| Challenge to Be Free | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Tay Garnett |
| Written by | Anne Bosworth Chuck D. Keen |
| Based on | story by Dick North |
| Produced by | Chuck D. Keen |
| Starring | Mike Mazurki |
| Narrated by | John McIntire |
| Cinematography | Chuck D. Keen |
| Music by | Ian Bernard |
| Distributed by | Pacific International Enterprises |
Release date |
|
Running time | 88 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $7.5 million[1] |
Challenge to Be Free (a.k.a. Mad Trapper of the Yukon and Mad Trapper) is an anti-hero film directed by Tay Garnett and starring Mike Mazurki. The film's plot was a loosely based on the 1931 Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) pursuit of a trapper named Albert Johnson, the reputed "Mad Trapper of Rat River". The film was shot and originally released in 1972 with the title Mad Trapper of the Yukon; it was re-released in 1975 as Challenge to Be Free.[2]
Another film exploring the same topic was The Mad Trapper (1972), a British made-for-television production.[3] A later fictionalized account, Death Hunt (1981), also based on the story of the RCMP pursuit of Albert Johnson, was directed by Peter R. Hunt and starred Charles Bronson, Lee Marvin, Angie Dickinson, and Carl Weathers.[4]
- ^ Donahue, Suzanne Mary (1987). American film distribution : the changing marketplace. UMI Research Press. p. 292. Please note figures are for rentals in US and Canada
- ^ "Challenge to be Free (1975). Allmovie. Retrieved: December 1, 2014.
- ^ "The Mad Trapper (1972)." IMDb. Retrieved: December 1, 2014.
- ^ "Full cast & crew: Death Hunt (1981)." IMDb. Retrieved: December 1, 2014.