User reviews

"North To Alaska" is a rollicking action filled comedy western from Director Henry Hathaway and a departure by star John Wayne from his usual westerns.

Sam McCord (Wayne), George Pratt (Stewart Granger) and Billy Pratt (Fabian) are partners in a rich Alaskan gold mine in 1900. They have just struck it rich and go to the local saloon to celebrate. There, a raucous saloon brawl breaks out, played more for its comedy aspects than for real. Now that he has struck it rich, George can finally send for his long suffering fiancé Jenny who lives in Seattle. Before he leaves he meets scheming gambler Frankie Cannon (Ernie Kovacs) with whom he will tangle at a later date.

Since Sam has to go to Seattle to buy new mining machinery anyway, George charges him with the task of fetching Jenny back to him. In Seattle, Sam finds that Jenny has, much to her regret, since married. Sam goes to a local brothel called "The Hen House" where he happens to meet Angel (Capucine) who is French like Jenny. Sam decides to substitute Angel for Jenny and asks her to accompany him to Alaska. Angel as luck would have it, falls in love with Sam.

Before leaving for Alaska, Sam goes to a logger's picnic at the request of his old friends Lars and Lena Nordqvist (Karl Swenson and Kathleen Freeman). There he protects Angel's honor to the point that she believes he is taking her back to Alaska as his girl.

Back in Alaska, Sam brings her to his camp to find that George is away fighting claim jumpers at another camp. Sam leaves Angel in the "care" of George's young brother Billy who tries to woo her for himself with comedic results.

When George and Sam return, George is presented with Angel as a replacement for his beloved Jenny. Reluctant at first, he becomes attracted to her until he realizes that she is in love with Sam. The two then plot to make Sam jealous and well you know.

Meanwhile Cannon has cross-filed on Sam and George's claim under the name of town drunk Boggs (Mickey Shaughnessy), and then the fun begins.

Director Hathaway keeps the story moving and entertaining. Wayne proves to be quite adept at light comedy in his role. Fabian surprises as the horny kid brother in perhaps the best role of his movie career. Granger, long an action star in his own right, is equal to the task as George. Ernie Kovacs who was an innovative TV comedian at this time, is wasted as the the slimy chief villain. He hardly has a chance to display his comedic talents. Capucine is lovely and captivating as Angel. Her scenes with Fabian are hilarious.

There is plenty of action from the opening saloon brawl to the logger's picnic to the fight with the claim jumpers to the final street fight. And who can ever forget the great Johnny Horton's singing of the title song over the opening credits.

One of Wayne's most entertaining pictures.

The story is rather minimal, also there is little substance to the characters. However, I can overlook these in a way, but this was entertaining and was never meant to be complex and all that. It has beautiful cinematography and scenery. It has great music and a truly terrific title song. It has a sparkling script. It has skilled direction. It goes along at a decent pace. It has two fun performances from John Wayne and underrated Stewart Granger. And North to Alaska has one of the wildest and wackiest bar-room brawls I have seen in any movie. Overall, I liked North to Alaska, it was entertaining. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Out of 20th Century Fox, North to Alaska is directed by Henry Hathaway (& uncredited input from John Wayne) and stars John Wayne, Stewart Granger, Ernie Kovacs, Fabian & Capucine. The film script is based on the play Birthday Gift by Ladislas Fodor, and it's a CinemaScope/Deluxe Color production with Leon Shamroy's cinematography mainly on location at Point Mugu in California. Lionel Newman scores the music and the film also features a hit song of the same name song by Johnny Horton.

The plot sees George Pratt (Granger) & Sam McCord (Wayne) strike gold in Alaska. Nicely set up, George sends Sam to Seattle to bring back his fiancée. However, upon finding the girl, Sam learns that she has married another man and Sam makes the decision to bring back a pretty working girl called Angel (Capucine) as a substitute. Trouble is, is that Angel misunderstands and thinks Sam wants her for himself and begins to fall in love with him. Things are further complicated back in Nome when con man Frankie Canon (Ernie Kovacs) tries to steal their claim. Not only that but Angel has to contend with George's mood swings and the puppy dog like attentions of George's younger brother, Billy (Fabian).

