A Cree Indian (Gordon Tootoosis as Almighty Voice) is taken in by the Mounties for killing a cow without permission to feed his starving family.
Sgt. Dan Candy (Donald Sutherland) loosens his chains; the Indian escapes.
Soon after, Mountie Sgt. Malcolm Grant, a good friend of Candy’s, found dead.
Now Candy is determined to bring the Indian in, no matter how long it takes him or where the trail leads.
And the fact that the public is demanding action by the Mounties doesn’t even enter into his thinking. This is personal.
And Candy figures the fact that Almighty Voice’s squaw is pregnant might help him track down the elusive fugitive.
He certainly isn’t going to get any help from Sounding Sky (Chief Dan George), a relative of Almighty Voice.
The Cree elder is quite aware of the fate awaiting Almighty Voice should he be caught. The Mounties, after all, want to teach the reservation Indians another lesson.
Donald Sutherland as Sgt. Dan Candy in Dan Candy’s Law (1974)
Gordon Tootoosis as Almighty Voice in Dan Candy’s Law (1974)
Review:
A rather dreary affair, filmed in Canada and reportedly based on a true story. And the version I saw was on a budget DVD of horrible quality, the picture badly cropped to fit standard TVs.
The film gives lip service to the injustice of its story: His family starving, Almighty Voice merely butchers a steer that belongs to a herd designed to feed the reservation Indians. He merely did so without permission.
But the focus of the film is Candy’s obsession. A teller of tall tales, he’s grown close not only to Grant, but to his pretty wife and small son.
He feels personally responsible for his friend’s death and believes the only way to free himself from that responsibility is to bring the Indian to justice.
The best part of the film is the climax. Having finally tracked down Almighty Voice to a grove of trees, Candy can see an end to his quest.
That’s when an entire company of Mounties, equipped with field guns, shows up to finish the job, with residents from the nearby town tagging along to watch a one-sided battle.
Chief Dan George as Sounding Sky in Dan Candy’s Law (1974)
Ernestine Gamble as Small Face in Dan Candy’s Law (1974)
Directed by:
Claude Fournier
Cast:
Donald Sutherland … Sgt. Dan Candy
Gordon Tootoosis … Almighty Voice
Chief Dan George … Sounding Sky
Kevin McCarthy … Sgt. Malcolm Grant
Jean Duceppe … Inspector Brisebois
Francine Racette … Emilie Grant
Jack Creley … Arthur Ballentyne
James O’Shea … Edouard
John Boylan … Cpl. Harold Bellringer
Lenny George … Rolling Grass
Ernestine Gamble … Small Face
Vincent Daniels … Many Birds
Sarain Stump … Napoleon Royal
Runtime: 93 min.
Kevin McCarthy as Sgt. Malcolm Grant in Dan Candy’s Law (1974)
Francine Racette as Emilie Grant in Dan Candy’s Law (1974)
Memorable lines:
Sgt. Dan Candy: “Bringing in one Cree boy is about as dangerous as picking a crocus (?).
Sgt. Dan Candy, upon finding the body of Sgt. Grant: “You red son-of-a-bitch. I’m gonna get you!”
Sgt. Dan Candy: “Bellringer, you comb through this reserve like you were looking for lice.”
Cpl. Bellringer: “Yes, sir.”
Candy: “You’ve had lice, haven’t you?”
Cpl. Bellringer: “Yes, sir.”
Candy: “That’s how I want you to look.”
Jean Deceppe as Inspector Brisebois in Dan Candy’s Law (1974)
Sarain Stump as scout Napoleon Royal in Dan Candy’s Law (1974)
Sgt. Dan Candy, when Cpl. Bellinger suggests arresting the family of Almighty Voice: “Bellinger, you could hang them upside down over an open fire, and they’d roast alive before they told you a god damned thing.”
Emilie Grant: “I know you. It’s not Dan Candy; it’s your demon talking.”
Francine Racette as Emilie Grant in Dan Candy’s Law (1974)
Donald Sutherland as Sgt. Dan Candy in Dan Candy’s Law (1974)
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