Les aventuriers

... based on the Edna Ferber novel. It's the multi-generational story of two men, Zeb Kennedy (Richard Burton) and Thor Storm (Robert Ryan), who begin as friends and fishermen in Alaska during the years after WWI. When they both fall for the same woman (Carolyn Jones), the two split, with Zeb becoming a bitter but wealthy cannery magnate, while bitter but motivated Thor fights for Alaskan rights and eventually statehood. Their children and grandchildren also grow to adulthood against this backdrop.

The novel was a big hit, although critics thought it was bad. Its success is credited with helping Alaska become a state in '59. The movie is a big, ponderous bore, stretching an interminable 143 minutes, with Burton and Ryan trying to out-scowl each other. A bear attack looks very silly, with a guy in an obvious bear costume stomping around an unconvincing snowy forest set. This was Diane McBain's debut, as well as the credited movie debut of 22-year-old George Takei, playing a Chinese immigrant friend and servant to Burton. At one point, Takei's character is supposed to be frantic, and he lapses into his native "Chinese" language, but it's hilariously apparent that the Japanese-descended Takei is just spouting gibberish.

I'd never heard of this Edna Ferber saga, but it was very interesting to watch. In the rare setting of Alaska, this movie features glaciers, eskimos, fishing canneries, and beautiful fur coats. It also tackles impending statehood, since it's a period piece. But more importantly, it has every element of a great soapy drama: jealousy, friendship, love triangles, family feuds, scandal, star-crossed lovers, betrayal, and tragedy.

The two leads of the film are Robert Ryan and Richard Burton, and they meet in an unlikely situation. One falls out of a fishing boat and the other saves his life. That very important act binds them together for the next few decades. What a great part for Robert Ryan! He made a career out of playing mean villains, even more so than Richard Widmark, but in Ice Palace, he's not the bad guy. Richard Burton is the bad guy, and he's so mean! He's so despicable, unless you really love him, it'll be hard to forgive him in later movies.

The age makeup in this saga is quite impressive. In addition to gray hair, Carolyn Jones is given a matronly body suit and crinkly wrinkles around her eyes. Richard Burton has pale makeup on his face to make him look wrinkled and worn, as well as a stooped posture. Robert Ryan, the oldest in real life of the three, looks fantastic in his gray wig; age becomes him! If you want to see two good-looking guys, great performances, and a heart-tugging story, all draped in majestic white snow, check out Ice Palace.

I know it sounds like a contradiction, but "Ice Palace" suffers from a long running time while the movie's scenes are too brief to offer anything substantial. Based on a novel by Edna Ferber (who also wrote the best-selling novels Show Boat, Cimarron and Giant, all of which became classic, award-winning films), the movie deals with an almost life-long rivalry between Zeb Kennedy (Richard Burton) and Thor Storm (Robert Ryan) in the wilds of a still territorial Alaska. Zeb is a WWI veteran who comes back home to Seattle to find he can't get a job, thanks to local packers who see him as a troublemaker because he dances to his own tune and not theirs. He heads to Alaska aboard a freighter, along with a bunch of Chinese workers (he meets the character of Wang (George Takei in a demeaning role of a pidgen-English speaking role of comic relief). Zeb meets Thor (Robert Ryan), a local fisherman in the town of Banarov when he is beaten up by local cannery workers and thrown into the bay after stepping in to defend Wang, who's being threatened. Not to belabor a point, but Thor and Zeb become friends and conspire to open a rival cannery in Banarov to avoid having to grovel at the feet of the big cannery across the bay. Zeb then meets Bridie Ballantyne (Carolyn Jones), who is Thor's woman and business partner. He falls for her, makes her fall for him, then realizes it's wrong and decides to leave Baranov. Thor, unknowing of all this, gets him to set up financing in Seattle for the cannery. Zeb does this by marrying Dorothy (Martha Hyer) to get her father to back the cannery, thanks to some advice from best friend and future business partner Dave Husack (a pre-Gilligan's Island Jim Backus). Anyway, when Zeb, Bridie, Thor and Dorothy all meet up, it's like that song where Chicago says to look away. The jig is up and sets the tension for the rest of the movie. Zeb becomes a tyrant, in league with other big packers, while Thor becomes a protector of Alaska, seeking statehood so that federal laws can come in and stop Zeb, called "Czar" Kennedy by the locals. The problems with the movie deal mostly with the length of the novel, which rivaled "Giant." Whereas "Giant" and "Cimarron" dispensed with huge chunks of the books to avoid boring and losing audiences, "Ice Palace" tries to touch on all of the story. This leaves quick scenes that jump and leave the rest of us behind. Characters aren't allowed to develop fully. For instance, Zeb defends Wang and then, feeling guilty about Bridie, decides to leave well enough alone. A moment later, he's a cruel, callous tyrant who calls Eskimo kids "half-breeds" and mistreats his wife, Dorothy (Diane McBain in a wasted role). The costumers and set designers do a marvelous job of advancing Baranov year by year and a little make-up does wonders to make Burton et al age with the times (although Jim Backus, who was 14 years older than Burton, seemed to just let the Just for Men wear off). In no short time, we're introduced to Chris, Thor's son by his Eskimo wife (Dorcas Brower, a gorgeous woman who's character is barely touched upon because she conveniently dies off-screen in childbirth). Grace, Zeb and Dorothy's daughter is seen briefly as a little girl and then as a teenager who elopes with Chris. By this time, Zeb is a shell of a husband and Thor spends his every waking moment railing against Zeb like George Bush against Saddam Hussein. Then, suddenly, Grace is pregnant and she and Chris are flying across the frozen tundra on a three-week journey via dog sled to the nearest town so she can give birth (don't ask). They get lost and Thor and Zeb come to the rescue. Great drama until the scene with Chris fighting a man in a bear suit (watch how the bear throws Chris to the ground, then hams it up in a death scene; it's unintentionally hilarious). No doubt, the movie has a great cast, but most of the roles are underdeveloped and a few are totally out of place. George Takei's voice-over work on the English version of "Rodan" must have seemed a godsend compared to the simpering man-servant Wang. Kar Swenson as the full-blooded Irish father of Bridie is a hoot. Swenson is best known as lumber mill owner Lars Hanson of "Little House on the Prairie" and his Scandinavian accent massacres his attempts at speaking with an Irish brogue. Bridie is also wasted. She's supposed to be the object of love for Thor and Zeb, yet she marries neither, tries to help Thor raise his son, but is rarely shown in the same space as the boy. As she ages, she begins to resemble Bette Davis (it's hard to imagine her later role as Morticia Addams). It's become more and more difficult to believe she can still harbor any love or like for Thor or Zeb, both of whom lose audience sympathy by being total jackasses. Of course, all would seem to come together in the end, despite a despicable plot by Zeb and Dave's son, Bay (Ray Danton), to use his granddaughter Christine (Shirley Knight in another wasted role). But even this is left flapping in the breeze, literally, when Thor and a local pilot do the cliche "small plane in a snow storm hitting a glacier" plot twist. You can guess what happens next, which leaves you feeling cheated.

