john_vance-20806 I saw this as a kid and was thoroughly entertained. On re-viewing it 40+ years later I liked it even better.John Wayne plays his usual rollicking tough-guy-with-a-heart-of-gold role. The man may have not had much acting depth, but within his element he could project an image and deliver a line as well as anyone in the business. I'm sure purists roll their eyes at his lasting fame, but if you want movies that entertain adults as well as the kids you rarely find a dud in the John Wayne collection.One might presume that Stewart Granger was perhaps too good an actor for this film but he fits right in. He certainly played the part well as would be expected but he seemed to have a great time.Cappucine. Well, what can you say but hubba hubba. Well, you can also say the woman had some solid chops. She had legitimate comedic skills and though her roles were limited she made the best out of them. Her death by suicide, evidently related to some kind of depressive or bipolar disorder, was simply sad. One has to wonder if with the tools of today it might have been avoidable.Fabian? Wow, that guy could really grow hair. But in all fairness he wasn't bad at all. He knew his limits and kept well within them. As a result he could contribute meaningfully to a film and not just as eye candy for the teenyboppers.The film is dated of course. Comedy of this style hasn't sold well since the Newman-Redford productions of the 70s. But for those of us old enough to remember the era this is a worthwhile sit-down.

Edgar Allan Pooh . . . NORTH TO ALASKA's Hollywood "pitch" must have been, "Elvis meets The Three Stooges." Often the biggest stars nurture the largest inferiority complexes, sometime to the detriment of their twilight years flicks. Take John Wayne, for example. After he turned 40 in 1947, most of his remaining 62 theatrical films come off more like variety shows, crammed full of stunt casting (such as NORTH's Bieber-like "Fabian," and Twiggy-like "Capucine") and the padding of seemingly endless extraneous detours (such as the Logger's Picnic and the Wreck-a-Sluice Shoot-out in NORTH, not to mention its spoof-like Casino and Mud brawls) in an aging star's admission that the force of his personality is no longer enough to carry a picture by itself. When you trim off an hour or more of this packed-on fat clogging the arterial action of these 60-plus Wayne flicks, you're often left with just 20 or 25 minutes devoted to the primary characters and resolving their core conflicts. Wayne crams too much misogyny (or abuse of women) into his "Sam" character for NORTH to be viewed in a humorous vein, and if Fabian is actually feeling as bad as he looks while singing here, he should get off the pot and swallow lots of Ex-Lax!

Tweekums When partners Sam McCord and George Pratt strike it rich in Alaska Sam heads down to Seattle to bring back George's French fiancée... there is a problem though; she has married somebody else! Sam comes up with a solution though; he'll take back another French girl instead; prostitute Michelle 'Angel' Bonet. His intention is that George will be just as pleased with Michelle; Michelle misunderstands though and thinks Sam wants her himself; understandably she is a little put out when she discovers the truth. When they reach Alaska they find out that George it no longer in town; he had to head up to the mine with his younger brother Billy. Needless to say things don't go as Sam expected; Billy falls in love with Michelle and when he finally gets George to meet her he isn't happy about being sent a 'replacement'... the biggest surprise for confirmed bachelor Sam is that he falls for her... but thinks she is with George!! If all that romantic confusion wasn't enough conman Frankie Canon keeps trying to swindle them; first out of a few hundred dollars then out of the mine.I thought I might not enjoy this after an early barroom brawl was full of over the top slapstick and comedy sound effects one would expect in a Loony Tunes cartoon. I soon found myself enjoying it however as it got more sensible; and funnier after that. John Wayne did a good job as Sam; playing him fairly straight rather than going for cheap laughs. French actress Capucine was a delight as Michelle; one can see why the men in the film took a shine to her! The rest of the cast were pretty good too. The 'Alaskan' scenery looks good even if it is really California. One might think that having a prostitute as a main character would make this unsuitable for children but what she does isn't spelt so youngsters are likely to think that she is just a dancer, the action scenes are child friendly too with slapstick brawls and no fatalities despite there being a shootout. At two hours this is a little on the long side but not excessively so. Overall I'd say this is worth watching if you like John Wayne westerns and want a chuckle.

wes-connors "John Wayne and Stewart Granger strike it rich in this rousing comedy-adventure set in the heyday of the Alaskan gold rush. When prospectors Sam McCord (Wayne) and George Pratt (Granger) hit the mother lode, George asks Sam to go to Seattle and fetch his sweetheart, Jennie, but she has already married someone else. Determined to bring George to a new life, Sam invites a salon dancer (Capucine) back to Nome as Jennie's replacement," according to the film's promotional description.The synopsis is also given in rockabilly singer Johnny Horton's excellent "North to Alaska" crossover hit, which was released just prior to the film, and served as an excellent promotional tool. All of this occurred simultaneously with Mr. Horton's sudden death in a car accident - which is an ironic tragedy, considering this film's celebration of alcohol.Teen idol Fabian (as Billy Pratt) performs "If You Knew" (a lesser tune). Filling the pin-up boy part in the Wayne formula for box office success, Fabian is surprisingly good as a comedian, especially in the "drunk" scene with Capucine. A fine comic, Ernie Kovacs (as Frankie Canon) isn't able to do much with his role. Wayne is funnier. Upping the level to near "Three Stooges" levels, director Henry Hathaway guides the cast through a lot of mud, not so much blood, and several kegs of beer.****** North to Alaska (11/3/60) Henry Hathaway ~ John Wayne, Stewart Granger, Fabian, Capucine