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Documenting A Cult Classic
Two indie moviemakers return to the scene of Day of the Wolves, almost four decades later
“Greg? This is Ferde Grofé,” says the voice at the other end of the phone. “What can I do to help you with the documentary?”
He had the voice of a well-trained actor—a charming, cultured, intelligent voice. I knew he was a member of the Academy and an emeritus member of the Writers Guild of America, but still… this wasn’t what I’d been expecting.
Could this be the same person angrily described to me by a former colleague as a task-master on set with a legendary reputation for penny-pinching? A pioneer of guerilla moviemaking? A bona fide cult movie director?
The cult movie in question was the low-budget heist flick, Day of the Wolves. Shot on location in Lake Havasu City, Arizona in 1971, it tells the story of a group of bearded thieves, known to each other only by their numbers, who attempt to fleece a small town but are thwarted by the town’s ex-sheriff. Targeted at the U.S. television market, the movie ends ambiguously at a time when television still rigidly adhered to its self-imposed version of the “Production Code.” Grofé was thumbing his nose at the establishment even then.
A cult movie is like a really obscure joke that hardly anyone else gets. You don’t care that they don’t get the joke, because for you it hits the spot (in fact, it makes it cooler when others don’t get it). Day of the Wolves is like that. Some people see it as a scrappily made TV movie with low production values. For those of us under its spell, though, it is a gem.
The storyline is mesmerizing, the action sequences hit the mark and the baddies look great in their numbered jumpsuits. Richard Egan, Jan Murray and Rick Jason are outstanding in the lead roles. In fact, the movie’s unique vibe is heightened by local amateur actors working side-by-side with Hollywood stars and character actors. Sure it looks like it was made for $1.50 and the beards that the “wolves” wear could have been purchased at a convenience store, but that doesn’t matter because the movie works. To see it is to be quickly convinced of its influence on Quentin Tarantino’s tour-de-force debut, Reservoir Dogs.
“Okay, I’ll give you an interview if you agree to bring us down to San Diego,” Grofé says.
The “us” was he and his wife. It was a gift—the offer I couldn’t refuse. For the cost of two coach tickets from the Pacific Northwest, I could interact with Grofé at my leisure in my hometown and arrange a mini-reunion with assistant director Peter Macgregor-Scott.
The idea for my documentary, Return to Lake Havasu, came a few months earlier when my production partner, Erika Paul, and I found musician Sean Bonniwell’s Website by chance. Better known as the leader of the 1960s rock band The Music Machine, Bonniwell scored the haunting theme music for Day of the Wolves. The rock soundtrack is one of several reasons why the title stands out from other movies of the period. I shot him an e-mail to ask him about his score for the movie. He wrote back telling me how Grofé exploded when he first heard the score (“This is not what I asked for at all. It’s a rock score!” Grofé had apparently shouted at him). It sounded like there was an interesting backstory to the production.
Before committing to a full feature, I needed to talk with some of the cast and crew to get a feel for whether there would be sufficient material.
Technical associations such as the Society of Camera Operators can be very useful sources for tracking down crew members; they put us in touch with Mike Scott and Cal Roberts, the movie’s grip and assistant cameraman, respectively. While most of the professional crew were in their early 20s at that time and are still alive and well now, many of the actors have since passed away or dropped out of sight. The Screen Actors Guild has a phone service that can provide contact information for an actor’s agent, but that isn’t a lot of help if the actor doesn’t have representation.
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COMMENTS | POST A COMMENT 
- Comment by tabourets on 11/27/11 at 9:13 pm
The movies are really shocking!
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This story was published in the Fall 2008 MovieMaker Magazine. The headline was:
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