User Reviews

Eskimo is a serious movie about the cultural chasm between an indigenous population and the encroaching white man. Although filmed in a documentary style seemingly with non-professionals, Eskimo is a skilled production that contains a believable story the audience will want to see through to the final shot.

The native Eskimo simply has different beliefs and behaviors about women and life than do the whalers that darken his landscape. When an Eskimo man loses his mate, it is natural that other men share their women with their friend. It is also usual for their women to want to take the place of the missing spouse. All of this seems natural in the context of the desolate foreboding Arctic setting. The trusting Eskimo falls prey to unscrupulous white whalers (with heavy European accents) that do not view these natives as their equals. Deceit, drunken orgies, rape, and death occur after the Eskimo men depart for work on the icy cold seas. Eventually the lead Eskimo (Mala) realizes that he has been duped and he takes his revenge. The audience would have cheered in the 1930's theaters.

Enter the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the moral dilemma of whether to bring back Mala for trial. The Mounties are played as feeling policemen that know this is not a cut and dry case. Will the Mounties get their man? Is it fair to hold Mala to a code of behavior outside of his traditional society? Is there a way out that does not punish Mala? Is it inevitable that the white man's law must prevail? Is there no hope for innocence?

This is not a great movie, but one that you will enjoy for the depth of the issue addressed in a very different setting. I suspect that the filming of the sequences with animals was done before today's disclaimer that none were injured in the making of the film -- so beware of the raw nature sequences. Highly recommended.

I was impressed by the beautiful photography in this film, which was shot on location in Alaska. Although technically a melodrama, we see lots of activities Eskimos are involved in, such as hunting, dancing, building igloos, etc. And their customs, such as offering their wives to visitors, are routinely in the story. The hunting sequences were sometimes from stock footage, as it was easy to recognize some rear projection scenes of animals, but even these were fascinating. Spear fishing for salmon, hunting for walrus, caribou and even a polar bear and a whale made it seem like a documentary at times. There was no cast listing, which reinforced the documentary flavor. The film-makers tried to make it seem very authentic, with the natives speaking only in an Eskimo language that was either translated by someone on screen or by intertitles. The introduction stated that except for the white traders and the Royal Mounted Canadian Police, there were no actors in the film, but this was not strictly true. The two leading characters, played by Mala and Lotus Long, were Eskimos by birth, but were professional actors with credits for earlier films and you could see sometimes they had makeup on. But they were excellent in their roles and they went on to have Hollywood careers. All in all, the film is definitely worth a look.

A film with a lot to unpack. I was really put off at the beginning of the film because of the lowlights below which soon become apparent, and it wasn't possible for me to overcome the conflicted feelings they gave me entirely, so I can't recommend the film without at least some reservations.

Highlights:

• W.S. Van Dyke transported film audiences of the 1930's to the Arctic, and some of the scenery he presents is outstanding. The caribou herd being stampeded out into a river during a hunt comes to mind, as do various shots of the swirling winds over a harsh snowscape.

• The film's heart is in the right place, showing the native people in a positive light and the Caucasians who intrude into their world as having evil racists among them. The white men of a ship locked in the ice barter for local women, and when they're not provided willingly, intoxicate and rape them. The captain looks at the native people as no more intelligent or feeling than "pigs in a barn." The protagonist of the story is Mala, a native, and he's shown to be honorable, not only saving a couple of white men buried in a snowdrift, but using his hunting prowess to keep an outpost fed during lean times. Our sympathies are with the natives, and in this way it's similar to Van Dyke's 'White Shadows in the South Seas' from 1928.

• The sexual freedom shown by eskimos is liberating, and it must have been quite a shock to puritanical American in 1933 to see partners shared and in such an open and direct way. While the film doesn't expand on the ritualistic aspects that sometimes accompanied this practice, it was indeed a part of the culture. It's done in such a humanitarian, understanding way; for example, Mala lets his wife (who is willing) 'lie down' for the night with a lonely widower. It reminded me of the 'free love' movement of the 1960's, and while it was spun up salaciously in the advertising for the film (see below lowlight), there is a disarming purity about it that's subversive to Western religious dogma, and only possible pre-Code.

• Having the natives speak in Inupiat, with translations provided via intertitle cards, was a brave choice, and adds to the film's attempts to immerse us in this world. As several of the main characters were not natives, however, apparently at least some of the dialogue was less than authentic.

