''Arctic Fury'' is a 1949 American adventure film directed by

Norman Dawn Norman O. Dawn (25 May 1884 – 2 February 1975) was an early American film director. He made several improvements on the matte shot to apply it to motion picture, and was the first director to use rear projection in film production. Dawn's in ...

and Fred R. Feitshans Jr. and written by Charles F. Royal, Norton S. Parker, Robert Libott and Frank Burt. The film stars Alfred Delcambre,

Eve Miller Eve Miller (born Marilyn Miller; August 8, 1923 – August 17, 1973) was an American actress who appeared in 41 films between 1945 and 1961. She was born in Los Angeles, California, and died in Van Nuys, California. She died by suicide at ...

, Gloria Petroff,

Dan Riss Frederic Daniel Riss (March 22, 1910 – August 28, 1970) was an American actor who had a career from 1949 to 1965. Filmography References External links * 1910 births 1970 deaths 20th-century American male actors American male f ...

Merrill McCormick William Merrill McCormick (February 5, 1892 – August 19, 1953) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 250 films between 1916 and 1953. William Merrill McCormick was born on February 5, 1892, in Denver, Colorado. McCormick ap ...

and Fred Smith. The film was released on May 4, 1949, by

RKO Radio Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orph ...

. ''Arctic Fury'' is an updated version of the film ''

Tundra In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless mou ...

'' (1936), which starred Alfred Del Cambre (billed as "Del Cambre"). ''Tundra'', like other films produced by the Edgar Rice Burroughs-

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...

company, was filmed on location under primitive and sometimes treacherous conditions. Norman Dawn staged the action, serving as director and co-photographer. In 1949 director-film editor Fred Feitshans, Jr. prepared a remake to be produced in Hollywood, using many of the arctic action sequences from the original ''Tundra''. Co-stars Alfred Delcambre and Merrill McCormick were hired to repeat their former roles in new scenes.

Plot

As the film opens, government official Dan Riss informs the viewing audience that the film which follows tells an incredible-but-true story. A doctor (Alfred Delcambre), who served as a U.S. Navy

medical officer A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

during World War II, settles down in Alaska with his wife and daughter (Eve Miller and Gloria Petroff, respectively) to open a private practice. But, the population still being sparse, even in 1949, he occasionally

bush pilot Bush flying refers to aircraft operations carried out in the bush. Bush flying involves operations in rough terrain where there are often no prepared landing strips or runways, frequently necessitating that bush planes be equipped with abnormally ...

s his open-cockpit

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

to out-of-the-way places in the wilderness to render medical aid. When he hears of an

Inuit Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...

tribe afflicted with a contagious disease, unknown to them, he makes an extended flight to examine them. But, his plane develops engine trouble and he crash-lands in the Colville River region of northern Alaska, where he just barely swims to shore ahead of a hungry polar bear and an avalanche of falling glacial ice. Having memorized a map to the Inuit village, shown him by Mack (Merrill McCormick), a Sourdough fur trapper, he begins traipsing overland. Along the way, he briefly takes shelter in a cave already inhabited by a mother black bear with two cubs. In chasing her off, however, he finds that her cubs are still in the cave. So, when he resumes his journey, he takes them with him. Eventually noting, in his pilot's log, that he has named them

Tom and Jerry ''Tom and Jerry'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series c ...

! Wreckage from the doctor's plane is eventually found, renewing hope of the doctor's survival within both his wife and Mack. Guessing that the doctor is headed on foot towards the Inuit village, the trapper heads there in his boat. Arriving there just in time to rescue both the doctor and the bear cubs from feral sled dogs gone half-mad with hunger (their Inuit owners having died from the aforementioned illness). The doctor eventually replaces his previous aircraft with a new one of the same type. And the narrator concludes the story by claiming how the doctor's tale of survival has been handed down among the Inuit as a

campfire A campfire is a fire at a campsite that provides light and warmth, and heat for cooking. It can also serve as a beacon, and an insect and predator deterrent. Established campgrounds often provide a stone or steel fire ring for safety. Campfires ...

story worthy of retelling. With various members of other tribes looking up at his supposedly passing-by plane with grateful awe and respect.

Cast

*Alfred Delcambre as Dr. Thomas Barlow *Eve Miller as Martha Barlow *Gloria Petroff as Emily Barlow *Dan Riss as Director of the Thompson Institute *Merrill McCormick as Mack *Fred Smith as Jim

References

External links

* * * * {{Norman Dawn 1949 films American black-and-white films RKO Pictures films 1949 adventure films American adventure films Films directed by Norman Dawn Films set in the Arctic American survival films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films