Connie Sutherland wrote 04/02/2019 05:48 PM Who plays the part of the wolf? #407443 - 04/02/2019 05:48 PM
Connie Sutherland Moderator Reg: 07-13-2005 Posts: 31571 Loc: North-Central coast of California Offline	I was watching Gunsmoke last night (and BTW, those old westerns that are rerun on TV-Land every day are very fun to DVR and watch at night) and it was an episode called Lobo, about a renegade wolf riling up the town. From the back, he looked like a GSD. But from the front (headshots) he looked like a wolf. Anyway, I was wondering who (what animal) they would normally get to play the wolf on old TV westerns. Maybe the GSD-like shots were of a GSD, and then when they needed a shot of a slavering wolf they used stock footage of a real wild wolf? This was a very well-trained animal, for sure. I thought maybe Bob might know!
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Bob Scott wrote 04/05/2019 09:23 AM Re: Who plays the part of the wolf? [Re: Connie Sutherland ] #407447 - 04/05/2019 09:23 AM
Bob Scott Moderator Reg: 06-14-2002 Posts: 7417 Loc: St. Louis Mo Offline	Sounds like a good guess to me. I've seen GSDs used to play wolves on TV shows and movies. Back in the day it was often times a really bad makeup job on the GSD. Stock photos also because a real wolf doesn't train in the same way a dog does. When dogs were used to portray a snarling wolf it was not uncommon to create the snarl by putting a sort of rubber band to hold the lips back. Very obviously phony snarl to me even back then. Today I would think a wolf dog hybrid could be used because the cross can often have the dog's willingness to be trained. Yes, lots of old westerns on different cable channels also. I've also seen The Lone Ranger and Roy Rogers on there regularly. Acting has certainly changed form those "good old days". In particular the fight scenes. old dogs LOVE to learn new tricks
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Connie Sutherland wrote 04/05/2019 10:24 AM Re: Who plays the part of the wolf? [Re: Connie Sutherland ] #407448 - 04/05/2019 10:24 AM
Connie Sutherland Moderator Reg: 07-13-2005 Posts: 31571 Loc: North-Central coast of California Offline	I did see a couple of up-close scenes where the wolf's coat was pretty fake-looking. All in all, they did pretty well. But yes, those fight scenes are much different from today's! I sure did not know about the fake snarls! I haven't seen Roy Rogers or The Lone Ranger yet, but I'm enjoying Gunsmoke and Bonanza.
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Bob Scott wrote 04/05/2019 10:48 PM Re: Who plays the part of the wolf? [Re: Connie Sutherland ] #407452 - 04/05/2019 10:48 PM
Bob Scott Moderator Reg: 06-14-2002 Posts: 7417 Loc: St. Louis Mo Offline	I found the Gunsmoke "LOBO"on the net today. In the very early, fast shots there was one view of a "wolf' runnin with a full snarl. I'd bet money that was done with the rubber band or however they did that. I'm not sure when it happened but animal fight scenes in movies were often real fight scenes before the ASPA stopped them. That's why we now see the "No animals were hurt in this movie. Many of the early animal fight scenes in movies were actually fights. Old Yellar and the Wolf, the hogs, the bear. The great Danes and the tiger in Swiss Family Robinson to name only a couple. After seeing it all I do believe most of the scenes were actually of a wolf but there were many, many repeats of the same scene. As to training, I didn't actually see anything that required much in training. The final scene of the she wolf on top of the rock was actually a coyote and most of that howling was also a coyote. old dogs LOVE to learn new tricks
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Connie Sutherland wrote 04/05/2019 11:05 PM Re: Who plays the part of the wolf? [Re: Bob Scott ] #407454 - 04/05/2019 11:05 PM
Connie Sutherland Moderator Reg: 07-13-2005 Posts: 31571 Loc: North-Central coast of California Offline	"After seeing it all I do believe most of the scenes were actually of a wolf but there were many, many repeats of the same scene." Yes indeed ... ditto! I thought that the parts where the wolf had to be dead were good training ... but maybe they were actually shots of a dead animal ... ? And also, near the end, where the killed animal was strung up, did you think that was maybe a dead, taxidermy'd animal? It seemed kinda like that to me. I am impressed that you found the episode online to watch! PS I'm pretty embarrassed to admit that I was talking about PEOPLE fight scenes. LOL You know ... really obvious pulling of punches and breakaway furniture and the sounds of punches, etc., not quite in synch .... So I was talking about unconvincing old HUMAN fight scenes compared to modern special effects ... But I rearranged my brain, and I totally see what you're saying.
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Bob Scott wrote 04/05/2019 11:51 PM Re: Who plays the part of the wolf? [Re: Connie Sutherland ] #407455 - 04/05/2019 11:51 PM
Bob Scott Moderator Reg: 06-14-2002 Posts: 7417 Loc: St. Louis Mo Offline	I was originally talking about human cowboy fights but my mind wanders a bit sometimes. Damn near impossible to rearrange my brain. My wife always asks me how I can work in such a cluttered garage. I tell her it's easy! It looks just like the insider of my head. She comments also about my working with Trooper in the yard. "Watching an ADHD trainer work and ADHD dog is worth getting out a lawn chair, a cold soda and a bag of popcorn". No respect I tell ya! old dogs LOVE to learn new tricks
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Bob Scott wrote 04/05/2019 11:53 PM Re: Who plays the part of the wolf? [Re: Connie Sutherland ] #407456 - 04/05/2019 11:53 PM
Bob Scott Moderator Reg: 06-14-2002 Posts: 7417 Loc: St. Louis Mo Offline	Taxidermy in some form or other. Today I think Hollywood can probably "build" anything to resemble anything. old dogs LOVE to learn new tricks
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