While the full beard, long hair, and nineteenth century Norwegian setting may be a novelty for Steve McQueen, the iconic actor was no stranger to strong characters who faced formidable opponents and very high-risk situations. In this very important, classic play by Henrik Ibsen, directed by George Schaefer and adapted for the screen by Arthur Miller, McQueen plays doctor-scientist Tom Stockmann who discovers that his town's springs, an important source of its economic well being, have been poisoned by bacteria sourced to a nearby tannery. What makes the situation more complicated is that the tannery just happens to be owned by his father-in-law, Morton Kiil. While he has the outward image of a feeble, old man, Kiil is a very nasty, ruthless individual. Kiil is a killer.
While the local media at first wants to sensationalize the story of the contaminated springs, they decide at some point that it's too hot to handle and want to tone it down by distorting the truth. They not only abandon Tom but conspire with his brother (Charles Durning), the mayor of the town, to destroy Tom personally, professionally, and economically on account of his unyielding position regarding the poisoned springs. What "muddies the waters" even more is that the family of Tom's wife (Bibi Andersson) has not only owned the tannery but her own father, Kiil, decides to manipulate the value of the springs as a result of the bad publicity.
When the entire town turns against it, the Stockman family considers leaving it and Norway itself for the United States. In the end, Tom convinces them to stay and to fight. While other IMDb reviewers see "Jaws" here, I see Terry Malloy of "On the Waterfront". Dr. Stockman may be more formally educated than Malloy, and the small town in Norway is very far from the Hoboken of Hudson County, New Jersey, but the fight against a very powerful and intimidating system of local corruption is very similar and equally compelling, at least in my view. I was born and raised in the northeast corner of New Jersey, see.
The still, sepia shots of nineteenth century Norway, accompanied by the beautiful theme song by Leonard Rosenman, during the opening credits effectively connect the film to its historical era, and I like how they transition into the opening scene of a color movie. The entire cast is excellent and worthy of the very serious script and subject matter, most notably McQueen, Andersson, and Durning. McQueen also served as executive producer only two years before his tragic, untimely death in 1980. There have been several film and television adaptations of this classic, but, for me, this is the best.