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{{Short description|1974 Canadian Northern film}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=August 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}

{{Infobox film
| name = Alien Thunder
| image = Alien Thunder VideoCover.png
| caption = Video cover
| director = [[Claude Fournier (filmmaker)|Claude Fournier]]
| producer = [[Marie-José Raymond]]
| writer = [[George Malko]]
| starring = [[Donald Sutherland]] [[Gordon Tootoosis]] [[Chief Dan George]] [[Kevin McCarthy (actor)|Kevin McCarthy]] [[Jean Duceppe]]
| music = [[Georges Delerue]]
| cinematography = [[Claude Fournier (filmmaker)|Claude Fournier]]
| editing = [[Yves Langlois (film editor)|Yves Langlois]]
| studio = Onyx Films
| distributor = Ambassador Film Distributors (Canada) [[American International Pictures]] (USA release) [[Cinerama Releasing Corporation]]
| released = {{Film date|1974|02|22|df=yes}}
| runtime = 93 minutes
| country = Canada
| language = English
| budget = $1,500,000
}}
'''''Alien Thunder''''' (also known as '''''Dan Candy's Law''''') is a 1974 Canadian [[Northern (genre)|Northern]] film directed by [[Claude Fournier (filmmaker)|Claude Fournier]] and starring [[Donald Sutherland]], [[Gordon Tootoosis]], [[Chief Dan George]],
[[Kevin McCarthy (actor)|Kevin McCarthy]], and [[Francine Racette]]. Its original screenplay was written by [[W.O. Mitchell]] but Mitchell removed his name from the final release due to changes that were made.

==Synopsis==
The movie is based on a true story from the [[North-West Territories]] in the 1890s after the [[North-West Rebellion]]. A young [[Woods Cree]] man named [[Almighty Voice (Cree)|Almighty Voice]] ([[Gordon Tootoosis]] in his first film role) is arrested by the [[North-West Mounted Police]]. Reacting to comments by officer Dan Candy (played by [[Donald Sutherland]]), he breaks out of imprisonment and kills Sergeant Malcolm Grant (played by [[Kevin McCarthy (actor)|Kevin McCarthy]]) under desperate circumstances. Candy then spends two years hunting for Almighty Voice, but becomes disenchanted with the excessive force used by the NWMP. The film ends in a shoot-out near the town of [[Duck Lake, Saskatchewan|Duck Lake]], where Almighty Voice is killed.<ref name=Historic>Michael Walsh, [https://reelingback.com/articles/historic_moment_lost "Historic Moment Lost: Redneck Redcoat's Tale Turns Tragic"], ''Reeling Back'', 24 July 2014; originally published in ''[[The Province]]'', 5 and 16 March 1974.</ref><ref name=Blood>{{cite web |last1=Conway |first1=Alana | last2=Leeder |first2=Murray|title="Blood on the Poplars: ALIEN THUNDER (1974) and the Story of Almighty Voice"|url=https://lumaquarterly.com/issues/volume-three/012-spring/blood-on-the-poplars-alien-thunder-1974-and-the-story/ |website=Luna Quarterly |access-date=7 December 2019}}</ref>

Part of the tension of the film is the relationship between Grant and Candy. Grant shows the stereotype of the Mounties, upright and scrupulously fair, similar to portrayals of the Mounties in earlier [[Northern (genre)|Northerns]]. Candy, on the other hand, is rough-hewn and rural, not part of the idealistic vision of the Mounties. He is attracted to Grant's widow (played by [[Francine Racette]]), and also carries the guilt of having triggered Almighty Voice's decision to escape, in which Grant was killed.<ref name=Historic/>

[[Chief Dan George]] plays the role of Sounding Sky, the father of Almighty Voice.<ref name=Historic/>

== Cast ==
{{Cast listing|
* [[Donald Sutherland]] as Sgt. Dan Candy
* [[Gordon Tootoosis]] as Almighty Voice
* [[Chief Dan George]] as Sounding Sky
* [[Kevin McCarthy (actor)|Kevin McCarthy]] as Sgt. Malcolm Grant
* [[Jean Duceppe]] as Inspector Brisebois
* [[Francine Racette]] as Emilie Grant
* Jack Creley as Arthur Ballentyne – Indian Agent
* James O'Shea as Edouard
* [[John Boylan (Canadian actor)|John Boylan]] as Cpl. Harold Bellringer
* Lenny George as Rolling Grass
* Ernestine Gamble as Small Face
* Vincent Daniels as Many Birds
* Sarain Stump as Napoleon Royal
}}

== Production ==
The first version of the screenplay for ''Alien Thunder'' was written by [[W. O. Mitchell]], a noted Saskatchewan author. However, as filming progressed and changes were made at the request of Sutherland, he asked that his name not be used on the finished version. He was reported to have said: "It's just not mine anymore."<ref name=Historic/><ref name =Blood/><ref>[[Joan Beatty]], [https://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/205/301/ic/cdc/saskindian/a74mar27.htm "Onyx Film A Disappointment"], ''Saskatchewan Indian'', March 1974, vol. 4, no. 3, p. 27.</ref>

