''Spawn of the North'' is a 1938 American

adventure film An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, an ...

about rival fishermen in

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., ...

starring

George Raft George Raft (born George Ranft; September 26, 1901 – November 24, 1980) was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s. A stylish leading man in dozens of movies, Raft is ...

and featuring

Henry Fonda Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor. He had a career that spanned five decades on Broadway and in Hollywood. He cultivated an everyman screen image in several films considered to be classics. Born and rai ...

Dorothy Lamour Dorothy Lamour (born Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton; December 10, 1914 – September 22, 1996) was an American actress and singer. She is best remembered for having appeared in the '' Road to...'' movies, a series of successful comedies starring Bing ...

Akim Tamiroff Akim Mikhailovich Tamiroff, russian: Аким Михайлович Тамиров (born Hovakim Tamiryants; October 29, 1899 – September 17, 1972) was an Armenian-American actor of film, stage, and television. One of the premier character act ...

and

John Barrymore John Barrymore (born John Sidney Blyth; February 14 or 15, 1882 – May 29, 1942) was an American actor on stage, screen and radio. A member of the Drew and Barrymore theatrical families, he initially tried to avoid the stage, and briefly att ...

. The picture was directed by

Henry Hathaway Henry Hathaway (March 13, 1898 – February 11, 1985) was an American film director and producer. He is best known as a director of Westerns, especially starring Randolph Scott and John Wayne. He directed Gary Cooper in seven films. Backgro ...

and was an unofficial follow up to ''

Souls at Sea ''Souls at Sea'' is a 1937 American adventure film directed by Henry Hathaway and starring Gary Cooper and George Raft. Based on a story by Ted Lesser, the film is about a first mate on a slave ship who frees the slaves on the ship after a mutiny ...

'', also featuring Raft and directed by Hathaway. ''Spawn Of The North'' is a reworking of ''The Virginian'', transferred to Alaska and with emphasis shifted to the Steve character.

Plot

Jim Kimmerlee owns a salmon cannery. He is pleased to see old friend Tyler Dawson, who has been away hunting seal. Also glad to see Tyler is his sweetheart, hotel owner Nicky Duval. Thieves have been stealing from fishing traps. Jim is determined to put a stop to it, engaging in a feud with Red Skain, a Russian fisherman who is suspected in the thefts. Di Turlon comes back to town after several years of big-city life. The adjustment to the fishing community is awkward at first, but Di comes around and becomes interested romantically in Jim. As he and others go after Red and the thieves, Jim is dismayed to learn that Tyler has become one of Red's accomplices. Planning to catch the fish poachers in the act, Jim tries to spare Tyler by having Nicky sabotage his boat, but Tyler finds another vessel and joins Red at sea. Jim exchanges gunfire with the thieves, killing two and wounding Tyler. After being found and helped by his friend after Red has abandoned him, Tyler decides there is one more thing he must do. Close to death, he takes a boat back out, confronts Red, then blows a loud boat whistle that causes an avalanche, resulting in both men's death. Jim speaks admiringly of his friend's sacrificial act.

Cast

as Tyler Dawson *

as Jim Kimmerlee *

as Nicky Duval *

as Red Skain *

as Windy Turlon *

Louise Platt Louise Platt (August 3, 1915 – September 6, 2003) was an American theater, film, and TV actress. Early years Platt was born in Stamford, Connecticut, and grew up in Annapolis, Maryland. Her father was a dental surgeon in the Navy. Career ...

as "Di" Turlon *

Lynne Overman Lynne may refer to: *Lynne (surname) *Lynne (given name) *Lynne, Florida, an unincorporated community *Lynne, Wisconsin Lynne is a town in Oneida County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 210 at the 2000 census. The unincorporated comm ...

as "Jack" Jackson *

Fuzzy Knight John Forrest "Fuzzy" Knight (May 9, 1901 – February 23, 1976) was an American film and television actor. He was also a singer, especially in his early career. He appeared in more than 180 films between 1928 and 1967, usually as a cowboy h ...

as Lefty Jones *

Vladimir Sokoloff Vladimir Aleksandrovich Sokoloff (russian: Влади́мир Алекса́ндрович Соколо́в; December 26, 1889 – February 15, 1962) was a Russian-American character actor of stage and screen. After studying theatre in Moscow, ...

as Dimitri *

Duncan Renaldo Renault Renaldo Duncan (April 23, 1904 – September 3, 1980), better known as Duncan Renaldo, was a Romanian-born American actor best remembered for his portrayal of The Cisco Kid in films and on the 1950–1956 American TV series ''The Cisco K ...

as Ivan * John Wray as Dr. Sparks *

Michio Ito Michio (written: 道夫, 道雄, 道郎, 通夫 or 三知男) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese shogi player *, Japanese dancer and choreographer *Michio Kaku (born 1947), American theoretical ph ...

as Indian Dancer *

Stanley Andrews Stanley Andrews (born Stanley Martin Andrzejewski; August 28, 1891 – June 23, 1969) was an American actor perhaps best known as the voice of Daddy Warbucks on the radio program ''Little Orphan Annie'' and later as "The Old Ranger", the first ...

as Partridge *Richard Ung as Tom

Reception

The film was a big box office success and was later remade as ''

Alaska Seas ''Alaska Seas'' is a 1954 American crime film noir directed by Jerry Hopper and starring Robert Ryan and Brian Keith. The supporting cast features Jan Sterling, Gene Barry and Aaron Spelling. The picture is a loose remake of the 1938 film ''Spawn ...

'' (1954).Everett Aaker, ''The Films of George Raft'', McFarland & Company, 2013 p 79 The special effects and production team who worked on ''Spawn of the North'' received an

Academy Honorary Award The Academy Honorary Award – instituted in 1950 for the 23rd Academy Awards (previously called the Special Award, which was first presented at the 1st Academy Awards in 1929) – is given annually by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Moti ...

at the

11th Academy Awards The 11th Academy Awards were held on February 23, 1939, at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, California. It was the first Academy Awards show without an official host. Frank Capra became the first person to win three Best Director awards, t ...

for their efforts. The award was given to the special effects artist

Gordon Jennings Gordon Jennings, A.S.C. (1896 – January 11, 1953) was an American special effects artist. He received seven Academy Awards (mainly for Best Special Effects) and was nominated for eight more in the same category. After starting 1919 in H ...

, with assistance from

Jan Domela Jan Marinus Domela (August 22, 1894 in The Hague – August 1, 1973 in Santa Monica, California) was a Dutch-born American artist and illustrator. ''Johan Domela Nieuwenhuis'', also ''Jan Marinus Domela''Belanger, p. 144 became interested in art ...

, Dev Jennings, Irmin Roberts and Art Smith; the transparencies artist

Farciot Edouart Farciot Edouart, ASC (born Alexander Farciot Edouart; November 5, 1894 – March 17, 1980) was a motion picture special effects artist and innovator, a recognized specialist and innovator in the area of "process photography", also known as rear pr ...

, with assistance from

Loyal Griggs Loyal Griggs, A.S.C. (August 15, 1906May 6, 1978), was an American cinematographer. Griggs joined the staff of Paramount Pictures in 1924 after graduating from school and initially worked at the studio's process department. He was promoted from a ...

and the sound effects artist

Loren L. Ryder Loren L. Ryder (March 9, 1900 – May 28, 1985) was an American sound engineer. He won five Academy Awards and was nominated for twelve more in the categories Best Sound Recording and Best Effects. After serving in World War I, Ryder stu ...

, with assistance from Harry D. Mills, Louis Mesenkop and Walter Oberst.

References

External links

* * 1938 films 1938 adventure films American adventure films American black-and-white films 1930s English-language films Films scored by Dimitri Tiomkin Films about fishing Films directed by Henry Hathaway Films set in Alaska Paramount Pictures films Films with screenplays by Jules Furthman Films that won the Best Visual Effects Academy Award 1930s American films {{adventure-film-stub