Right out of the gate, this picture has the feel of one of those old Warner Brothers cartoons, complete with sight gags and boisterous sound effects. At first, it's a little disorienting, because after all, this is a John Wayne picture. But once you get into it, you realize that the Duke is having just a grand time of it all, and his enthusiasm infects the rest of the principal players. It all gets started with that great "North to Alaska" theme song from Johnny Horton, which pretty much sets the tone for everything to follow.
The first thing that struck me about Sam McCord's (Wayne) partner George Pratt (Stewart Granger) was holy cow, where did he get that tan? The next was holy cow, why is Fabian in this thing? And finally, there's Capucine - holy cow! Her presence in this flick might have been totally mis-cast, but who cares? If only Clancy had made a bigger splash!
You know, I got a kick out of that time Capucine called Sam 'Mess-soor'. Wayne must have liked it so much they wound up using it at least a half dozen times in his next picture "The Comancheros". Stuart Whitman gave it a different inflection in that picture though, and Wayne would repeatedly call him 'Mon-soor'.
I guess with all the fun they were having, it was easy for the film makers to break stride with continuity in the shooting. Right after Sam's shoot-out with the claim jumpers and his tussle with George in the sluice stream, he returns to the cabin and is completely dry. There's lots of stuff like that going on, including Sam losing his hair during one of his scuffles. I'm still wondering though, if it was really John Wayne or a stunt man who took that spill under the mule. If it was Wayne, I give him credit for bravery in the line of duty.
For all concerned, this is not your typical John Wayne fare. It's played in a much lighter, almost slapstick style that will catch you off guard at the outset. In his own way though, John Wayne gets to re-create the play book from his Lone Star Western days of the early 1930's - by the end of the picture, the hero gets the girl, and this one was the top chick from the Hen-House!
The first thing that struck me about Sam McCord's (Wayne) partner George Pratt (Stewart Granger) was holy cow, where did he get that tan? The next was holy cow, why is Fabian in this thing? And finally, there's Capucine - holy cow! Her presence in this flick might have been totally mis-cast, but who cares? If only Clancy had made a bigger splash!
You know, I got a kick out of that time Capucine called Sam 'Mess-soor'. Wayne must have liked it so much they wound up using it at least a half dozen times in his next picture "The Comancheros". Stuart Whitman gave it a different inflection in that picture though, and Wayne would repeatedly call him 'Mon-soor'.
I guess with all the fun they were having, it was easy for the film makers to break stride with continuity in the shooting. Right after Sam's shoot-out with the claim jumpers and his tussle with George in the sluice stream, he returns to the cabin and is completely dry. There's lots of stuff like that going on, including Sam losing his hair during one of his scuffles. I'm still wondering though, if it was really John Wayne or a stunt man who took that spill under the mule. If it was Wayne, I give him credit for bravery in the line of duty.
For all concerned, this is not your typical John Wayne fare. It's played in a much lighter, almost slapstick style that will catch you off guard at the outset. In his own way though, John Wayne gets to re-create the play book from his Lone Star Western days of the early 1930's - by the end of the picture, the hero gets the girl, and this one was the top chick from the Hen-House!