The beloved Alan Hale Jr. had no reluctance to simply play himself in many movies and TV shows, and the always gregarious actor seemed to be having fun regardless of the situation. In this film, early on in his career, he plays a friendly hunter searching for polar bears and hires pilot Wayne Morris to take him out to the arctic wilds to hunt. But as it turns out, Hale has a secret agenda which Morris finds out just by accident, and he must keep it secret so he can stop Hale from succeeding in his nefarious goal. A seemingly accidental stabbing leads the plan to move along faster which puts Morris in more jeopardy, as well as local schoolteacher Lola Albright whom Morris is courting.
This is a pretty ambitious project for the lowly Monogram studios, then in the midst of reshuffling itself to become Allied Artist films and make more mainstream nearly "A" level films. The opening shot of the Arctic wild is in gorgeous black and white with mostly whites and a few sudden black figures of far away animals running in the snowy wilderness. The shot of a wolf being killed is disturbing, as it seems the animal is just left there to die, but as we learn, there have been animal attacks on humans, as evidenced by a polar bear attack on one of the natives who had seen several of his tribe being killed by them. A scene between Morris and Albright shows them arguing over her feelings towards the natives and certain prejudices she feels even if she is teaching their young. Later, a bit of Eskimo culture is explored through a local dance, giving this a bit of a documentary feel as well.
But the bulk of the film belongs to Morris and Hale who seem to be on their way to becoming good friends when the truth about Hale is revealed. How Hale suddenly changes his colors is written all over his face with the hatred of one culture to another becoming very apparent and the determination of Hale to kill if he has to. Earlier in the film, Hale gregariously witnesses a fight between Morris and his romantic rival (Dale Van Sickel) and even offers to intervene, but it gives him an idea of Morris's no nonsense fight technique which he is ready for when all is revealed. The ending is quite intense with Hale roaming out to the wild by himself and facing an uncertain future, and for a minute, I thought he might suddenly be attacked by a polar bear since he was earlier seen skinning one and leaving the rest of the body behind. But I was quite satisfied by how it ended, rather ironic in its way and a comment on how low of an ending those who betray a supposed friendship should find as their comeuppance.
This is a pretty ambitious project for the lowly Monogram studios, then in the midst of reshuffling itself to become Allied Artist films and make more mainstream nearly "A" level films. The opening shot of the Arctic wild is in gorgeous black and white with mostly whites and a few sudden black figures of far away animals running in the snowy wilderness. The shot of a wolf being killed is disturbing, as it seems the animal is just left there to die, but as we learn, there have been animal attacks on humans, as evidenced by a polar bear attack on one of the natives who had seen several of his tribe being killed by them. A scene between Morris and Albright shows them arguing over her feelings towards the natives and certain prejudices she feels even if she is teaching their young. Later, a bit of Eskimo culture is explored through a local dance, giving this a bit of a documentary feel as well.
But the bulk of the film belongs to Morris and Hale who seem to be on their way to becoming good friends when the truth about Hale is revealed. How Hale suddenly changes his colors is written all over his face with the hatred of one culture to another becoming very apparent and the determination of Hale to kill if he has to. Earlier in the film, Hale gregariously witnesses a fight between Morris and his romantic rival (Dale Van Sickel) and even offers to intervene, but it gives him an idea of Morris's no nonsense fight technique which he is ready for when all is revealed. The ending is quite intense with Hale roaming out to the wild by himself and facing an uncertain future, and for a minute, I thought he might suddenly be attacked by a polar bear since he was earlier seen skinning one and leaving the rest of the body behind. But I was quite satisfied by how it ended, rather ironic in its way and a comment on how low of an ending those who betray a supposed friendship should find as their comeuppance.