• Van Dyke appears himself, and does a fine job as the Inspector who wants his men to heed regulations while bringing Mala in for questioning. Peter Freuchen, the author and adventurer whose books formed the basis for the movie, appears as well, as the lecherous sea captain.

Lowlights:

• Implication that this is a documentary. Like other 'expeditionary' films of the period, this is simply dramatic fiction, not a documentary. Unfortunately, this one starts by telling us "...The Expedition to the Arctic began in April 1932... In November of 1933, the record was completed..." which makes it seem like the latter, when in reality "the record" is really just "the film." If you want a documentary, seek out 'Nanook of the North' instead. It had the problem of scenes being recreated for the camera, but those issues don't come close to the problems this film has with respect to authenticity.

• Outright lie about the cast. The next title card tells us that "Excepting the characters of the Canadian Police, there are no actors in this record... entire story told by primitive Eskimos in Native tongue, in Native custom...", which is simply a falsehood. All of the leading dramatis personae are actors, and not natives: Ray Wise (renamed Ray Mala) was from Alaska and of half-Eskimo, half-Jewish origin, but had been a Hollywood cameraman since 1925. Lulu Wong, sister of Anna May Wong, was a Chinese-American born and raised in Los Angeles. Lotus Long was born in New Jersey to parents of Japanese and Hawaiian descent. Iris Yamaoka was also an Asian-American actress. These are the main characters amongst the natives, with the exception of a couple of Mala's male friends, and it's incredibly insulting to have them represented this way. To this day, the cultures are smeared together and there is a view that the cast was native, when the reality was they were mostly in the background or as extras.

• Despite its liberal outlook for 1933, the film still has a tinge of racial superiority to it, as well as a good dose of sexism. Mala and his people may be morally upright and skilled hunters, but they are consistently shown to be simple-minded, and the effect of the film seems to put them a little lower on the evolutionary ladder. "The white man is always right," Mala's friend tells him when he protests his wife being taken by the captain to be raped, and with the technical superiority and system of 'civilized' justice in the story, it's not clear that a part of this isn't the message, awful acts of some individuals notwithstanding. The women in turn are shown as being there for the sexual gratification of the men, to produce children, and to do things like sew animal furs together. Yamaoka's character is especially simpering and annoying.

• Van Dyke and Conrad A. Nervig can't resist editing in footage of tight shots of his actors in front of film backdrops during various hunting scenes. The film got an Oscar for Best Film Editing which is ironic, because this choice, an attempt to give us the 'hunter's view' when they just didn't have these shots, undermines the reality of what they did capture. Those scenes would have been much more powerful without them, particularly when viewed through the lens of today, when the backdrops look cheesy.

• Titillation over ethnography. The last introductory title card says "The Books by Peter Freuchen were notable for their discussion of the Moral Code of the Eskimos... this record attempts to present that Code... a strange, primeval Creed belonging to the farthest wilderness of the endless North..." I think we have to wonder, is the film truly trying to explain the culture and its moral code to us? The electric signs advertising the film read "Eskimo Wife Traders! Weird Tale of the Arctic!" Along these lines, early on we're giving a gratuitous shot of native woman breastfeeding her infant, something we'd never see of a white woman.

• Weak ending. Apparently Van Dyke's original ending was changed by the producer, and it was not for the better.

"Eskimo" is a curious document of contradictions. It's part ethnographic record, part pseudo-documentary and, mostly, a fictional melodrama. It's a mechanically-reproduced product for urban consumption that romanticizes the interaction with nature by indigenous peoples. It's an anti-colonial message made by interfering with and offering a distorted representation of the lives of the Inuit from the perspective of people from colonial powers and for the pleasure of such audiences (i.e. mostly American movie-goers). Its authentic records of the Inuit's hunting is juxtaposed with patently-ersatz rear-projection shots. Its depiction of the Inuit's polygamous customs are made dubious by their portrayal from professional actors in a fictional narrative. Filming the characters speaking an Inuktitut language is mixed with suspect and oft condescending translations on title cards. Respect for the Inuit culture is undermined--not so much by the now-politically-incorrect term "Eskimo" or descriptions of their being "primitive"--but by the tropes of the "noble savage" and, to a lesser extent here, the "white savior." Several generations removed from the film, it has also, perhaps, become more interesting to examine for how it primitively represents (for being an early talkie and for its antiquated representation another culture) its subject than for what its examines of the supposedly-primitive people. Yet, it's commendable that "Eskimo" provides diversity and sympathy for a racial "other" amidst a Hollywood dominated by, as the film says, the "white man."

That said, such expedition films had been a popular genre since, at least, "Nanook of the North" (1922) (although there had already been similar constructions such as "In the Land of the Head Hunters (1914)). Indeed, the travels of W.S. Van Dyke, the director of "Eskimo," already included the South Seas ("White Shadows in the South Seas" (1928), "The Pagan" (1929)) and Africa ("Trader Horn" (1931)). "Moana" (1926) and "Tabu: A Story of the South Seas" (1931) are two other well-known examples. By the time of "Eskimo," however, these docu-fictions seem to have begun to be superceded by more fantastical exotic pictures, such as "King Kong" (1933) (from a filmmaking duo that had made their own docu-fictions "Grass" (1925) and "Chang" (1927)) and Van Dyke's own "Tarzan the Ape Man" (1932).

As a relatively-early talkie shot on location, "Eskimo" is especially curious for how it handles the depiction of a foreign language. Instead of subtitles or having the actors speak English, as later movies would, the silent-era technique of intertitles is borrowed for English translations. I think this works better than one might otherwise expect. It has the benefit of not detracting, as subtitles might, from the picture's often lovely location photography. By contrast, "Eskimo" is an early instance of extended use of rear projection, and its application here looks as lousy as any classic-film buff familiar with the technique would assume. How ironic that the most state-of-the-art effect in the film's own time wound up historically being its most ostentatiously primitive-looking one. Moreover, the inserts of these shots detract from what one assumes are largely faithful recordings of the Inuit hunting practices. Their continued use in the breaking-ice climax also looks poor in comparison to the special effects of years prior, for example the breaking-ice scenes in "Way Down East" (1920) or "Uncle Tom's Cabin" (1927). Overall, one only need to compare this to Dyke's earlier and late-silent-film "White Shadows in the South Seas" to see how much the change from silent to sound technology continued to hamper cinematography into the early and mid 1930s--even though the sound recording here is quite good. On the other hand, the Oscar-winning editing tends to be exemplary--even a fight with a wolf is edited together surprisingly well.

Comparison to "White Shadows in the South Seas" is also illuminating for how the earlier film better managed to overcome patronizing depictions of indigenous peoples as noble savages and colonialists as white saviors. On the first count, "Eskimo" is thoroughly an exponent of the noble savage myth; that's the entire narrative drive of the picture and the framework for which Mala is depicted as simple minded but innately good, as unblemished by civilization. The "good" white characters admire him and the Inuit culture for this, while the baddies (two of who are rather ironically portrayed by the film's writer and director, respectively) exploit it for rapacious reasons. On the second count, "Eskimo" does largely avoid any white savior cliché for the most part, but succumbs to it a bit in the end. This may be a result of tampering from the Hollywood studio system, though, as Dyke and company elected only a few years prior to somewhat subvert the white savior myth that was otherwise central to "White Shadows in the South Seas." "Eskimo" does the reverse; we're treated to a decidedly anti-white-savior picture for almost the entire film, with even the white characters who may otherwise have good intentions inevitably performing evil actions within the imperialist system, but then that's all contradicted in the finale. Throughout, "Eskimo" is consistent in being contradictory.

This movie starts with a title card that brags about how it features mostly non-actors and claims to be a mostly documentary look at the life of natives living in the northern Canadian wilderness. But then there will be a scene featuring a walrus hunt that includes obvious and pretty terrible special effects, so take the movie's boasts about realism with a giant grain of salt.

"Eskimo" is really just a narrative film that happens to feature authentic looking people, and for that I'll give it credit, since it came out in a time when Hollywood had no qualms about having white actors don black and yellow face to play people of color. It's also pretty shocking at times, not by today's standards, but by those of the time. We see a woman breast feeding a child, there's a storyline about Canadian officers drugging and raping native women. The Production Code was established some time in 1934, so this movie must have just squeaked in under the wire.

"Eskimo" is interesting as a curio and as a footnote for Oscar trivia buffs -- it won the first ever Academy Award given for film editing. But it overstays its welcome a bit and I was ready for it to be over before it was ready to be.

Grade: B.

The arrival of White Men in Arctic Canada challenges the freedom of a fearless ESKIMO hunter.

W. S. Van Dyke, MGM's peripatetic director, was responsible for this fascinating look at life in the Arctic among the Inuit. His production was on location filming from April 1932 until November 1933 (although some annoying rear projection effects show that some of the shooting took place back at the Studio). While considered a documentary at the time, we would likely term it a 'docudrama' as it is scripted with an intriguing plot & storyline.

The film shows the daily life of the Eskimo, both Winter & Summer, and in fact starts in the warmer time of the year without any snow or ice in sight. The constant striving for food is depicted, and the viewer gets to watch the exciting hunts for walrus, polar bear, whale & caribou. The native language is used throughout, with the use of title cards; the only English is spoken by the fishermen & Mounties encountered by the Eskimo. In fact, it is the arrival of White Men, both good & bad, and the change they make on Eskimo society, which is a major element in the narrative.

This Pre-Code film deals in a refreshingly frank manner with the Eskimo moral code, particularly with their practice of wife-sharing, which was an important and completely innocent part of their culture. In fact, the entire film can be appreciated as a valuable look at a way of life which was rapidly disappearing even in the early 1930's.

None of the cast receives screen credit, which is a shame as there are some notable performances. Foremost among them is that of Ray Wise, playing the leading role of Mala the Eskimo. Wise (1906-1952) was an Alaskan Native of Inuit ancestry and is absolutely splendid and perfectly believable in what was a very demanding part. As handsome as any Hollywood star, he would continue acting, using the name of Ray Mala, in a sporadic film career, often in tiny unbilled roles.

Lovely Japanese-Hawaiian actress Lotus Long plays Mala's loyal second wife; the names of the fine actresses playing his other two wives are now obscure. Director Woody Van Dyke steps in front of the cameras as a strict North West Mounted Police inspector. The two decent-hearted Mounties who must deliver Mala to Canadian justice are played by Joe Sawyer & Edgar Dearing, both longtime movie character actors. Danish author Peter Freuchen, upon whose books the film was based, has a short vivid role of an evil wooden-legged sea captain who unwisely rouses Mala's icy wrath.

Here I thought "Nanook of the north" was the last word in archaic semi-doc 'eskimo' movies. How wrong! As an avid sea-kayaker I stayed up till 330am to watch this hoping to get a glimpse of some hand-made 'skin-boats'. The movie did not let me down. Any student of kayak/umiak construction should have a look-see here. (Note to fellow SKers: they appear to be using Norton Sound kayaks with single blade paddles).

But the film went way beyond this admittedly narrow interest. Even though there were as others have noted some little back-shot-fakey-bits the movie has so much heart they are just a minor annoyance. It was (from this very amateur anthropologist's viewpoint) probably the perfect time to make this movie. Early thirties: the 'talkies' are so new that they (including Louie B. Mayer!) actually let the Inuit speak in their own tongue. And there is so much that was still, despite the infused melodrama, authentic. They are really whacking that polar bear, that whale and those caribou. A fifties version of this film would have been so cheesy with 'stars', Technicolor, etc. to gum it up. The seventies version? Don't even. A very good companion piece to this excellent movie is "White shadows in the south seas" (1928) Geograpically the mirror image to "Eskimo" it also deals with the relentless and profound disruption of Western culture/technology on an unsuspecting people.

Remarkable for its scenes from the arctic and its portrayal of the native way of life, "Eskimo" is a compelling drama about Mala, a skillful hunter, and his family. With a really authentic feeling to it, "Eskimo" delivers a gripping story of survival and the interactions between the natives and the white men who come to the area.

It is refreshing to watch a film from the thirties that celebrates the native way of life-its rituals, its language, its system of morals. And the photography is impressive, especially the scenes of hunting. Though this is not a documentary, it feels authentic in every aspect.

The acting is surprisingly good. The story is interesting, in part because of its exotic nature. This is a must-see for film buffs and a joy to watch for any viewer.

Mala is a great Inuit hunter. His family and friends are all well fed as long as he's around. They are all happy and comfortably. News come that white men in their floating house are trading guns for furs. Mala and his family set off to get one of the new guns. The white men want more than his furs which leads a series of ugly events.

I must warn animal lovers. There are some scenes of hunter and butchering. It's real and would be brutal for those animal lovers. The real action and real arctic living is some of the best parts of the movie. There is also the cast of real native people. The first part up to the event at the ship is really compelling. Mala is a charismatic actor despite being an amateur. The middle gets a bit slow although it has a crazy caribou hunt. The last part is interesting for the clash of cultures. The movie is a little long in the middle but it's very compelling with the reality of their world.

Nothing is more satisfying than to sit in a comfortable theatre, watching people freezing in the wilderness or parched, struggling through the desert. Probably inspired by Robert Flaherty's mega-hit silent, "Nanook of the North" (1922), "Eskimo" is very entertaining and involving: the portrait of the natives, their kindness and generosity is unforgettable. Their plight at the hands of exploitive, racist white people served as a template for many future western movies and TV shows. We're very grateful for this vivid portrait of these wonderful people and a world gone by.

Just watched this film on TCM. I Loved it! Awesome Film, especially since it's made in 1933! It's got Love, Romance, Murder, Mystery and tons of Hunting! Very realistic, with the only actors being small roles of Canadian Royal Mounties... The Best Docu/Drama I've Ever Seen... Oh Mala!

Last night I screened a movie ESKIMO (1933 MGM) starring Ray Mala and Lotus Long, directed by W. S. Van Dyke, a remarkable classic movie often rightly compared with the famous NANOOK OF THE NORTH (1923) documentary by Robert Flaherty.

ESKIMO (1933 MGM) was actually shot in Alaska, and is a fiction story set in the frozen waste areas of the Canadian Arctic area (though the movie was actually shot in Alaska, it is reported).

ESKIMO (1933 MGM) is one of the most remarkable and interesting, compelling movies I have ever seen, and movie history is one of my major avocations....I have seen many classic movies over the decades and have an enormous personal collection of movies on video.

Even so, ESKIMO (1933) ranks for me among the best of the best, an important (Academy Award Winning...Best Edited Movie...first to get that award ever) movie by any measure.

I'm a movie actor, currently, (SAG-AFTRA member) and recently acted in the GAME CHANGE (2012 HBO) movie in scenes which depicted Alaska's current political celebrity of fame, Sarah Palin (I was in scenes where movie star actress Julianne Moore portrayed Mrs. Palin).

ESKIMO (1933 MGM) is one of Hollywood's great lost movies, and a tribute to the incredible movie director work of W. S. Van Dyke.

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Written by Tex (David) Allen, Email DavidAllenUSA@Yahoo.Com, May 2012

....Tex Allen's email address is TexAllen@Rocketmail.Com.

See Tes Allen Movie Credits, Biography, and 2012 photos at WWW.IMDb.Me/TexAllen. See other Tex Allen written movie reviews....almost 100 titles.... at: "http://imdb.com/user/ur15279309/comments"

Arctic indigenous people are not Asian. They come from various hunter-gatherer communities who originated in Siberia and Alaska. Along with Native Americans (in the US) and First Nations and Metis (in Canada) they are considered indigenous North Americans.

This remarkable location-filmed Pre-code docudrama ! Eskimo was adapted from two books: Die Flucht Ins Wiesse Land and Der Eskimo, both written by naturalist Peter Freuchen. Director Woody Van Dyke, took his cast and crew on location to the Arctic, arriving by whaling schooner at the topmost settlement in Alaska with author Freuchen as his guide. Van Dyke, Freuchen, and cinematographer Ray Wise also played prominent on-screen roles in the film.

The 1933 film Eskimo features a whale hunt scene from boats. The film also includes scenes of hunting walruses and bowhead whales. Eskimo documented many of the hunting and cultural practices of Native Alaskans. The production for the film was based at Teller, Alaska, where housing, storage facilities, a film laboratory, and other structures were built to house the cast, crew, and equipment.

Eskimo Ray Mala (billed only by his last name) essays the title role, speaking in the tongue of his ancestors (even though his English was excellent). Rather than use superimposed titles, Van Dyke resorted to old-fashioned silent-movie subtitles in several dialogue sequences. The story concentrates on the more exotic aspects of Eskimo life, notably the race's casual approach to sex. Though tribal leader Mala has, by his own admission, slept with 20 women without benefit of clergy, woe betide anyone who tries to steal his current sweetheart -- as a rapacious trader discovers when he's harpooned to death by Mala.

There are scenes of walrus, whale, caribou and polar bear hunting. We see Eskimos living in tents and also building igloos. Some of the Eskimos lend their wives to friends and travelers, and we see some dancing ceremonies. The Eskimos travel by dog sled, small boats and kayaks. The movie is shot in a documentary style and the Eskimos speak an Inuit language.

Mala is ultimately undone by the Canadian Mounties, whose efforts to civilize the Eskimo community result in a sudden and tragic shift of the balance of power. Editor Conrad A. Nervig won an Oscar for his Herculean efforts to bring cohesiveness to the story. It is a remarkable film, one that often awakens wonder as to how the camera men were able to photograph some of the scenes and record the impressive sounds. The acting of the Eskimos, or their ability to do what was asked of them by the director, is really extraordinary. The Eskimos are presented as friendly, happy, honest and intelligent. This was a very well done movie, particularly since it was from 1933. 9/10.

