Challenge to be Free (1975)

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

I condemn the tone of this film. At every turn, it seems the writers; Anne Bosworth, Chuck D. Keen felt it necessary to drill it into our heads that the pursuit of this gentle man was necessary and warranted. I'm wondering if it escaped any viewer's attention, the fact that Trapper was completely innocent (first shot, which wounded McIntire, was from a misfire from his over-zealous partner's gun. The second shot, which killed the over-zealous cop, was in self-defense). Who, in their right mind, would start firing into a house (or cabin), because of a theft report?I am appalled that McIntire was hired to narrate the story, and was actually paid to recount the murder of an innocent man. In the context of the slew of shooting deaths by police, recently, in many areas of the U.S., Trapper's story is a warning of what could happen if we do not change our priorities, and restore our rights as citizens.Shooting someone in the back is NEVER legal...ESPECIALLY when it is done by those who are sworn to serve and protect. This film is a story of a travesty, sugar-coated to seem legitimate. Mr. McIntire should be ashamed of himself.., and should be arrested.It was great to see Mazurki as Trapper, though. Trapper seemed a righteous man.

Like a lot of reviewers here I saw this as a boy. I was sick from school for about a week & watched this on HBO probably 50 times that week. I loved it and always wondered if it was a true story. This movie is mostly narration with a lot of animal interaction. It does have a Disney feel to it. Now at 42 years old (I saw this when I was about 11) it is a little dated but my wife & I were looking for movie on Encore and I saw this. She had never seen it and enjoyed it as much as me and felt sorry for Trapper & Old Timer. It had been 30 yrs since I saw this & the theme song has always been in my mind (even if its outdated by today's standards). Not sure if our kids would like this or not. I'm going to burn it to DVD since this movie is not available. For those interested in the real story look up The Mad Trapper on wiki. Glad to be reacquainted with this movie, Trapper & Old Timer.

My friends, there is no other way to put it: The weirdest, most disturbing entertainments have always been those which are made with children in mind. Take CHALLENGE TO BE FREE, an admirable effort to tell the very worthy tale of The Mad Trapper of Rat River, but with lots of happy animal friends and a big, burly, friendly guy (Mike Mazurki, best known as the Igor character in that "Gilligan's Island" episode where the mad scientist starts switching the castaways' brains around) as "Trapper", who instead of a desperate criminal with seemingly no past has been transformed as a sort of Doctor Doolittle of the Klondike. He eats trans-fat rich breakfasts with an elk, has a moose for a hiking buddy, and pans gold as needed out of a nearby stream whenever he's hard up for a fresh carrot as a moose treat. I can see the appeal in the lifestyle.Nonetheless, this is easily the most violent, morally questionable and ethically dubious "family" movie I have ever seen, and that includes ARK II, LITTLE MONSTERS with Fred Savage, CAPTAIN KIRK'S ALIEN MYSTERIES and the granddaddy of disturbing family oriented movies, IN SEARCH OF NOAH'S ARK. The real trouble starts when "Trapper" blows away a couple of Mounties with his sawed off double barreled breech loading shotgun, a common stage prop for children's films. Later during the big manhunt chase scenes, the audience is treated to an image of strings of distressed looking sled dogs being winched up a sheer cliff face, and one of the poochies apparently slips loose of it's harness & falls to it's doom. My favorite bizarre moment from the film comes when "Trapper" finds himself unexpectedly dunked into an icy mountain stream in sub zero degree weather. But he's a plucky sort, pulls himself out of the drink, manages to start a fire while his clothes freeze to him, and by golly if we aren't gifted with a shot of him trying to thaw out his knickers over the fire, his pants frozen perfectly flat with the legs stuck out stiffly like in a cartoon. He holds them like Wile E. Coyote might after being dunked into an ACME Deep-Freeze Unit, stiff as a board.There are shootouts with real guns, cabins being dynamited, evil native Indian trappers who kidnap wolf pups for evil purposes, shirtless fat men warming their bodies by campfires, guys being menaced up close & personal by ax blades, and a big climax where the hero appears to commit suicide. Anyone who might subject their kids to this movie will end up with years of bills for psychotherapy, or young men who enjoy bending nails with their teeth. Either way it's a crapshoot, and the MPAA "G" rating for this film is proof indeed of how the times have changed since 1975. If this movie was made today it would probably be banned by PETA demonstrators before even making it to the ratings board. "Trapper" wrestles bears, plays mean looking tricks on beavers, insists on bunking with a lynx, and even manages to annoy a herd of caribou without being trampled to death. The suspension of disbelief needed to enjoy this movie probably doesn't exist anymore, even in kids.The one good thing the movie sort of has going for it is that the scriptwriters actually did pay some attention to the research work of Dick North, the world's foremost authority on "Albert Johnson", the Mad Trapper who eluded a Royal Canadian Mounted Police posse in the arctic wilds of Canada's Northwestern Territories for 52 days in conditions that would convert any normal person into human beef jerky in about 36 hours. And indeed when compared to the ultra violent 1981 version of the tale -- DEATH HUNT with Charles Bronson and Lee Marvin -- it actually does score a couple of extra bonus points for authenticity. Even if it does essentially re-create DEATH HUNT's most memorable scene of Charles Bronson popping up out of the smoking ruins of a dynamited cabin whilst pumping a sawed off shotgun at a pack of hicks. "Trapper" is just a little bit nicer about it.I understand the nostalgic appeal noted by some of the other comments posted about this film, and indeed back in the 1970s when it was made this probably would have been perfectly fine entertainment for families to enjoy together. We were all a little more bloodthirsty, callous and accepting of the implacable jaws of fate back then, as well as on screen smoking. And if anything there is some genuine comedy to be had watching this film with a contemporary sensibility whilst guffawing at the parts that the Liberals would just be horrified by. The film is also adventurously staged in realistic looking sub-arctic environments, with Mike Mazurki and the rest of the cast apparently struggling through some rather physically demanding stretches that no member of the actor's guild in their right mind would ever agree to.So there's definitely some material to be admired here, especially for those who have a twisted sense of humor and a willingness to be offended by movies that were thought to be inoffensive in the earlier cultural climates in which they were made. With a kid de-sensitized enough to violence by five years of the war on terror and a few beers for dad to swig down as responsibly as possible this is probably still a fine film for the whole family to enjoy together. Just make sure you explain to the li'l moppet that elks don't really eat pancakes, wild snow wolves don't really make good pets, that nobody in their right mind would actually have thought this was a good idea for a movie nowadays, and that they can go to sleep peacefully assured that the film is probably banned in Finland.6/10, and no, I'm not drunk.

Director: Tay Garnett, Ford Beebe, Cast: Mike Mazurki, Vic Christy, Fritz Ford, Tay Garnett.Based on the number of comments I see on IMDb, this seems to be a forgotten movie. This seems rather ironic to me because it is actually one of the first movies that I remember. My mom took me and my little brother to see this film at The Garland theater in Spokane when it first came out in the mid 1970's and I still remember it.I am going by memory here but I believe this move is about a trapper who was accused of a crime which he did not commit and the law goes after him. I believe it to be set in 1800's Alaska. A narrator tells the story of the trapper played by Mike Mazurki. Really, this is a very good film with a great setting. It could be compared to the 1981 film Death Hunt with Charles Bronson. The two films have a very similar story line. The main difference between the two is Death Hunt is an adult orientated film whereas Challenge is a family friendly film. Mike Mazurki and Tay Garnett were both rather old when this movie was made which I find rather impressive when one considers that this movie was filmed on location in the wilds of Alaska. This was the last film made by Tay Garnett before he died which was just a few years later. They both had been around since the silent era.