It often gets forgotten just what a good comedy actor John Wayne was. His icon status, and the genre he's most famous for, tends to keep his comedy pieces from being discovered by the casual movie fan. Which is a shame because with films like Donovan's Reef, McLintock! and this here Hathaway treasure, there's enough fun and adventure to blow away the blues. The story in truth is nothing to write home about, it's a standard love triangle piece surrounded by gold rush conning and conniving. While teenage singer Fabian is out of his depth as his hyperactive hormone act quickly loses impetus. Also problematic is that Capucine, though regally pretty, gives a one note and lacklustre performance that needs Wayne & Granger to offset it in the scenes they share with her. And yet the film still works incredibly well as a romantic comedy adventure.

There's as many fists thrown here as there is in a championship boxing bout, with three hilariously staged free for all punch ups within the movie. The chemistry between Wayne & Granger is spot on as they do macho in a comedy stylie, and Kovacs revels in being the moustache twirling con man. Hathaway (stepping in when Richard Fleischer bailed out of the project) was a dab hand at action scenes, with a rolling wagon cart-come-shoot out-punch up sequence as rip roaring as it is funny. Hell! even the animals get in on the act, be it a shaggy loyal dog or head butting goats, they too are filling out the comedy.

There's also a lot of beauty on offer as Shamroy (Cleopatra/Leave Her to Heaven/The Black Swan) turns parts of California into Nome, Alaska. The scenes set around the twin cabin site of Sam & George are filmed at Hot Creek near Mammoth Mountain are simply gorgeous, while Mt. Morrison, a magnificent piece of nature, is featured in the background of many shots. Dorothy Spencer's editing is tight and on the money and Newman's score is brisk and bouncy. This is a far from flawless picture for sure, but what flaws are here are easily forgiven if the viewer is in the right spirit to take the film as it should and was meant to be taken. 8/10

This movie is too funny! And too heartwarming! I can watch this movie over and over and still laugh! And it is not slapstick! Just good ole wholesome American comedy! My favorite! Three men, (well, two men and a teen) and a French woman! What a combo!! John Wayne is his usual macho self. That is always fun to watch. And Stewart Granger is soooo good here! I have seen him in many things, but I think he out-did himself here! He's too funny! And poor Fabian. He breaks my heart with his love-sick adoration of Michelle! If you haven't seen this, you must rent it. You will be glad you did. And you WILL end up watching it again. It's that type of movie.

John Wayne plays Sam McCord, who teams up with George Pratt, played by Stewart Granger, striking it rich with a gold mine around the turn of the century in Alaska. Fabian plays George's younger brother, Billy. George sends Sam back to Seattle to bring back his bride to be; instead, Sam brings back a chorus girl played by Capucine.

Henry Hathaway directs this fist swinging comedy. Of course, Mr. Wayne is in charge of the fist fights and Fabian is the butt of and source of most of the comedy. Comic Ernie Kovacs plays a snide claim jumper. Fast paced frolic of a picture. An enjoyable lighter side of 'Duke' Wayne.

North to Alaska is a knockabout screwball western starring John Wayne and Stewart Granger.

Set during the Alaskan gold rush of the early 1900s. Sam McCord (John Wayne) and George Pratt (Stewart Granger) have struck gold and have become rich.

Sam is off to Seattle for some machinery and is meant to bring back George's French fiancee. Only to find that she has married another man.

A drunken Sam has a brainwave when he finds another French woman called Michelle (Capucine) in a bordello called the Hen House. Sam hopes she might make a good substitute for George.

However Michelle has fallen for Sam. When he returns to Alaska, he finds that someone has filed a rival claim on his mine. Everyone is crazy about Michelle including George's younger brother Billy (Fabian.)

Sam gets grumpy as George romances Michelle. Only later realising that he has fallen for Michelle.