I've always appreciated "White Shadows in the South Seas" (1928), but especially "Nanook of the North" (1922), although today both are being rejected and criticized for being "false", "faked", "white man's interpretation outside of his realm, and biased, and, therefore, a misrepresentation", etc., etc., etc. So far, for both of these I retain my fierce admiration of them, and I think that they're masterpieces of their day which deserve modern accolades for their art AND their representation, though qualified as all historical understanding improves, modifies, and justly represents what is learned or understood or even equalized justly in the interim. Some representations of the past - most certainly on film, too - justly deserve to be criticized heavily for biases that were ugly or prejudiced purposefully wrongly or just plain pitifully stupidly.

I watched "Eskimo" (1933) for the first time last night. For 1 hour and 57 minutes I was riveted to the picture. It's been a long time since I was so taken with a film. Directed by W. S. "Woody" Van Dyke (Woody-One-Take as he is remembered), he'd had much experience with on-location shooting for such films as "White Shadows" with Robert J. Flaherty and "Trader Horn", and here he puts that experience to outstanding use and creates a docu-drama style film that was a horrendous flop when it first came out. It premiered in December of 1933 in New York City, but didn't get general release for another month. Good that it got at least that, for by the middle of the year the Code went into effect, and a film like "Eskimo" would have been crushed. It opens with a scene of a native taking her breast out of her clothing and feeding her baby. Within a few minutes a husband is granting his wife permission to "lie" with his good friend, the "somebody" in a nearby summer abode. We are quickly introduced - as a typical white 1933/4 audience - to a culture that is very foreign and which allows/permits/is culturally raised to/even smiles at practices which are strictly forbidden or secreted or whatever in the culture of the viewer audience. The story proceeds documentarily for several minutes, then at about the 25 minute mark suddenly we're offered some wonderful cultural material, but it's back-lit. I must admit that I was startled a bit. After all, the film is a sound film, and the speech is totally (has been so far) in the native language of the "northern Eskimo", though translated with sub-titles at the bottom, and has been basically purely documentary. Then a story about "the white man" is introduced. Here, I must interject that when reading Woody Van Dyke's "Journal" he wrote for a possible publication someday about the making of "White Shadows" one is struck by his near condemnation of Flaherty's "faking" in the making of "Nanook" and "Moana", yet here Van Dyke begins a narrative based on a book by Peter Freuchen, a man who plays the ultimate bad white man in the film! Now the film turns to a scripted narrative that tells a purposed story, rather than views the culture in a purely documentary fashion. It's about the bad white men and how they rape and kill. The story is purposefully exploitative, but it's done very, very well nevertheless. The native, Mala, kills the sea captain of a boat who's raped his wife after giving her liquor, and she's been killed (actually, accidentally) and the captain doesn't care a whit because she's a native. Now it's time for the newly formed (in the area) RCMP to bring Mala in and try him, where he'll possibly be hanged for his "crime". Where Mala's come from is 500 miles away. We see him make this journey over snow ridden plains and hills and frozen waters several times. I don't think I need to narrate the story. Trust me, it's really a magnificent piece!

So highly recommended that most should see it if you enjoy fabulous photography and a very gripping story, mixed with genuine documentary filming of a society of what were called the northern Eskimo in 1934. It's gripping as can be. Now, some warnings: the killing of the whale(s) is genuine! The killing of the polar bear is genuine! The killing of the caribou is genuine! The caribou herd scenes are genuine, and they're so amazing your jaw will drop. The fact that they're real, and that nothing is faked, and that the camera people lived to see it on film is jaw-dropping. The hunting with the dogs is very real. Some of the scenes could not be done today for a "story" on film. This is a Warner Archive release from a couple of years ago. Rush to find it if you can't find this showing another way.

The "story" that's added to the documentary parts actually stars real actors, beginning with Joe Sauers (later Sawyer), Edgar Dearing, Lotus Long, Lulu Wong Wing (Anna May Wong's sister), Edward Hearn, Peter Freuchen, and the main star Mala (his real name, though he went by Ray Wise), a man born in Alaska who became a cameraman in silent films, later an actor. The film was predominately done near Teller, Alaska, not really the Arctic, though some scenes were actually filmed there. Sources vary as to legitimacy of which scenes were filmed where. The acting throughout is as good as it gets. Only the Royal Canadian Mounted Police scenes are more perfunctory Hollywood 1930s. Still, there's nothing bad about them.