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Cast verified as complete
Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
Edgar Dearing | ... |
Constable Balk (uncredited)
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Peter Freuchen | ... |
Captain (uncredited)
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Edward Hearn | ... |
Captain's Mate (uncredited)
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Lotus Long | ... |
Iva (uncredited)
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Mala | ... |
Mala, aka Kripik (uncredited)
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Lewis E. McAfee | ... |
Sailor (uncredited)
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Joe Sawyer | ... |
Sergeant Hunt (uncredited)
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Harold Seabrook | ... |
Minor Role (uncredited)
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W.S. Van Dyke | ... |
Inspector White (uncredited)
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Directed by
W.S. Van Dyke |
Written by
John Lee Mahin | ... | (translated to the screen by) |
Peter Freuchen | ... | (from the book "Der Eskimo") |
Peter Freuchen | ... | (from the book "Die Flucht ins weisse Land") |
Produced by
Hunt Stromberg | ... | producer (produced by) |
Irving Thalberg | ... | producer (uncredited) |
W.S. Van Dyke | ... | producer |
Music by
William Axt | ... | (uncredited) |
Cinematography by
Clyde De Vinna | ... | (photographed by) |
George Gordon Nogle | ... | (photographed by) (as George Nogle) |
Josiah Roberts | ... | (photographed by) |
Leonard Smith | ... | (photographed by) |
Editing by
Conrad A. Nervig |
Casting By
Ben Piazza | ... | (uncredited) |
Benjamin Thau | ... | (uncredited) |
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Edward Hearn | ... | assistant director |
Frank Messenger | ... | assistant director |
Sound Department
C.S. Pratt | ... | recordist |
H.D. Watson | ... | recordist |
Camera and Electrical Department
Roy Clark | ... | still photographer (uncredited) |
Dale Deverman | ... | assistant camera (uncredited) |
James Knott | ... | assistant camera (uncredited) |
Lewis E. McAfee | ... | electrician (uncredited) |
Location Management
Emil Ottinger | ... | location camp chef (uncredited) |
Music Department
Gerard Carbonara | ... | composer: stock music (uncredited) |
Paul Marquardt | ... | orchestrator (uncredited) |
Additional Crew
Harry Albiez | ... | build team (uncredited) |
Pop Arnold | ... | build team (uncredited) |
Production Companies
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (presents)
Distributors
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1933) (United States) (theatrical)
- Film AB Le Mat-Metro-Goldwyn (1934) (Sweden) (theatrical)
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1934) (Norway) (theatrical)
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1934) (Belgium) (theatrical)
Special Effects
Other Companies
- Horace Liveright (publisher: Peter Freuchen's)
Storyline
Plot Summary |
Mala leads a contented life as the best hunter in his Canadian Arctic tribe, providing meat, fish and birds with his great skill. When another tribe member returns from trading furs with the white men for items such as a gun and an iron needle, Mala's wife, Aba, urges him to make the 500-mile trek across the frozen tundra to do the same. After the long night of winter, Mala does go with his family to the white man's "floating house" in Tjarnak. The friendly captain makes trade for Mala's excellent furs, but upsets Mala when he insists that Aba sleep with him that night. "He didn't even ask me!" Mala complains. Afterwards, the captain suggests that Mala go whale hunting and promises not to touch his wife, so Mala agrees. But news of a successful catch spurs a celebration on board ship, and the captain has Aba forcibly removed from her tent, plied with liquor, and then he rapes her. In the morning, the still-drunk Aba staggers from the ship, but collapses in the snow, where she is mistaken for an animal by a hunter and shot and killed. When Mala returns from the whaling expedition, he learns that Aba "has swallowed sleep." He is so enraged he harpoons the captain, packs up his dog sled team and leaves with the rest of his family. It takes some time to recover from his grief and take on two new wives including Iva, who has loved him all along. The newly formed Royal Canadian Mounted Police learns of the murder and dispatches two mounties to arrest Mala. Ironically, Mala finds them frozen in the snow, near death, and saves their lives reluctantly, since he now trusts no white man. But they convince him they are his friends and must go back with them or else they may starve. So he goes, leaving his family behind. At the RCMP base, Mala learns from a translator he may hang. With great effort, he slips out of his shackled wrist, injuring his hand, steals food and a dog sled team and heads back to his land. In the morning, the two mounties go after him.
Written by Arthur Hausner |
Plot Keywords | |
Taglines | TWO TERRIFYING YEARS in the Arctic- to make this Epic of Love and Adventure! (Print Ad- Kyle News, ((Kyle, Texas)) 30 March 1934) See more » |
Genres | |
Parents Guide | View content advisory » |
Certification |
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Additional Details
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Box Office
Budget | $935,000 (estimated) |
Did You Know?
Trivia | This is the first film to ever win an Academy Award for Editing (1934 was the first year when an Oscar for Editing was introduced.) See more » |
Movie Connections | Edited into Governing Body (2023). See more » |
Soundtracks | Night on Bald Mountain See more » |
Crazy Credits | Prologue: "....The Expedition to the Arctic began in April 1932....In November of 1933, the record was completed...." See more » |
Quotes |
Mala, aka Kripik:
My mother looks younger and fatter every day. See more » |