5 reviews
Sales Rank: 982

Format: Pal
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Media: VHS Tape
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 102
Discs: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

EAN: 5013037301472
ASIN: B00004CK7E

Theatrical Release Date: April 1966
Release Date: April 15, 1996
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand new and sealed. Small box Carlton release. Same as Amazon picture. GENUINE item, NOT a copy. Extinct in this condition. One of the very rarest titles. Quality guaranteed.

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Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars

A winner June 16, 2008
Saw this back in the sixties and it has always stuck in mind. In 1967 I wrote my GCE essay and it was the story of this film - it was my 4th try at English Language and I passed - if I recall rightly I did little more of the paper than the essay - reckon it was a gem and I believe the story won for me. Later I always told my children (3 sons)the story of the man, his woman and the howling wolves that chased him through the snowy forest to his cabin door and the difficulties and horror they had to face. Its an archetypal story that cannot help but be retold. I continue to be haunted by it and wait for a DVD release of it to check out its resonance.

Jeff Thomas

5 out of 5 stars

A forgotten masterpiece February 9, 2007
9 out of 9 found this review helpful

This is something of a forgotten masterpiece. I first saw it over 30 years ago have waited ever since then for it to be repeated on TV. I can't understand why it hasn't even been released on DVD, and it's barely available on tape!

The story is simple enough: Jean la Bête (Oliver Reed), a trapper living in the wilds of Canada in the 1850s, comes into a trading post to sell his furs, claim the money the trader has been holding for him, and buy himself a wife. The `wife-sale' takes place each year, as women released from prison are sold to prospective husbands in remote areas of Canada - a process which sounds repulsive to us but which at least kept them off the streets. However, Jean is too late for this year's wife-sale, so he pledges to buy a wife the following year. Meanwhile he goes to demand his money from the trader - who has to supply it from his own funds because he has squandered Jean's cash on his own demanding wife and daughter. The trader's wife is enraged at this, as she has her heart set on travelling to Vancouver with her daughter. So she gets half the money back by selling Jean a wife - the mute girl Eve (Rita Tushingham), adopted by the trader's family after her own people were killed by Indians. Since that day Eve, traumatised by the sight of her mother brutalised and murdered, has never spoken but has lived with the trader's family as a servant. She is terrified by Jean and is reluctant to go with him, but Jean forces her into his canoe and carries her up the wild river to his cabin in the forest.

There he teaches Eve (whom he addresses simply as `Woman') how to hunt, fish and trap the animals whose furs provide him with his living. Gradually Eve becomes resigned to her lot, but she will not allow Jean to touch her, threatening him with a knife if he comes too close. Winter comes, and it seems that in combating its hardships the ill-assorted pair is finally reaching some kind of agreement. It becomes apparent that Jean does not just want a woman to cook and clean for him, warm his bed and bear his children: he wants a companion. One evening Jean gets out his mouth-organ and as he and Eve dance round the cabin in a moment of light-hearted gaiety, it seems that Jean may at last be winning Eve's heart. But he approaches too close, and she turns on him, taking their relationship right back to square one.

Then one day while Jean is out checking his traps, he gets his foot caught in one of them. He manages to get free, but is pursued by wolves as he half-staggers, half-crawls back to the cabin. Eve helps to drive the wolves away, and Jean tells her how to dress his wounds. But infection sets in, and Jean must ask Eve to take drastic action in order to save his life...

The two leads are superb. Jean la Bête could easily have been turned into a caricature of a wild backwoodsman, but as portrayed by Reed he is certainly rough and uncouth, but not a bad or even an unkind man. Although Eve's rejection of his advances makes him mad enough to throw furniture about, he never tries to force her, or punish her in any way. And after she saves his life, he confesses that he cannot live without her...and starts to call her by her name. Rita Tushingham is equally impressive as Eve: without uttering a sound, she manages to convey Eve's initial terror, giving way to wariness and finally to acceptance of Jean. The Canadian scenery is stupendous, and Ron Goodwin's soaring, majestic music is a perfect accompaniment to the grandeur of it all.

This film deserves to be resurrected - once seen it will never be forgotten.

5 out of 5 stars

Oliver Reed & Rita Tushingham - great performances! June 2, 2006
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

One of the greatest British movies ever made, and most certainly was the peak of Rita Tushingham's outstanding film career!

Oliver Reed was terribly underrated as an actor, and this movie goes to prove (along with a couple of others he made during the sixties) that he was in fact one of Britain's finest actors!

This film and story keeps you gripped with both suspense and emotion from start to finish - they don't make them like that anymore...

It seems inconceivable that we are still awaiting the DVD release of this movie and it is as rare as diamonds to find on video which was available for only a short time in the mid nineties. Do not ever miss the opportunity to see this film if you get the chance - the story leaves you haunted from the stark atmosphere in which it is told.

Tremendous performances from Oliver Reed, Rita Tushingham and Barbara Chilcott - not to be missed!

Simply magnificent!!

4 out of 5 stars

A brutal yet classic tale of mountain man adventure. January 30, 2002
13 out of 14 found this review helpful

Oliver Reed at his best! Brutal and exciting with all the elements you'd expect from a classic mountain man adventure! Rita Tushingham shines as the delecate yet reluctant mate Eve, a mute, dragged out into the wilderness against her will to fill the gap in Reed's lonely & solitude-like exsistance.
The scenery is breathtaking and the action scene's are so very well choregraphed. Look out for the intence clash between Reed, a pack of wolves & a rather nasty bear trap, and what Eve is requested by Reed to do to his leg with a large axe will have you biting into your pillows, I kid you not!
This movie is not to be missed, especially if you enjoy the action, adventure and beauty of the wilderness. In keeping with other such greats as the Robert Redford classic: 'Jeremiah Johnson', and Charlton Heston's 'The Mountain Men'.
Buy it now! Believe me you won't be sorry.

4 out of 5 stars

The Trap is terrific! May 2, 2001
12 out of 12 found this review helpful

The rapturous introduction music is enough to grab the viewers attention to begin with. Stirring stuff which captures the essence of the the adventurous story line. The always underrated Oliver Reed showing the qualities and the charisma he possessed in his hey day. Frosty Canadian settings help convey the harshness of the plot and the perfomances are top notch throughout. Well worth watching!

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