Review of The Savage Innocents

This movie is based on a book called "Top of the World" by author Hans Ruesch. The book is not very well known today, but it is a very entertaining look at the life of the Eskimos and their view of life (reportedly, author Ruesch has never seen an Eskimo before writing the novel). Set during the time that western ways were encroaching into the Eskimos natural habitat, and spanning several generations, it has a main character, who gets into trouble with the law, becoming a fugitive, basically out of his ignorance of western customs (he killed a white man when he offended him by rejecting an invitation to lie in bed with his wife). I read it as a classroom assignment during high school, more than twenty years ago, and it is probable I would have never read the book if I wasn't assigned to do so. Likewise, the movie based on that novel is not terribly known either, though it is sometimes shown on television (at least in my country). It is a passable film, and the more interesting feature of it is that it has Anthony Quinn playing an Eskimo (how many characters of different ethnic backgrounds did Quinn play during his career?).