The happy life of an Eskimo is disastrously changed when he mingles with an unscrupulous white trader.The happy life of an Eskimo is disastrously changed when he mingles with an unscrupulous white trader.The happy life of an Eskimo is disastrously changed when he mingles with an unscrupulous white trader.
- Won 1 Oscar
- 2 wins total
Edgar Dearing
- Constable Balk
- (uncredited)
Peter Freuchen
- Captain
- (uncredited)
Edward Hearn
- Captain's Mate
- (uncredited)
Lotus Long
- Iva
- (uncredited)
Mala
- Mala, aka Kripik
- (uncredited)
Lewis E. McAfee
- Sailor
- (uncredited)
Joe Sawyer
- Sergeant Hunt
- (uncredited)
Harold Seabrook
- Minor Role
- (uncredited)
W.S. Van Dyke
- Inspector White
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis is the first film to ever win an Academy Award for Editing (1934 was the first year when an Oscar for Editing was introduced.)
- Quotes
Mala, aka Kripik: My mother looks younger and fatter every day.
- Crazy creditsPrologue: "....The Expedition to the Arctic began in April 1932....In November of 1933, the record was completed...."
- ConnectionsEdited into Governing Body (2023)
Featured review
Trumps Nanook (which I love also)
Here I thought "Nanook of the north" was the last word in archaic semi-doc 'eskimo' movies. How wrong! As an avid sea-kayaker I stayed up till 330am to watch this hoping to get a glimpse of some hand-made 'skin-boats'. The movie did not let me down. Any student of kayak/umiak construction should have a look-see here. (Note to fellow SKers: they appear to be using Norton Sound kayaks with single blade paddles).
But the film went way beyond this admittedly narrow interest. Even though there were as others have noted some little back-shot-fakey-bits the movie has so much heart they are just a minor annoyance. It was (from this very amateur anthropologist's viewpoint) probably the perfect time to make this movie. Early thirties: the 'talkies' are so new that they (including Louie B. Mayer!) actually let the Inuit speak in their own tongue. And there is so much that was still, despite the infused melodrama, authentic. They are really whacking that polar bear, that whale and those caribou. A fifties version of this film would have been so cheesy with 'stars', Technicolor, etc. to gum it up. The seventies version? Don't even. A very good companion piece to this excellent movie is "White shadows in the south seas" (1928) Geograpically the mirror image to "Eskimo" it also deals with the relentless and profound disruption of Western culture/technology on an unsuspecting people.
But the film went way beyond this admittedly narrow interest. Even though there were as others have noted some little back-shot-fakey-bits the movie has so much heart they are just a minor annoyance. It was (from this very amateur anthropologist's viewpoint) probably the perfect time to make this movie. Early thirties: the 'talkies' are so new that they (including Louie B. Mayer!) actually let the Inuit speak in their own tongue. And there is so much that was still, despite the infused melodrama, authentic. They are really whacking that polar bear, that whale and those caribou. A fifties version of this film would have been so cheesy with 'stars', Technicolor, etc. to gum it up. The seventies version? Don't even. A very good companion piece to this excellent movie is "White shadows in the south seas" (1928) Geograpically the mirror image to "Eskimo" it also deals with the relentless and profound disruption of Western culture/technology on an unsuspecting people.
helpful•181
- flanagle
- Mar 4, 2009
- How long is Eskimo?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Mala the Magnificent
- Filming locations
- near, Teller, Alaska, USA(Exterior)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $935,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 57 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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