The film is bookended with two slapstick fights. Both are over the top but works as mindless fun.

Wayne looks comfortable with the mixture of action and comedy.

This rather racy film is too long and the thin material feels stretched. Granger is missing for a lot of the picture but he and Wayne do make for a good team even though the story is silly and contrived.

Stewart Granger in his memoirs said he was very glad to receive the role of George Pratt when he did and was always grateful to John Wayne who got him cast in the part. He had just left MGM and offers were not piling up. Granger's career was in a transitional stage and he would soon take off for Europe and all kinds of spaghetti westerns. Right at that point he needed a paycheck.

Granger and Fabian play the brothers Pratt, George and Billy and John Wayne is their partner Sam McCord in a gold claim that's just hit it big. He's got to buy mining equipment in Seattle and Pratt's fiancé Jennie is there too. Wayne's to bring back both the equipment and Jennie.

But Jennie has off and got herself married. So Wayne in a moment of alcoholic brilliance spots another girl with a French accent in a pleasure palace called the Birdcage and decided to take her back to Alaska for Granger. She's played by Capucine. But things don't quite work out.

Of course there's another kind of claim jumping going on led by no-good cynical gambler Ernie Kovacs. All kinds of problems for the McCord-Pratt partnership.

If you like your comedy broad and unsophisticated North to Alaska is your kind of film. The Duke has some of his funniest screen moments in this film. There's a whole routine with Granger and Capucine trying to make Wayne jealous and with Fabian serving as a straight man to Wayne, it's a pretty funny bit of business. Wayne's facial expressions are alone worth seeing the movie.

John Wayne was always shrewd in marketing his films and he sought to woo a younger audience by having current teenage idols in his films around that time. He had Ricky Nelson in Rio Bravo and Frankie Avalon in The Alamo and now Fabian in North to Alaska.

I saw an interview with Fabian some years ago where he said Wayne was a formidable presence on the set of his film. He was great when you got to know him and he accepted you. But you did things his way or it was the highway, no questions asked.

Fabian has some moments too as a 17 year old whose hormones get going at the sight of Capucine. He sings a song in the film, If You Only Knew. But the real song hit is the title tune sung by Johnny Horton over the title. It was a big hit for Horton in his short and tragic career. Frankie Laine also sold a few platters with this song.

If your taste is sophisticated drawing room comedy, this ain't your film. But fans of the eternal Duke will love it.

During the Alaska gold rush, prospector George (Stewart Granger) and his colleague Sam (John Wayne) strike gold in Alaska , then George asks for Sam to go Seattle to pick up his fiancée . But he encounters many problems when it turns out that she married another man , Sam goes back with a pretty substitute (Capucine) , the hostess of the Henhouse dance hall . In the meantime, Sam is busy fighting off the advances of George's younger brother, Billy (Fabian) . Along the way , there appears the swindler Frankie (Ernie Kovacs) , a con man attempting to steal the partners' gold claim. These were the adventures . Fighting, laughing and brawling their way from Seattle to Nome! In all the 50 states you won't find a fun-filled adventure like it! It's fun-filled adventure all the way from Seattle to Nome!From Seattle to Nome...it's fun-filled adventure - and riotous comedy! Big Sam and the Big Adventure! When Big Sam wanted somethin', he got it - the best! When he did somethin', he did it big... Like taming a woman the way you tame the land! Or fighting until the last man was down! Now Big Sam was set. He and the Seattle pleasure palace doll were on their way -- to the top of the world!

A rumbustious comedy western with John Wayne and Stewart Granger as intimate partners along with the young Fabian in Gold Rush days . Packing a lot of loving mess in which Sam going to Seattle to bring George's fiancée back to Nome , Alaska , returning instead with Angel and after attempting to get George and Angel together, he ultimately falls for Angel . It contains action , shootouts , hilarious scenes , bar-room brawls , and a memorable theme song by Johnny Horton and another song by Fabian himself . Overly slapstick at times , but great fun and enjoyable nonetheless . That's why it seems in retrospect an overlong fist fight , it certainly does have a long saloon brawl . Being loosely based on Laszlo Todor's play ¨The birthday gift¨. Along with the main actors here shows up stout support cast from a whole saloon-full of western character players and other important roles such as : Mickey Shaughnessy, Karl Swenson, John Qualen , Joe Sawyer , Pat Hogan, Stanley Adams and Kathleen Freeman.

