Ice Palace

Another Edna Ferber saga about the largest state of the union ; she did the same for Texas .Two giants. But whereas "giant" sprawled over three hours , "ice palace " moves at the speed of sound and gives the filling of watching a digest,sometimes even an interminable trailer ; one moves from generation to generation in a jet plane;time moves so fast that the plot suffers accordingly.

Burton is the equivalent of Dean ,a self-made man (though he's helped by his father-in-law ) who becomes a tycoon via overfishing and unfair competition ; like Jett ,he's a hateful racist who does not like the half-breed (remember the scene of the Mexican wife in the beauty parlor ).

Robert Ryan portrays the liberal hero ,but your belief has to be suspended if you are to believe in his political career :from humble trapper to the White House, in such a small time, ( the facile trick of the newspapers headlines ) ; And pregnant Shirley Knight crossing the icy territories on a sleigh when she's expecting her baby any day now is beyond belief !

But there's a compensation :you don't have time to get bored ,and if you like melodramatic family saga ,you"ll get something out of it. What about a miniseries(and not a remake) which would do Ferber more justice?

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.

... 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.

This is one of those grandiose movies in which everyone is destined to be a governor or some such character. So, this isn't a movie that you take too seriously. It is a movie which depends on characters to keep you interested. Two friends, played by screen legends Richard Burton and Robert Ryan, go through ups and downs, and a big feud that culminates through the generations. The story itself isn't too bad. It gets a bit too grandiose for some people, and possibly not enough for others. At the time, Burton was considered the great actor, and Ryan was considered a Western actor. But now both are regarded as superstars. And this is a pretty star studded cast. And it isn't a boring story. There are assets to this film.

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!