North to Alaska 1960

     The setting of this film is Nome Alaska of 1900 and it’s based on a play titled Birthday Gift by Ladislas Fodor.  Sam McCord and George Pratt are partners in a gold mine in Nome.  They strike it rich and George sends Sam to Seattle Washington to bring back his fiancée Jenny Lamont and also obtain heavy drilling equipment.  George has been committed to and waiting to reunite with his fiancée.  When Sam gets to Seattle he learns she is maid and already married to a butler.  Instead, he returns with Angel.  She falls in love with Sam and she misunderstood what he said about George.  Sam leaves her off at a hotel in Alaska but she runs into con man Frankie Cannon.  They know each other from Seattle and Angel wants nothing to do with Frankie.  She throws a suitcase out the window and screams for help.  Sam retrieves her and they head for the mine.  Sam has heard that there must be a guard on the mine at all times because of claim jumpers.  One of these men is the con man Frankie.  When Sam and Angel get to the mine, George becomes enraged and rejects Angel.  George’s brother Billy is definitely interested in Angel but he’s 17?

     I would’ve hated living in Nome during this time period because of the constantly muddy streets in the town!!  There is a LOT of drinking plus gambling in the saloon and a LOT of brawls.  Conman and saloon owner Frankie is always operating and on the lookout for the next new scam.  Sam is pig-headed and he can’t get the idea in his head that Angel is actually in LOVE with him!!  I was surprised that none of the scenes are filmed in Nome or Alaska?  3 ½* (I liked this movie, especially the song North to Alaska)    

122 min, Romance directed by Henry Hathaway with John Wayne, Stewart Granger, Ernie Kovacs, Fabian, Capucine, Mickey Shaughnessy, Karl Swenson, Joe Sawyer, Kathleen Freeman, John Qualen, Stanley Adams.

Note:  Imdb 7.0 out of 10, 43% critic 77% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, TCM Leonard Maltin 3* out of 4* user rating average 3* out of 5*, Amazon 4.7* out of 5* with 403 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Hot Creek, Inyo National Forest; Big Bear Lake, Big Bear Valley, San Bernardino National Forest; Point Mugu and Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California.  Originally, this film was to re-team John Wayne and Dean Martin after their huge success with Rio Bravo of 1959.  Howard Hawks was set to direct again.  Richard Fleischer was also hired to direct but he learned there wasn’t a script?  He also talked to Capucine and he thought she was wrong for the role of Angel.  Capucine said that Wayne wore lifts in his shoes?  You can see Wayne without his wig when he falls backwards from being punched?  Granger and Fabian are playing brothers but Granger is 30 years older than the 17-year-old Fabian.  The day after Johnny Horton recording of the theme song was released, he was killed in a car crash.  It reached #1 in the country chart and #4 on the Hot 100 plus 23 in the UK.