''Ice Palace'' is a 1960

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...

historical

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

adventure film directed by

Vincent Sherman Vincent Sherman (born Abraham Orovitz, July 16, 1906 – June 18, 2006) was an American director and actor who worked in Hollywood. His movies include ''Mr. Skeffington'' (1944), ''Nora Prentiss'' (1947), and '' The Young Philadelphians'' (1959). ...

and adapted from a novel of 1958 written by

Edna Ferber Edna Ferber (August 15, 1885 – April 16, 1968) was an American novelist, short story writer and playwright. Her novels include the Pulitzer Prize-winning '' So Big'' (1924), ''Show Boat'' (1926; made into the celebrated 1927 musical), '' Ci ...

. The film stars

Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s, and he gave a memorable pe ...

Robert Ryan Robert Bushnell Ryan (November 11, 1909 – July 11, 1973) was an American actor and activist. Known for his portrayals of hardened cops and ruthless villains, Ryan performed for over three decades. He was nominated for the Academy Award for B ...

, Carolyn Jones and

Martha Hyer Martha Hyer (August 10, 1924 – May 31, 2014) was an American actress who played Gwen French in ''Some Came Running'' (1958), for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Her autobiography, ''Finding My Way ...

. It dramatizes the debate over Alaska statehood.

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

had become a state in 1959.

Plot

The film tells the story of Zeb Kennedy and Thor Storm, Alaska settlers in the period following World War I. Kennedy works his way up through the Alaskan fish cannery business, befriending Wang, a Chinese worker, and Storm, an idealistic fishing boat captain. Kennedy and Storm begin to plan a cannery together in the Alaskan town of Baranof, when Kennedy falls for Bridie Ballantyne, Storm's fiancée. The feeling is reciprocated, but Kennedy chooses money over love, marrying Seattle heiress Dorothy Wendt. When Storm discovers his disappointed fiancée's infidelity, he punches out Kennedy and flees into the wilderness on a dog sled. Kennedy launches a packing company in Baranof, hiring Wang as well as his old friend, Dave Husack. His feelings for Ballantyne, now abandoned by her fiancé, are no secret to his wife. The Kennedys give birth to a daughter, Grace. Storm returns to Baranof with an infant son, Christopher, born to an Eskimo wife who died after labor. Over the following years, Storm comes to resent Kennedy for his cannery's use of salmon traps, which are depleting the salmon population and putting fishermen out of business. Meanwhile, their children, Christopher and Grace, begin a romance. Kennedy tells Storm to keep his "half-breed kid" away from his daughter. Storm, drawing on the support of fishermen and Alaska natives, becomes a candidate for the Alaska Territorial Legislature on a platform advocating statehood and opposing the excesses of business mogul "Czar" Kennedy. Christopher and Grace elope to live among Christopher's maternal relations in the village of Anavak. Grace's mother, Dorothy Kennedy dies. Grace becomes pregnant and the young couple decides to make a journey to Baranof so that the child is born there. They set off by dog sled, but Grace begins labor en route and Christopher is waylaid by a bear and killed. Grace's father, Zeb, along with Thor and "Aunt" Bridie, intercept and shoot the bear. Grace gives birth to a baby girl, Christine, before she dies. Christine grows up between the houses of Ballantyne and her feuding grandfathers, Kennedy and Storm. Kennedy grooms Dave Husack's son, Bay, to be his champion in the territorial legislature. He encourages the young lawyer to marry Christine for political advantage. Ballantyne discovers and exposes the plot, and the engagement is broken. Storm flies to Juneau, but is forced by a snowstorm to make a crash landing on a glacier. Ballantyne prevails on Kennedy to make a risky flight to save Storm and his pilot, an Eskimo named Ross Guildenstern. Storm survives, and his speeches before Congress are decisive in winning approval for Alaska's statehood. Victorious, Storm gives a conciliatory radio address, thanking erstwhile statehood opponent Kennedy.

Cast

as Zeb Kennedy *

as Thor Storm * Carolyn Jones as Bridie Ballantyne *

as Dorothy Wendt Kennedy *

Jim Backus James Gilmore Backus (February 25, 1913 – July 3, 1989) was an American actor. Among his most famous roles were Thurston Howell III on the 1960s sitcom ''Gilligan's Island,'' the father of James Dean's character in '' Rebel Without a Cause, ...

as Dave Husack * Ray Danton as Bay Husack *

Diane McBain Diane J. McBain (May 18, 1941 – December 21, 2022) was an American actress who, as a Warner Brothers contract player, reached a brief peak of popularity during the early 1960s. She was best known for playing an adventurous socialite in the 1960 ...

