filmed in the rugged highlands where David Lean had shot some of the scenes for Doctor Zhivago in 1964. John Huston joined the production a few days after quitting as director of the film The Last Run due to on-set fights with George C. Scott. The bear who attacks Harris' character was called Peg. The attack sequence was filmed using a dummy. "This movie is Genesis to me," said Harris. "It's my apocalypse. It's a very special and very personal statement about a man struggling for personal identity, looking for God and discovering Him in the wilderness, in leaves and trees. It's all the things that the young people, and we, are missing today." Harris only had nine lines of dialogue. Themes Though survival and revenge are the main themes, Christianity and religion play a significant role in the evolution of the main character, who is shown through flashbacks to be at odds with religion and God in general due to his lonely and abusive childhood involving indoctrination into Christianity. Release The film was theatrically released in the United States on November 24, 1971, including New York City, New York and Los Angeles, California. The film was the first feature to be shown in years at the newly refurbished Princess Theatre (renamed the Klondike Theatre, at the time) in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on December 25, 1971. See also List of American films of 1971 Lord Grizzly, a 1954 biographical novel by Frederick Manfred, about the Hugh Glass story Survival film, about the film genre, with a list of related films The Revenant (2015), also about Hugh Glass The Song of Hugh Glass, an epic poem from 1915, part of A Cycle of the West, written by John Neihardt, who is most famous for his book Black Elk Speaks. References External links 1971 films 1971 drama films 1971 Western (genre) films 1970s action drama films 1970s adventure drama films Western (genre) films based on actual events American Western (genre) films American adventure drama films American biographical drama films American films about revenge American survival films Films about Native Americans Works about mountain men Films directed by Richard C. Sarafian Films set in Montana Films set in North Dakota Films set in South Dakota Films set in Wyoming Films set in the 1820s Films shot in Mexico Films shot in Spain Warner Bros. films 1970s English-language films Hugh Glass 1970s American films