"Ice Palace" plays out more like the pilot for a TV show, where you hope unresolved issues will be answered. Actually, it probably should have been made into a TV show a la "Peyton Place" where the whole story line could have been given its proper due. All in all, it's an interesting little film to watch if you happen to be the kind of person who doesn't hit the "pause" button when the phone rings or the doorbell rings in the middle of the viewing. If you miss a scene, don't worry. You'll be just as confused as if you had watched it.

Alaskan melodrama in which Richard Burton rises from unemployment to cannery mogul, getting everything he wants through ruthless determination. Carolyn Jones is the other side of the coin, a woman who fails through indetermination to get anything she wants out of life - including Burton.

It's another Edna Ferber novel about industrial pioneers with an underlying environmental message (the devastation of fish stocks). It's unappealing and humourless, with Burton laying it on too thick, and the drama driven by unpleasant people finding excuses to get on each others' nerves.

Then (like Ferber's Giant) it starts to creak across generations with lots of unconvincing aging and new characters appearing late in the film we are surprised to have to care about. Finally, just to ratchet up the excitement, it gets all political.

Watching pack-ice breaking up would be more satisfying.

I like this movie due to the fact it celebrates the statehood of Alaska and it features Richard Burton pre Cleopatra when he was a solid journeyman Actor before all the hype of the Taylor/Burton affair. Vincent Sherman who made many fine films at Warner Bros. directs this film and it is a very easy going picture with great photography. Sherman did fine work at WB (and is noted for his relationships -at different times with feuding divas Joan Crawford and the Queen of the Lot Bette Davis)

Am also a fan of the Warner Bros stock company of the 1960's and several players of that group are cast here including the fine actor Ray Danton, and the lovely Diane McBain. Both Danton and McBain were groomed for stardom and Warners kept both busy in both movies and TV. Luscious Diane McBain was so beautiful but got lost at WB standing behind glamour girls Natalie Wood, and Connie Stevens. Warners would shunt their stock players between various TV shows and movies filming on the lot. There is a great picture which I wish someone would find that showed J L Warner with the dozens of players under contract at the time shot on the back lot: Troy Donahue, Connie Stevens, Edd Byrnes, Roger Smith, Peter Brown, Chad Everett, Dorothy Provine, Tony Eisley, Gary Vinson, Diane McBain, Ty Hardin et al, names that conjure up wonderful memories of a bygone era)

Is "Ice Palace" a great movie? no! Is it enjoyable to watch? Yes!