Arthur R. Dubs Movies

Slow-paced and with mediocre acting, this family-oriented mystery story focuses on the search for a missing treasure and for answers to the disappearance of a young girl nearly a century earlier. Susan (Randi Brown) and her brother Johnny (David Wagner) are on vacation at their aunt's and uncle's house (Jane Ferguson and Greg Wynne) when they come across an old map that may be a clue in finding a cache of gold. Susan has been having bad dreams about Rachel, a young girl who disappeared in 1889 in a nearby mansion (now run-down and crumbling) when her parents were killed by bank robbers. After Susan and Johnny make friends with Billy (Lindsay Bishop) their neighbor, all three children join together to look for the treasure, and to find out what happened to Rachel. In one interlude, two escaped convicts menace the youngsters for awhile, but some clever action by their friend and neighbor Sam (Dallas McKennon) saves the day. Now all they have to do is find the answers to their two big questions -- where is the gold, and what happened to Rachel? ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Trevor Howard, of all people, stars as the titular Native American chief in Windwalker. Told in flashback, the film relates the early life of the Cheyenne chief, with particular emphasis on the deaths of his wife and son at the hands of the Crow tribe. In the interests of authenticity, the actors converse in the Crow and Cheyenne languages, compelling the producers to fit the film out with English-language subtitles. James Remar plays the young Windwalker, while James Remus dubs in Trevor Howard's voice as narrator. Windwalker was based on the novel by Blaine M. Yorgason. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The redundantly-titled Further Adventures of the Wilderness Family, Part 2, is the 1977 follow-up to the successful 1974 independently distributed film (aka a "four-waller") Adventures of the Wilderness Family. The titular family, appropriately named Robinson, is once more headed by Robert Logan. The film contains the usual quota of brushes with danger and shots of cute woodland creatures, with the added complication of a bout of pneumonia suffered by Mrs. Robinson (Susan D. Shaw). Barry Williams, of Brady Bunch fame, sings the tunes heard on the soundtrack. Marketed on a theater-to-theater basis in the same manner as its predecessor, Further Adventures of the Wilderness Family scored a hit--resulting in yet another sequel, Mountain Family Robinson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Set in 1876, this family-oriented wilderness adventure centers on a pair of adorable orphans who will stop at nothing to successfully navigate the rugged Rockies and trek to Salem, Oregon where they are to inherit a 400-acre ranch. The two are assisted on their dangerous but scenic journey by a shifty but good-hearted gambler. Along the way, the travelers see cuddly bears, beautiful horses and frolicsome deer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Actor Rex Allen, narrator of many a Disney true-life adventure, takes on the voiceover chores of the Disneyesque The Vanishing Wilderness. Per its title, this documentary focuses in on several endangered species, ranging from polar bears to alligators (this, of course, was before the gator overpopulation problem in the everglades). The visuals cannot be faulted; we wish the same could be said concerning that omniprescent choral background music. Also, much as we like Mr. Allen, we do wish that he'd let some of the images speak for themselves. But Vanishing Wilderness is well worth one's time-far more so than the dogmatic publications issued with utter lack of entertainment value by various ecological organizations. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This documentary is a one-man effort by an Oregonian architect, and it records six years of his wilderness hunting exploits. Among the animals he sought were bighorn sheep, elk, and polar bears. On his travels, he caught images of wild stallions fighting over a herd, bighorn rams competing similarly, and a host of other wildlife images. Though this is basically a very elaborate film of one family's vacations, it was quite successful at the time of its release due to a unique distribution scheme, and it features some very fine wilderness photography. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide