Konterr
Brilliant and touching
Sexyloutak
Absolutely the worst movie.
Skyler
Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.
Bill Slocum
John Wayne in the 1960s was moving from the tough-guy vehicles that made him an icon into breezier, lighter fare. "North To Alaska" is one of his better light efforts, a story about a pair of gold prospectors trying to save their mine and their sanity when a pretty woman comes to town.Sam McCord (Wayne) knows his way around a bar fight and a tall tree, but he's not as sharp when it comes to hearts. Not that of his partner, George Pratt (Stewart Granger), who just lost the only woman he loves, and not that of Michele "Angel" Bonnet (Capucine), a Seattle prostitute he picks up thinking she's just the thing to pick up George."A Frenchy broke his heart, a Frenchy can fix it," Sam thinks. But it's not that easy. In addition to those other hearts mentioned, there's another Sam doesn't count on: His own.It's not a classic movie. The comedy is too broad at times, and so is the acting. Getting to see Wayne duke it out with fellow icon Ernie Kovacs should be more fun than it is; Kovacs plays his part too straight and his comic genius is outshone here even by Fabian, playing George's horny kid brother Billy.But "North To Alaska" shines in other ways. The cinematography by Leon Shamroy heightens the natural beauty of the location shoot (California doubling for Alaska), pristine rivers and majestic skies. The film is well-paced, with plenty of ambiance but nothing too labored.Best of all, Wayne is terrific fun, a bit of a heavy playing things broad enough so you know it's okay to laugh at him. He's got funny notions about love, which he discourses upon at great length and which of course Angel is going to shove in his face before the movie's over. "It's my only politics: anti-wife! Any woman who devotes herself to making one man miserable instead of a lot of men happy don't get my vote."The best scene in the film has Sam glowering while George makes hay with Angel. Sam brought her over to make George happy, now he's miserable at his apparent success."He's in his silent period," George notes."You look kinda green," Billy chimes in."Shut up!" Sam growls, between pulls of his bottle. It's only a matter of time...I was pleasantly surprised by the two one-named actors in this film, Fabian and Capucine. I thought the latter an undertalented clothes horse from seeing her in "What's New Pussycat" and "The Pink Panther," but she shines here as a woman who just wants a chance and is too easily hurt. It's a minor subplot, but an important one, as she holds her head up and tries to fit in, even when Sam warns her Alaska is not her kind of place."What is my kind of place, Sam?" she asks. As with many of her lines, Capucine finds the right quality of icy fragility to make it come off right. She's really a plus here.Director Henry Hathaway worked several times with Wayne, and seemed especially adept at drawing out the Duke's comic side. It's important to remember Wayne did this film just five years after "The Searchers," it's a jolt to see him in a film that employs comic punch-outs and cartoon sound effects. But for its running time, it works more often than not.
Dave from Ottawa
...but still fun. Ernie Kovacs puts the plot, such as there is, into motion with a successful scam - first in a long line of unsuccessful ones - and The Duke has to fight to defend his gold claim, his brother and his best pal, all the while carrying on rather unintended romance with beautiful French prostitute Capucine. It's all pretty silly and obvious, but the principals throw a lot of charm and manic energy into the action and comedy both and the result is surprisingly entertaining in a sledge hammer sort of fashion. The scenery looks gorgeous and the action moves along crisply, plus outdoor movie veterans Stewart Granger and The Duke look perfectly at home on the Edge of Nowhere. The real revelation here, though, is Capucine who shows a rare talent for playing it straight while setting up everyone else. (It was an old Vaudeville axiom that comedians were a dime a dozen, but a good straight man was hard to find.) Capucine proves here, just as she did in The Pink Panther two years later that she can keep her dignity while all about her are losing theirs, thanks to an arch and knowing awareness in the midst of any amount of tomfoolery. There are big fight scenes, big barbecues, bit trees, big landscapes; everything is suitably big, just as you would want in a John Wayne movie. Nothing really special or unexpected happens over the film's considerable length, but as a character comedy set against a big backdrop of big ambition, big greed, big stakes, just plain old big everything, it's a pretty fine way for any Wayne fan to spend two hours on a lazy afternoon.And, since Capucine's supposed occupation is handled in a suitably G- rated fashion (for the early 1960s) the movie is very kid friendly, too. Enjoy.
peter-2749
Henry Hathaway is one of Hollywood's most experience and distinguished directors but for me personally this simply did not work.Both the storyline itself (is okay) and the cast cannot really be faulted. Both Wayne and Granger's body of work speaks for itself. Capucine plays the female lead well and even Fabian as the interest for younger people does what is required. However I have never felt comfortable with John Wayne as a "romantic lead" (and clearly neither had he) but the storyline does (quite cleverly) take that into account. Even Granger's attempt at an American accent is okay (certainly to my British ears and nowhere near the Dick van Dyke region). The highlight however was Ernie Kovacs who for me, stole the show and acted Wayne, Granger and Capucine off the park in every scene and had he not been killed so young, would surely have gone onto to become one of the finest film/TV comedians that America had ever produced.But...The whole is not good.Maybe, it's because I am now looking at this 50 years on from when it was made or maybe because I have watched too many how-they-made-the- movies type TV shows or done one too many "studio tours" but I thought it was clunky.Clearly Hathaway wanted to create a light-hearted atmosphere and does this reasonably well. However the fight scenes are laughable for all the wrong reasons. We can almost see the strings as the barrels roll, windows fall out, and stunt men fall over. In fact this was so poor that I was more grateful for the man who invented the fast-forward button than the man who gave us True Grit!Much of it seemed to be directed at the level of a silent movie and ironically immediately after watching this, I turned the TV channel over and watched a documentary on the birth of Hollywood which was much better!As for the music, It would be churlish to complain about a western featuring the female lead singing a song in a saloon (and indeed it is almost obligatory) but the Fabian solo felt forced and only included because the actor could sing rather than any addition to the plot.It could have been so much better but wasn't a complete waste of my time and reasonably enjoyable but not one I would rush to watch again. For that reason I can only give it 4 out 10 although will give another one for the wonderful Mr Kovacs!
disdressed12
i really enjoyed this comedy/western/.the comedy aspect of it actually does work here,without sacrificing any of the conventions of the Western genre.the comedy doesn't overpower the western elements and the western elements don't overpower the comedic elements.the film is fast paced and fun.there's a romance angle that works because it's not spread on too thick.being part comedy,this one is obviously more lite hearted than your typical western,and everyone is more than equal to the task.John Wayne can certainly be funny when he wants to be,as he has demonstrated on other films.the melding of the two genres works well here in my opinion.for me,North to Alaska is a 7/10