In addition , rich colour cinematography by Leon Shamroy . Plus , moving and thrilling musical score by Lionel Newman and uncredited Cyril J. Mockridge . The motion picture was professionally directed by Henry Hathaway , including strong screen presence by John Wayne , both of whom collaborated in various Westerns , they included ¨Five Card Stud¨ , ¨The sons of Katie Elder¨, ¨North to Alaska¨ and Wayne's Academy Award-winning ¨True grit¨. Hathaway himself was only even nominated for an Oscar , but his movies themselves are testimony to his skills to heighten narrative tension and shoot action so exhilarating it made adrenalin run . Henry was a craftsman who had a long career from the 30s with successful films , and especially Westerns , as ¨Brigham Young¨ and ¨Raw Hide¨ . In his 60s Hathaway still got the vigour to make some fiery movies as ¨From Hell to Texas¨, ¨How the West was won¨, ¨Nevada Smith¨, and ¨Shoot out¨ . He was an expert on Western genre as he proved in ¨True grit , Five card stud , Nevada Smith ,How the West was won , Rawhide , Brigham Young , Buffalo Stampede, Garden of evil¨ and of course ¨North to Alaska¨. Rating : nice Western that will appeal to John Wayne fans.

North to Alaska is one of the most northerly western to be brought out, playing mostly in Nome. The movie is complete fiction, but the location and how it looked there during the gold rush are surprisingly correct. After Klondyke, Nome had a kind of second rush, but since most people searched for gold in/near the rivers - like Sam (Wayne) and his companions did - the real rush came to Nome after a local was chased away from his claim and as he started to wash at the beach(!) he found a real bonanza! Nome had no haven, which is shown in the movie: ships (mostly arriving from Seattle) had to anchor before the coast and freight and passengers had to be brought aland by smaller vessels. Also characters like Frankie are realistic, for crooks where indeed not hesitating to kill people or steal claims (as I mentioned above). How it looks in Nome is also realistic: however most of the year frozen, in the short period the ice melts, the streets were one ditch of thighhigh mud; Frankie is made aware of that fact very firsthand.

Humanity note: After Sam brought a girl from Seattle to Nome, which was an silly alcohol decision, he regrets it and leaves her in town so she could take the next boat back. Also in this movie there are people offering apologies, even Sam himself; try to find regret and apologies in other westerns!

Music: The title song by Johnnie Horton is a real C&W hit.

Totally: The movie is very entertaining, funny, human and realistic in historical context. A good film for the whole family!

This is an extremely funny movie. It is well written. I feel it is John Wayne's best "humor" movie. It keeps your attention by moving from scene to scene. My wife and I have watched this a dozen times and never grow tired of it.

John Wayne and his partner strike gold in Alaska. A con man tries to steal it from them. In the meantime John has to pick up his partner's fiancé in Seattle. She's now married so he gets a substitute (a prostitute). Who misunderstands Johns's intentions and falls in love with him while they attend a hilarious logger's picnic in Seattle. And this is only a brief description of the 1st half.

This is a must see.

"North to Alaska" may be the cleanest "adult" comedy ever made. It does have a lot of big laughs but too often it tries too hard. It goes into slapstick mode way too much. The rest of it is funny but those slapstick moments are too broad and upset the rhythm of the movie. Another weakness of the movie is the casting. My mother loved Stewart Granger but he never did anything for me. Neither of my parents liked Ernie Kovacs and I can see why. I don't know much about this early tv comedy "genius" but he's not very good in this movie. On the plus side, Kathleen Freeman is terrific and Capucine is very pretty. "North to Alaska" is a great looking movie and has muddy streets. I always enjoy seeing a western with muddy streets.