as Christine Storm *

Karl Swenson Karl Swenson (July 23, 1908 – October 8, 1978) was an American theatre, radio, film, and television actor. Early in his career, he was credited as Peter Wayne.

as Scotty Ballantyne *

Shirley Knight Shirley Knight Hopkins (July 5, 1936 – April 22, 2020) was an American actress who appeared in more than 50 feature films, television films, television series, and Broadway and Off-Broadway productions in her career, playing leading and charac ...

as Grace Kennedy *

Barry Kelley Edward Barry Kelley (August 19, 1908 – June 5, 1991) was an American actor on Broadway in the 1930s and 1940s and in films during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. The heavy-set actor created the role of Ike in '' Oklahoma!'' on Broadway. His l ...

as Einer Wendt * Sheridan Comerate as Ross Guildenstern *

George Takei George Takei (; ja, ジョージ・タケイ; born Hosato Takei (武井穂郷), April 20, 1937) is an American actor, author and activist known for his role as Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the fictional starship USS ''Enterprise'' in the televi ...

as Wang * Steve Harris as Christopher Storm

Production

Original Novel

''Ice Palace'' was Edna Ferber's first novel in five years. Ferber spent four years researching and writing it, beginning the project in 1954. She visited Alaska several times over the following years, often with the assistance of Ernest Gruening. The character of Kennedy was based on Austin Lathrop; the Bridie Ballantyne was based on Eva McGown. The Ice Palace itself was a composite of actual buildings in Alaska. Baranof, the novel’s main fictional setting, was based on the Alaskan town of Fairbanks. Ferber later said she felt as though she finished the novel "a month too early" because of her ill health. She had suffered a car accident and a recurrence of neuralgia and decided to send it for publication instead of doing another draft. "I felt if I didn't finish the book I would never be able to write again," she later said. The novel was published in March 1958. The ''Los Angeles Times'' said it was "not one of her better works". However it became a best seller, and is thought to have contributed to Alaska becoming a state in 1959.

Development

In December 1957, Warner Bros bought the film rights to the novel for $350,000 plus 15% of the profits. Edna Ferber and Her Circle, a Biography Julie Goldsmith Gilbert Hal Leonard Corporation, 1999 pp 137 Warners had already had a success with a 1956 adaptation of another Edna Ferber novel, ''

Giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...

''. One person associated with the film later called ''Ice Palace'' "''Giant''-on-the-rocks". Warners obtained rights under a twelve year lease, with rights to revert to Ferber after that. (A later source said the cost was $225,000 plus 15% of the profits. Jo and Arthur Napoleon were originally assigned the job of writing the script. In July 1959 it was announced Richard Burton and Robert Ryan would star, and Vincent Sherman would direct. ''Ice Palace'' was the motion picture debut of

and

. McBain had recently been put under contract to Warners and appeared in some of their TV shows.

Shooting

Filming started in August 1959. There was background filming at Mendenhall Glacier, ten days filming at Petersberg on

Mitkof Island Mitkof Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago in southeast Alaska between Kupreanof Island to the west and the Alaskan mainland to the east. It is approximately wide and long with a land area of , making it the 30th largest island i ...

and Juneau, and three days of filming at Fairbanks. There was so little snow the unit was forced to return to Alaska.

Reception

''Ice Palace'' was a commercial and critical failure. A Ferber biography described it as "glacial at the box office." Edna Ferber and Her Circle, a Biography Julie Goldsmith Gilbert Hal Leonard Corporation, 1999 pp 135 ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' reviewer called it "as false and synthetic a screen saga as has rolled out of a color camera" and "no more authentic than cornstarch snow on a studio set." Ice Palace: Adaptation of Ferber Book Bows at Palace ''The New York Times'' June 30, 1960 Bosley Crowther Sheila Toomey of the ''

Anchorage Daily News The ''Anchorage Daily News'' is a daily newspaper published by the Binkley Co., and based in Anchorage, Alaska. It is the most widely read newspaper and news website (adn.com) in the state of Alaska. The newspaper is headquartered in Anchorag ...

'', writing in 1996 about the Northward Building in downtown Fairbanks and its lore relative to the film, wrote "But in 1958 the Northward, a hulking steel-sided apartment complex, was immortalized in a bad novel, followed by an even worse movie, both called ''The Ice Palace''".

References

;General
Turner Classic Movies: Ice Palace
;Specific

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ice Palace 1960 films 1960s historical drama films American historical drama films 1960s English-language films Films scored by Max Steiner Films based on American novels Films directed by Vincent Sherman Films set in Alaska Films set in the 1940s Films set in the 1950s Warner Bros. films Political history of Alaska Territory of Alaska Films based on works by Edna Ferber Films with screenplays by Harry Kleiner 1960s American films