Peter Freuchen (captain of a trading ship), Mala (native youth), W. S. Van Dyke ("mountie" — inspector), Joe Sawyer (Sergeant Hunt), Edgar Dearing (Constable Balk), Lotus Long (Iva), and a native cast of Eskimos.
Director: W. S. VAN DYKE. Screenplay: John Lee Mahin. Based on the books, "Der Eskimo" and "Die Flucht ins Weisse Land", by Peter Freuchen. Photography: Clyde DeVinna. Additional photography: George Nogle, Josiah Roberts, Leonard Smith. Music: William Axt. Orchestrations: Paul Marquardt. Assistant directors: Edward Hearn, Frank Messenger. Sound recording: C.S. Pratt, H.D. Watson. Film editor: Conrad A. Nervig. Technical adviser and guide: Peter Freuchen. Photographed entirely on location in Northern Alaska. Producer: Hunt Stromberg.
U.K. and Australian release title: MALA THE MAGNIFICENT.
Copyright 9 January 1934 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp. New York opening at the Astor, 14 November 1933. U.K. release: 20 October 1934. Australian release: 31 October 1934. 12 reels. 116 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: Native youth kills lecherous trader, but is hunted by a Royal Canadian Mountie.
NOTES: Academy Award, Conrad Nervig, Film Editing (defeating "Cleopatra" and "One Night of Love"). Negative cost: A whopping $935,000.
COMMENT: One of the rare MGM films on which Douglas Shearer does NOT receive a sound credit. The reason for this omission, of course, is that the film was wholly photographed and recorded in the Frozen North.
Like Van Dyke's earlier "White Shadows in the South Seas" (1928), it is a semi-documentary (or "staged" documentary) using a mixture of native and professional actors, loosely structured around a simple plot designed to exploit as much of the local customs, fauna and scenery as possible.
This story's hero-on-the-run is forced to survive in one of the most hostile environments on earth. As he relentlessly battles hunger, snowstorm and blizzard, the reality is so overwhelming, you actually feel the intense cold.
This is not, of course, the sort of shivery "escape" that audiences seek. In order to recoup a small proportion of its huge negative cost, MGM kept the film in circulation for years. I remember seeing it at a Saturday matinée in 1949.
Though expertly photographed and smoothly edited, the film was somewhat let down by its amateurish professional players. The actual amateur actors, on the other hand, that is the Eskimos themselves, led by a naturally talented Mala, seemed much more convincing!
Director: W. S. VAN DYKE. Screenplay: John Lee Mahin. Based on the books, "Der Eskimo" and "Die Flucht ins Weisse Land", by Peter Freuchen. Photography: Clyde DeVinna. Additional photography: George Nogle, Josiah Roberts, Leonard Smith. Music: William Axt. Orchestrations: Paul Marquardt. Assistant directors: Edward Hearn, Frank Messenger. Sound recording: C.S. Pratt, H.D. Watson. Film editor: Conrad A. Nervig. Technical adviser and guide: Peter Freuchen. Photographed entirely on location in Northern Alaska. Producer: Hunt Stromberg.
U.K. and Australian release title: MALA THE MAGNIFICENT.
Copyright 9 January 1934 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp. New York opening at the Astor, 14 November 1933. U.K. release: 20 October 1934. Australian release: 31 October 1934. 12 reels. 116 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: Native youth kills lecherous trader, but is hunted by a Royal Canadian Mountie.
NOTES: Academy Award, Conrad Nervig, Film Editing (defeating "Cleopatra" and "One Night of Love"). Negative cost: A whopping $935,000.
COMMENT: One of the rare MGM films on which Douglas Shearer does NOT receive a sound credit. The reason for this omission, of course, is that the film was wholly photographed and recorded in the Frozen North.
Like Van Dyke's earlier "White Shadows in the South Seas" (1928), it is a semi-documentary (or "staged" documentary) using a mixture of native and professional actors, loosely structured around a simple plot designed to exploit as much of the local customs, fauna and scenery as possible.
This story's hero-on-the-run is forced to survive in one of the most hostile environments on earth. As he relentlessly battles hunger, snowstorm and blizzard, the reality is so overwhelming, you actually feel the intense cold.
This is not, of course, the sort of shivery "escape" that audiences seek. In order to recoup a small proportion of its huge negative cost, MGM kept the film in circulation for years. I remember seeing it at a Saturday matinée in 1949.
Though expertly photographed and smoothly edited, the film was somewhat let down by its amateurish professional players. The actual amateur actors, on the other hand, that is the Eskimos themselves, led by a naturally talented Mala, seemed much more convincing!