A likable, very broad comedy-western with no substance whatsoever. Henry Hathaway produced and directed and it all looks like an excuse for Hathaway, the Duke and some friends to get together way up North and have a bit of a ball. Plot is minimal despite being taken from a play by Ladislas Fodor, (God knows what it would have looked like on stage), and it's very handsome courtesy of Leon Shamroy's photography and the utterly gorgeous Capucine. (Whatever became of her; she couldn't act but she could light up the screen).

Wayne's mugging begins to grate after awhile and not even the brilliant Ernie Kovacs can save it from lapsing into silliness, (there isn't a hint of danger anywhere). It's not often revived and by Hathaway's standards it's pretty poor. Fabian's in it, too, and gets to sing a fairly mediocre ballad while the excellent title song went to Johnny Horton.

This is a great movie. Funny and entertaining.

Each of the characters could fill up a movie by themselves. Ernie Kovaks steals the show as the ultimate cheat and chiseler. John Wayne knows he is doing a parody of himself, plays it to the hilt and pulls it off brilliantly. Capucine is a classy lady. Even though she works in a bordello, you somehow know she's a nice girl. Even Clancy the shaggy dog has a great role. Johnny Horton's title hit, North to Alaska, is his best song ever. Classic cowboy movie fight scenes at the beginning and end.

A total hoot.

It's mostly romance and fights in this old western-comedy. Which is pretty funny, John Wayne with the cast is good and overall this is entertaining. If you like old western film that includes romance and comedy twisted with big fights you will like this one.

7/10

John Wayne and Stewart Granger play gold miners in Alaska. Wayne goes to Seattle to bring back Granger's fiancée. But when he gets there he finds out she's already married. Not wanting his friend to be disappointed, he brings back French dance hall girl Capucine. The rest of the movie is everybody trying to get with Capucine. Fabian plays Granger's brother. Ernie Kovacs plays a con man. Both are definitely products of this era and I don't mean that as a compliment. Wayne is good in a role he could play in his sleep. It's a light-hearted comedy with some cartoonish action. It's dumb but all in good fun and hard to dislike.

If you like happy endings, then this the movie for you. Great fun. The cast must had a great time making this one. I agree with the first selected director that the idea of Capucine as a hooker/tart is utterly ridiculous! And in love with Wayne, that's very hard to understand... but ignore that and let the movie take you along with a great ride. I just found that Capucine is pronounced 'Capuseen' - I always thought it was 'Capucheen'. What a truly beautiful lady - she was far too beautiful to be human! Sadly, she committed suicide - what a dreadful, awful and sad waste. What a shame she did not meet me, I would have cherished her - it's amazing how modest I am, considering my brilliance. I just saw it on TV - I'd forgotten about it. Now I'll buy my own copy.

...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.

(5.5/10) Didn't work for me as much as it has for many other Wayne enthusiasts. I found the movie to be overlong, overloaded on campy humor, and predictable. When it came out in 1960, it was a fresh film that showcased Wayne in unfamiliar roles of comedian and repressed lover. But succeeding films McLintock! and to a lesser extent War Wagon not only added on but improved on the comedic elements in Wayne Westerns. In this flick, you could tell the Duke was somewhat out of place, although you could definitely see flashes of John Wayne's underrated comedic ability. Capucine does a great job as Wayne's equal despite what some reviewers have expressed while Stewart Granger maintains good chemistry with both the male and female leads. Fabian surprisingly has good acting and comedy talent and did a much better job than fellow pop star Ricky Nelson did in Wayne's film a year before "Rio Bravo". Opening and ending brawl sequences were way too watered down with camp; the various lame sound effects made the fights more suitable for the Three Stooges or a Warner Brother's cartoon.

I would have given this an even lower rating if this was set in say Texas, but I was won over by the Alaskan scenery and terrific chemistry between Wayne and Capucine. Highlights of the movie were just about every scene between Capucine and Fabian.