Fernando E. Romero is Jim Chambers, who’s out hunting with his dad when he rescues a dog from one of his father’s traps.
The young boy takes the dog home, nurses him to health and names him Buck.
That decision pays off because Buck repeatedly comes to the rescue after Jim’s dad is killed by Indians.
Jim, older sister Mary and Buck wind up trying to make it to Dawson City with the help of two brothers (John and Hank McKenzie), who have been stranded after a snow sled accident.
Once the journey is complete, they find Dawson City is ruled by crooked William Bates (Jack Palance), who has a band of henchmen willing to do his bidding and his killing.
Bates wants control over everything, including what is and isn’t printed in the newspaper young Mary starts with the help of former lawyer Tom Jarrell.
But the kids also makes friends in Dawson City, including saloon singer Sonia Kendall (Joan Collins) and a bartender named Charlie.
Fernando E. Romero (Fred Romer) as Jim Chambers, finding Buck caught in one of his father’s traps in The Great Adventure (1975)
Jack Palance as William Bates, the man who calls the shots in Dawson City in The Great Adventure (1975)
Review:
An odd mix of family film and Spaghetti Western, made all the more curious by the involvement of Joan Collins.
Buck is quite the hero, leaping into the middle of fights, jumping off a balcony to win a bit for Jim and Mary and moving a stick of dynamite during the climatic bank robbery attempt.
But the final showdown is right out of a Spaghetti Western and you’ll hear strains of borrowed Spaghetti scores throughout the film.
You’ll also see lots of wilderness stock footage, especially before the two kids and the brothers they travel with reach Dawson.
Joan falls for John McKenize (Manuel de Blas), one of those brothers. And I’d love to know how she wound up in this film.
Joan Collins as saloon girl Sonia Kendall, welcoming strangers to Dawson City in The Great Adventure (1975)
Manuel de Blas as John McKenzie, vowing vengeance for a death in The Great Adventure (1975)
Directed by:
Gianfranco Balanello
as Paul Elliotts
Cast:
Jack Palance … WIlliam Bates
Joan Collins … Sonia Kendall
Elisabetta Virgili … Mary Chambers
as Elizabeth Virgil
Manuel de Blas … John McKenzie
Fernando E. Romero … Jim Chambers
as Fred Romer
Remo De Angelis … Hank McKenzie
Ricardo Palacios … Charlie
Attilio Dottesio … Jim and Mary’s dad
Jose Canalejas … Bates’ man
Filippo La Neve .. Tom Jarrell
Runtime: 88 min.
aka:
Il richiamo del lupo
The Cry of the Wolf
Theme song:
“The Sound of the Wild”
performed by Joseph Allegro
Remo De Angelis as Hank McKenzie, the older of the McKenzie brothers in The Great Adventure (1975)
Elisabetta Virgili as Mary Chambers and Filippo La Neve as Tom Jarrell, urging Buck to help them win a bet in The Great Adventure (1975)
Memorable lines:
Hank McKenzie: “You’re too lucky to be 100 percent honest.”
William Bates: “Mister, that’s the unluckiest thing you ever said.”
William Bates: “I need to make one thing clear from the very start. In Dawson City, I decide what’s news.”
Sonia Kendall: “I think Bates made a big mistake tangling with you two kids. He’d have done better to stir up a nest of rattlesnakes.”
Buck and Fernando E. Romero (Fred Romer) as Jim Chambers, off to Dawson City on a raft in The Great Adventure (1975)
Joan Collins as Sonia Kendall, her performance interrupted by Bates’ men in The Great Adventure (1975)
Ricardo Palacios as bartender Charlie, who becomes John McKenzie’s partner in The Great Adventure (1975)
Attilio Dottesio as Mr. Chambers, preparing to head to Dawson City for supplies in The Great Adventure (1975)
Manuel de Blas as John McKenzie with Joan Collins as Sonia Kendall in The Great Adventure (1975)
Elisabetta Virgili as Mary Chambers and Fernando E. Romero as young brother Jim in The Great Adventure (1975)
){kind=link}