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| distributor = [[Campbell Devon Films]]
| distributor = [[Campbell Devon Films]]
| released = {{Film date|1974|10|30|Los Angeles|ref1=<ref>{{cite web |url=http://catalog.afi.com/Film/55458-THE-SAVAGE-IS-LOOSE?sid=fe643363-4ea1-4989-9097-0a8c211b473d&sr=4.112777&cp=1&pos=0#3 |title=The Savage Is Loose - Details |website=[[AFI Catalog of Feature Films]] |publisher=[[American Film Institute]] |accessdate=December 18, 2018 }}</ref>}}
| released = {{Film date|1974|10|30|Los Angeles|ref1=<ref>{{cite web |url=http://catalog.afi.com/Film/55458-THE-SAVAGE-IS-LOOSE?sid=fe643363-4ea1-4989-9097-0a8c211b473d&sr=4.112777&cp=1&pos=0#3 |title=The Savage Is Loose - Details |website=[[AFI Catalog of Feature Films]] |publisher=[[American Film Institute]] |accessdate=December 18, 2018 }}</ref>}}
| runtime = 100 minutes
| runtime = 114 minutes
| country = Mexico<br>United States
| country = Mexico<br>United States
| language = English
| language = English

Revision as of 18:39, 16 November 2019

The Savage Is Loose
Directed byGeorge C. Scott
Written byMax Ehrlich
Frank De Felitta
Produced byRobert E. Relyea
George C. Scott
StarringGeorge C. Scott
Trish Van Devere
John David Carson
Lee Montgomery
CinematographyÁlex Phillips Jr.
Edited byMichael Kahn
Music byGil Melle
Production
company
Distributed byCampbell Devon Films
Release date
  • October 30, 1974 (1974-10-30) (Los Angeles)[1]
Running time
114 minutes
CountriesMexico
United States
LanguageEnglish

The Savage Is Loose is a 1974 psychological melodrama that addresses incest within a small marooned family on a deserted island. It stars George C. Scott, who also served as director and distributor.

Plot

In 1902, John (Scott), his much younger wife Maida (Scott's real-life wife, Trish Van Devere) and their infant son David (played by both Lee Montgomery and John David Carson) are the only survivors of a ship that crashes into the rocky beach of an uncharted island during a violent storm. By 1912, David, now a seemingly happy 12-year-old boy, begins to enter puberty. By the time he is 17, David is consumed by lust for his mother, which drives a wedge between him and his father to the point where they hunt each other down for the affections of the only woman on the island.

Crew

  • Director - George C. Scott
  • Screenplay - Max Ehrlich
  • Screenplay - Frank de felitta
  • Executive Producer - Robert Relyea
  • Producer - George C. Scott
  • Cinematography - Alex Phillips Jr.
  • Editor - Michael Kahn
  • Music - Gil Melle
  • Art Direction - Augustin Ytuarte
  • Set Decorator - Enrique Estevez
  • Sound Rerecording Mixer - Richard R. Portman
  • Sound Mixer - Dennis Maitland
  • Assistant Director - Joseph Lenzi
  • Assistant Director - Jesus Marin
  • Paintings - Edward Miracle
  • Titles - Edward Miracle

Production

The film was photographed entirely on location south of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. It was produced by Campbell Devon Productions and distributed by George C. Scott through WCII on video (now out of print).

Rating controversy and distribution

When the MPAA gave the film an "R" rating, Scott blasted the decision and urged exhibitors to defy it by running the movie unrated.[2] Scott strongly disagreed with the MPAA's position that incest was a "major" theme of the film and said he was "appalled" that his movie was given the same rating as films like Candy Stripe Nurses and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.[2] Scott took out full-page newspaper ads in key cities offering a "money-back guarantee" from his own personal funds to any parent who took a child under 17 to the film and agreed with the R rating.[3] More than $8,000 was reportedly paid out to ticket buyers through this offer.[4]

The film was sold directly to regional exhibitors by sales executives, bypassing traditional distribution channels.[5]

Reception

Reviews from critics were largely negative.[4] Vincent Canby of The New York Times wrote, "What begins as a kind of tab show version of 'The Swiss Family Robinson' quickly disintegrates into a muddled meditation upon the survival of the human race, but under conditions so special that the film's primal concerns eventually become ludicrous."[6] Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film 1.5 stars out of 4 and called it "a pretentious potboiler" with characters that have "no identity other than sex-starved or sex-threatened."[7] He ranked it behind only The Trial of Billy Jack on his year-end list of the worst films of 1974.[8] Arthur D. Murphy of Variety wrote that "Scott and associates have done a first class job in making this film. All four performances are excellent, and Scott's direction (after the 'Rage' debacle) is in complete control."[5] Pauline Kael of The New Yorker wrote that the film "crawls by in slightly under two hours, but they're about as agonizing as any two hours I've ever spent at the movies ... Scott has to take the rap for his crapehanger's direction and for not knowing better than to buy this script, but the scriptwriters, Max Ehrlich and Frank De Felitta, really ought to have their names inscribed in a special hall of infamy."[9] Tom Milne of The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote, "The performances are sound enough, but it is difficult to feel much conviction when Trish Van Devere sports the same daintily besmirched white nightie throughout the eighteen odd years covered by the action, and when the jungle boy still moves and talks like a sullen Californian beach bum."[10] Leonard Maltin's film guide gave its lowest rating of BOMB.[11]

See also

  • Survival film, about the film genre, with a list of related films

References

  1. ^ "The Savage Is Loose - Details". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
  2. ^ a b McBride, Joseph (October 9, 1974). "Geo. C. Scott Excoriates MPAA R On His 'Savage Is Loose'; Tells Exhibs To Ignore Rating". Variety. 5.
  3. ^ "Scott's 'Savage Is Loose' Offered With Uniquie Money-Back Guarantee". BoxOffice. November 4, 1974. C-1.
  4. ^ a b "The Savage Is Loose - History". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
  5. ^ a b Murphy, Arthur D. (October 16, 1974). "The Savage Is Loose". Variety. 14.
  6. ^ Canby, Vincent (November 16, 1974). "Film: 'Savage Is Loose'". The New York Times. 21.
  7. ^ Siskel, Gene (November 5, 1974). "Savage Is Loose". Chicago Tribune]]. Section 3, p. 5.
  8. ^ Siskel, Gene (December 29, 1974). "On the Big 10 scoreboard: Europe 6 U.S. 4". Chicago Tribune. Section 6, p. 2.
  9. ^ Kael, Pauline (November 25, 1974). "The Current Cinema". The New Yorker. 183-184.
  10. ^ Milne, Tom (December 1983). "The Savage Is Loose". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 50 (599): 340.
  11. ^ Maltin, Leonard, ed. (1995). Leonard Maltin's 1996 Movie & Video Guide. Signet. p. 1135. ISBN 0-451-18505-6.
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