchewan, Canada and is located north of Saskatoon. Though declared a national park March 24, 1927, official opening ceremonies weren't performed by Prime Minister William Lyon Macke ...

. Director Richard Attenborough said in an interview that he and his brother, noted presenter and naturalist David Attenborough, had attended "Grey Owl's" De Montfort Hall, Leicester lecture in 1936, depicted in the film, and been influenced by his advocacy of conservation. The musical group Northern Cree Singers is featured in the soundtrack. Canadian naturalist and canoe tripper Hap Wilson taught Pierce Brosnan how to throw an axe and paddle a canoe for his role.

Release

The film opened 1 October 1999 on 70 screens in Canada. The film premiered on video in the United States on 15 February 2000. It eventually opened on 3 November 2000 in the United Kingdom.

Critical reception

The film was met with negative reviews. It has a 17% approval rating on review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

based on 12 reviews, with an average rating of 4.6/10. William Gallagher of the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

Plot

Cast

Production

Release

Critical reception

Box office

References

External links