Salubfoto
It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.
BelSports
This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
Cristal
The movie really just wants to entertain people.
Trevor Douglas
A favorite for many years it was actually filmed in 1964 (read the copyright at the beginning of the film just under the title sequence and also on the back of the VHS tape box. I am always amazed that Sean McClory was not billed as he had a substantial part at the beginning. Adam West and Linda (Lori) Saunders do well in the lead roles. A nice turn by Denver Pyle and a scenery-chewing role for Theodore Marcuse as the resident bad guy. It would be nice to see a remastered release in HD. Adam West was certainly busy in 1964 This, Robinson Crusoe On Mars, The Outlaws is Coming (another 1964 production, released in 1965) as well as Bewitched, The Outer Limits, I could go on... Anyway if you get a chance to see it, you will not be disappointed.
thescreamingmimi
This is a fun, modest film with a lot going for it. Beautiful scenic footage of Deschutes National Forest in Oregon, passing for Alaskan wilderness, threatens a travelogue but there are some entertaining actors, including some of the animals (not the bear).It's the same set-up as Tarzan, but a female is orphaned in Alaska instead of Africa and she is raised by wolves instead of apes. Mara is played by the gorgeous Lori (Linda) Saunders (best known as Bobbie Jo from Petticoat Junction) who is sporting a fur bathing suit before Raquel Welch… though it's not a bikini.Mara enjoys laughing while bathing a few times and while she eats raw meat (off camera) and has gone primitive she manages to apply her eyeliner quite well. Mara is quick to scrap and whips her knife out often but it seems odd when she runs away at the big battle climax.Lori has a good rapport with the wolf actors and though she only grunts, has some good facial expressions. It looks like she did most of her stunts and you got to give her credit for running around the wilderness in bare feet.The pre-Batman Adam West plays the anthropologist lead and gets into some pretty violent fights including one that ends up with a pair of wolf traps clamping into him. West works nicely with the animals as well and gets a raccoon sidekick.The evil, sadistic trapper almost steals the show as played by the excellent and prolific Theodore Marcuse who died just a few years later. He was a familiar face to 1960s TV, usually playing villainous Germans or Russians on Hogan's Heroes and Man from U.N.C.L.E. He even met up with Batman later as Von Bloheim. Had he lived he probably would've gone to greater acting heights and fame in the 1970s.Mara of the Wilderness is an amusing diversion, professionally made and with some 1960s TV icons of interest to fans wanting to see these actors in other roles. A 1988 video is long out of print and the movie doesn't seem to be broadcast any more.
CraigESC
Note: Possible Spoilers BelowThis movie isn't on video, but it still pops up from time to time on TV. The title character, Mara Wade, is orphaned when she accompanies her parents into the wilderness (Alaska or Canada, I think). She winds up being cared for by a wolf pack.Years later, the grown Mara, now played by the lovely Lori Saunders, is still living with the wolves (and running around in a fetching costume). She is found by a naturalist (Adam West) who is researching wolves, and they fall in love. They also face the threat of a nasty trapper (Theo Marcuse) who is after the wolves.This film had some definite potential, but it left me disappointed. The romantic moments are hamstrung by West's lack of charisma and by the fact that Saunders' character does not speak in the film. Meanwhile, the few action scenes are not very exciting. For example, the film's potential climax, action-wise, comes when Saunders, needing a first aid kit for the injured West, is attacked by Marcuse. The ensuing fight scene is almost ruined by poor editing--it consists mostly of reaction shots from Marcuse's partner. It's also too short--in such a situation, you'd expect Saunders to put up more of a struggle.Lori Saunders is beautiful to watch, and I think she deserved a better film to showcase her talents. They should have given her some dialogue and let her character do a bit more in the way of action.
kpete
I viewed this movie when I was young teenager at the movies. I haven't seen it since. I had a definite crush on Lori Saunders and I still think she is the most beautiful actress I have ever seen. I enjoy watching Petticoat Junction. I only wish she would have done more acting.
