The Last Wilderness
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Howard Hill
Robert Carlisle
Jerry Fairbanks
Ned Frost
Howard Hill
Gayne Whitman
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Howard Hill, a famous archer, receives an invitation from Ned Frost, big game guide of the Rocky Mountains, for a trip through Wyoming. On the way, the two men visit the annual rodeo in Cody. Their pack train then starts on its trek through a mountainous, wooded region. Hill expresses his fears that this may be the final opportunity to photograph American big game. Armed with only his arrows and a camera, Hill observes the animals and helps to save the weaker ones from their adversaries. Among Hill's feats are spearing a rattlesnake through the head, killing a buffalo with a single arrow while riding a mustang pony Indian-style, killing a mountain goat at long range, and catching trout by attaching a line to his arrows. He observes a fight for territorial supremacy between two bull elks, grouse strutting in their courtship, and a battle between a wildcat and a coyote. From an airplane Hill watches a huge herd of antelope on the run. He sees a bruin hibernating and discovers grasshoppers frozen centuries ago in a glacier. From a distance he sights a large brown bear fighting a mother bear. By the time he arrives on the scene, the mother is dead, so he takes her two cubs with him, and enjoys their comic antics. Later Hill takes revenge on the brown bear when his arrow finds its mark in the huge animal's body.
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The film's producer, Jerry Fairbanks, was associated with Mascot Pictures Corporation during the time of the film's production, but no relationship between Mascot and this production has been found. According to contemporary sources, Howard Hill was a world champion archer. The film was shot without sound over a period of two years. Some sound effects were dubbed in later. Sources conflict as to whether Hill or Gayne Whitman provided narration. Reviews commented that there were no "planted" or faked shots, and noted the novelty of having a wild animal film set in the United States and the incorporation of archery into the story. According to a Variety news item, Phil Meyer acquired the world rights to the film, which the article goes on to note was made by Fairbanks and Edmund Hill "under the aegis of the Museum of Natural History." Also according to the article, distribution of the film was made through state rights.
