''A Whale for the Killing'' is an American

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

that aired on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

on February 1, 1981. It is loosely based on a true story by environmentalist

Farley Mowat Farley McGill Mowat, (May 12, 1921 – May 6, 2014) was a Canadian writer and environmentalist. His works were translated into 52 languages, and he sold more than 17 million books. He achieved fame with the publication of his books on the Can ...

, about a whale that is

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts c ...

d by a

fisherman A fisher or fisherman is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishers may be professional or recreati ...

. The incident happened near Burgeo,

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

, while Mowat & family lived there. The film, based on Mowat's 1972 book of the same name, received two Primetime Emmy nominations. The later Canadian singer

Alan Doyle Alan Thomas Doyle (born May 17, 1969) is a Canadian musician and actor, best known as the lead singer of the Canadian folk rock band Great Big Sea. Life and career Alan Doyle was born and raised in Petty Harbour, Newfoundland, in a Roman Cath ...

starred as a boy on a bridge in the movie. In 2012 he released his solo album ''

Boy on Bridge ''Boy on Bridge'' is an album by Alan Doyle, released in 2012. It was his first solo album. Until then, he had not released a solo album in the 19 years he had been in Great Big Sea. The album title is a reference to Doyle's IMDb page in which h ...

'' which paid tribute to the role.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack is available on CD from BSX Records.BSX Records website.
Accessed 21 August 2018. The score was composed by

Basil Poledouris Basil Konstantine Poledouris (; August 21, 1945 – November 8, 2006) was an American composer, conductor, and orchestrator of film and television scores, best known for his long-running collaborations with directors John Milius and Paul Verhoe ...

. Also included on the same CD is the soundtrack to the 1992 theatrical film

Wind Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few hou ...

, also composed by Poledouris.

References

1981 drama films Drama films based on actual events ABC network original films American drama television films Films about animal rights Films about whales Films based on non-fiction books Films set in Newfoundland and Labrador Films scored by Basil Poledouris 1981 films Films directed by Richard T. Heffron 1980s American films {{1980s-drama-film-stub