North to Alaska

$7 rush tickets available at the door.

Production on this big, boisterous entertainment package was hampered by wayward screenwriters, John Wayne going over schedule on The Alamo, a writers’ strike, and the replacement of original director Richard Fleischer with Hathaway. But the finished film, about a gold prospector (Wayne) who goes to Seattle to retrieve his partner’s fiancée and comes back to Nome with a good time saloon girl (Capucine), is so buoyant, funny, and perfectly keyed to its glorious natural settings that it all feels seamless. With Ernie Kovacs, Stewart Granger in one of his best performances as the partner, and, in the role that brought him the Harvard Lampoon’s coveted Least Promising Actor of the Year Award, Fabian. A 20th Century-Fox release.