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  Directed by
  Starring
  Specs
  • Widescreen 1.85:1
  • 16:9 Enhanced
  • Dual Layer ( )
  Languages
  • English: Dolby Digital 4.0 Surround
  • French: Dolby Digital 4.0 Surround
  • Spanish: Dolby Digital 4.0 Surround
  • German: Dolby Digital 4.0 Surround
  • Italian: Dolby Digital 4.0 Surround
  Subtitles
    English, French, German, Italian, English - Hearing Impaired, Norwegian
  Extras
  • Theatrical trailer

North to Alaska

20th Century Fox/20th Century Fox Home Entertainment . R4 . COLOR . 117 mins . PG . PAL

  Feature
Contract

When confirmed bachelor Sam McCourt strikes it rich, he heads to Seattle to pick up his partner’s fiancee. Upon arrival she’s already married and so Sam, with a brilliant drunken brainwave, decides to grab a similar looking French hooker for his pal. It’s a case of misunderstanding when she thinks she’s going back with Sam and falls for him. Upon arrival there are all sorts of zany romantic adventures figuring out who’s in love with whom. Along the way there are plenty of classic fight scenes, classic stunts and classic cliches.

"A bullet through the head is always the best cure for love."

John Wayne movies are John Wayne movies. There’s always plenty of fights, plenty of sexist wordplay and plenty of guns going off real loud. This is a rather simplistic plot which actually has little to do with heading north to Alaska, as most of the players are already in Alaska. I was also a little confounded as to why it was in the Western box set. It is set in Alaska, but no one was going West to Alaska. I guess it is a Western, after all, but I found it more an olde schoole Pretty Woman. The leading lady of the piece, “International beauty, Capucine” ss a real highlight of the film, looking beautiful, demure, sassy or as the crushed flower whenever the script dictated.

There are plenty of good natured fight scenes and some angry shots fired, but the whole thing is mostly about this unusual romance. Fabian even croons a sweet number with an accordian. Very Western. The most unfortunate thing about this film, though, is the total waste of the Alaskan wilderness. They could have made way more use of magnificent landscapes and panoramic views, but they limited the scenery to set shots and studio shooting.

  Video
Contract

Another restoration job completed successfully and transferred admirably. A nice picture all the way through, including some SFX shots of the Aurora Borealis which didn’t look taped on. There are occasional green shadows, but for the most part lighting and shadows are okay. The flesh tones come up well and the garish colours of the cathouses are incredibly evident. A relatively clean transfer with little or no film artefacts to speak of.

  Audio
Contract

The sound is in Dolby Digital 4.0 and at times gets a little confusing with so much going on in some scenes, but that’s hardly the audio transfer's fault. The dialogue is quite clean and is easily understood, even when coarse music is playing behind the actors. The musical score plays well and doesn’t get all jumbled under the actor’s lines either, which is handy for a comedy which relies on music to get across the feeling of some scenes. Various bar fight scenes rely quite a bit on the music, so we know it isn’t a ‘serious’ fight. It plays well atop the action, even being used as a sound effect occasionally, though thankfully this isn’t often.

I didn’t detect any noise behind the soundtrack, which is great. It shows Fox has restored this film and its original soundtrack as well as the others in this box set.

  Extras
Contract

As with nearly all the others in this set, there is only the original theatrical trailer included on this disc. This is a little disappointing, and it gives away a lot of the film if you watch it first (as I did). Johnny Horton sings his classic hit North to Alaska throughout, and unfortunately, they haven’t restored the trailer, as there are scratches and crap all over it.

  Overall  
Contract

I enjoyed this film more than the others in the set, probably because it was the least serious. The actors all work well together and even John Wayne isn’t as wooden as he has been in other films. There are some great lines as well, which is always a bonus when you’re watching an older movie. This one’s the highlight of the box set and well worth watching. I even laughed a couple of times, but then I always think it’s funny when something hits someone on the head and they pass out.


  • LINK: http://www.dvd.net.au/review.cgi?review_id=2667
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      And I quote...
    "There’re some great lines, which is always a bonus when you’re watching an older movie."
    - Jules Faber
      Review Equipment
    • DVD Player:
          Nintaus DVD-N9901
    • TV:
          Sony 51cm
    • Receiver:
          Diamond
    • Speakers:
          Diamond
    • Surrounds:
          No Name
    • Audio Cables:
          Standard Optical
    • Video Cables:
          Standard Component RCA
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