Sun 6 Dec 2015
A Movie Review by Jonathan Lewis: NORTH TO ALASKA (1960).
Posted by Steve under Reviews , Western movies[8] Comments
NORTH TO ALASKA. 20th Century Fox, 1960. John Wayne, Stewart Granger, Ernie Kovacs, Fabian, Capucine, Mickey Shaughnessy, Karl Swenson, Joe Sawyer, Kathleen Freeman, John Qualen. Director: Henry Hathaway.
Watching Henry Hathaway’s North to Alaska, a comedic Western starring John Wayne, one cannot help but compare it to Howard Hawks’ Rio Bravo (1959). Both movies feature a contemporary young musical star (Ricky Nelson in Rio Bravo and Fabio in North to Alaska) and a young beautiful actress to portray John Wayne’s love interest (Angie Dickinson in Rio Bravo and French actress Capucine in North to Alaska).
Similarly, both films are buddy movies, in which the theme of male friendship and loyalty is explored, and battle of the sexes romantic comedies, thematically similar to the British and Italian sex comedies from the same time period.
Yet despite all the similarities and the fact that North to Alaska is a truly beautifully filmed Cinemascope production, it is not nearly as captivating as Hawks’ masterpiece. That’s not to say that North to Alaska doesn’t have some truly hilarious moments and that Wayne doesn’t give a solid performance. It’s just that there are too many weak, bland scenes in the movie for one to equate it as being remotely on par with Rio Bravo.
Even so, this enjoyable, if at times bawdy, feature about love in the time of the Alaskan gold rush is still a much better Western than many that came out in the early 1960s. It’s good movie, just not one for the ages.
December 6th, 2015 at 6:04 pm
No argument here; Not a classic, not even as good as Hathaway’s SONS OF KATIE ELDER, but a simple fun film.
December 6th, 2015 at 6:34 pm
Hardly anything comes up to the Rio Bravo standard in my book, but I like this one just the same. Capucine is indeed beautiful, Wayne and Granger are, well, Wayne and Granger, and even Fabian does a good job (acting, not singing).
December 6th, 2015 at 7:10 pm
It’s a bit long and self indulgent at times but still a fine rollicking comedy adventure film that is virtually a comedy version of THE SPOILERS whic& starred Wayne in one version.
Not a great film but a good hearted entertaining one.
December 6th, 2015 at 9:49 pm
I’ll watch almost anything with John Wayne, but I’ll absolutely watch anything with Ernie Kovacs.
December 6th, 2015 at 10:03 pm
With a cast like this one, there’s somebody in this movie for everyone. How I missed seeing this one over the years, I’ll never know.
December 7th, 2015 at 3:54 pm
We have to mention Johnny Horton’s hit theme song too. You still hear it played once in a while, it was one of his standards with “The Battle of New Orleans”.
December 9th, 2015 at 1:00 pm
I’ve seen this one a couple of times. It’s okay but I wouldn’t go out of my way to see it again. This is the sort of hokey, well-lighted, star-buffed piece of gloss that set the stage for Sergio Leone and what followed in his wake. A side-by-side comparison of a Wayne western of this era (I know, this one takes place in Alaska but it incorporates all of the western tropes) viewed back to back with, say, an episode of “Deadwood” or “Unforgiven” is a stunning reminder of how the genre has evolved.
August 10th, 2019 at 7:15 am
I choose to take it for what it was meant to be, a humorous love story with all the trimmings of male rivalry, bar fights and a beautiful, yet misunderstood damsel in love with the wrong man. Sweet and charming from start to finish!