The film was one of the most expensive produced in Canada at that time, with a cost of $1.5 million (approximately $9,245,000 in 2024).<ref name=Historic/><ref>Based on the [https://www.bankofcanada.ca/rates/related/inflation-calculator/ Bank of Canada Inflation Calculator].</ref> An historically accurate reproduction of the town of Duck Lake was built as one of the film sets. The [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police]] provided officers and horses for a cavalry charge in the film.<ref name = Historic/>

''Alien Thunder'' was filmed in Saskatchewan at [[Battleford, Saskatchewan|Battleford]], [[Duck Lake, Saskatchewan|Duck Lake]], [[St. Isidore-de-Bellevue, Saskatchewan|St. Isidore de Bellevue]], and [[Saskatoon]]. During filming, Sutherland hired a local woman who ran a coffee shop in Bellevue to cook for him during the production, as there were few options for eating out in the small town.<ref>Céline Grimard, [https://www.cjme.com/2024/06/28/to-her-he-was-a-hero-donald-sutherland-remembered-by-sask-family/ " 'To her, he was a hero' – Donald Sutherland remembered by Sask. family"], Regina / 980 CJME, 28 June 2024</ref>

Sutherland and Racette met on the filming of the movie. They married after the completion of the movie.<ref name=Historic/>

==Release==
The RCMP, which had seen the film as a centrepiece of its 1973 centennial celebrations, withdrew its backing and asked that its name not be used in any promotional materials. Sutherland stated that Fournier's direction of the movie was "wretched". However, one critic noted that many of the script changes were apparently made by Sutherland, which contributed to the uneven nature of the story.<ref name=Historic/><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-quebec-filmmaker-claude-fournier-adapted-gabrielle-roys-the-tin-flute/ | title=Quebec filmmaker Claude Fournier adapted Gabrielle Roy's the Tin Flute | newspaper=The Globe and Mail | date=26 March 2023 }}</ref>

The film was originally scheduled for a premiere in Montreal in the fall of 1973. The RCMP is said to have asked that the premiere not occur during their centennial year. Instead, the film had a simultaneous release in four Saskatchewan cities in March 1974: [[Regina, Saskatchewan|Regina]], [[Saskatoon]], [[Moose Jaw]], and [[Battleford]], with a subsequent release in Vancouver.<ref name=Historic/>

The film was not a financial success.<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OwwjSEJSMHQC&q=Alien+Thunder+1974&pg=PA1015 | title=Canadian Film and Video: A Bibliography and Guide to the Literature| isbn=9780802029881| last1=Lerner| first1=Loren R.| date=January 1997| publisher=University of Toronto Press}}</ref> "Suspense is lacking and characters are generally underdeveloped, as is the tension between the Mounties and the Indians.", stated Natalie Edwards for ''Cinema Canada.''{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}{{Page needed|date=June 2023}}

The film was criticised upon release. Michael Walsh, film critic for ''[[The Province]]'' in Vancouver, wrote:
{{blockquote|''Alien Thunder'', one of the most costly movies ever made in this country, was a project of epic potential and lofty ambition. That the final result falls short of the mark can't help but be a disappointment. Making director Claude Fournier's shortfall all the more unhappy are the sparkles of depth and brilliance that do occur, sparkles suggesting that within the film he's offered us is a really great picture struggling to get out.<ref name =Historic/>}}

Walsh criticised Sutherland's acting in the movie, stating that Sutherland needed a stronger director to keep him on track. Walsh also criticised Sutherland's changes to the script.<ref name = Historic/>

A retrospective review in 2019 found that "Though it laudably uses Indigenous (and principally [[Cree]]) actors and some of the [[Cree language]], ''Alien Thunder'' is ultimately a film about Mounties and settlers; as sympathetic as it may be to the Cree, they are, as the native peoples of the Americas tend to be in Westerns, reduced to supporting players in their own story."<ref name =Blood/>

The film was also released in the United States, under the name ''Dan Candy's Law''.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{IMDb title|0069688}}
* {{Internet Archive film|DanCandysLaw}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alien Thunder}}
[[Category:1974 films]]
[[Category:1974 drama films]]
[[Category:1974 independent films]]
[[Category:1970s Canadian films]]
[[Category:1970s English-language films]]
[[Category:Canadian independent films]]
[[Category:Canadian Western (genre) films]]
[[Category:English-language Canadian films]]
[[Category:English-language independent films]]
[[Category:Films about the Royal Canadian Mounted Police]]
[[Category:Films directed by Claude Fournier]]
[[Category:Films scored by Georges Delerue]]
[[Category:Films set in the 1890s]]
[[Category:Films set in the Northwest Territories]]
[[Category:Northern (genre) films]]
[[Category:Films about prejudice]]

Alien Thunder - Revision history

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