KnotMissPriceless Why so much hype?

Clevercell Very disappointing...

Merolliv I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

Frances Chung Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Martha Wilcox Henry Fonda doesn't contribute much to this film, although Dorothy Lamour does put in a good performance. This is really a George Raft film who puts in a strong performance, and there is a lot that you can learn from his acting. Fonda seems to be trying too hard to act. You just don't believe him, and you feel that he was very lucky to get a break in films in the 1930s. Even Akim Tamaroff puts in a better performance than Fonda standing shoulder to shoulder with Raft as an equal. I can see what Cecil B. DeMille saw in Tamaroff to cast him in 'The Buccaneer', although that was not a good film.Despite all this, I fell asleep during the film because it bored me to tears.

ROCKY-19 This has been called a western at sea and deservedly, considering the shootouts and roughhousing and a plot line of conflicted loyalties. There is great wildlife and glacier footage and tasty atmosphere. George Raft and Henry Fonda are an odd-couple match, but the chemistry works for the worldly-innocent contrast. In the "egg" incident, notice how both of them seem genuinely tickled. Fonda, of course, is the do-gooder and has little to do here until emotions build toward the climax. Raft has the more interesting role, and a salmon fisherman is a part definitely out of the norm for him. He gets an opportunity to lightly display a variety of talents (singing, swimming, stuntwork). But best of all, this is an example of the kind of performance that thoughtful direction like Hathaway's could bring from him. A vital sequence is emotionally honest without being hysterical or histrionic, and it's perfectly toned to the point of being wrenching. Also having good turns out of the usual are Dorothy Lamour and Akim Tamiroff, though John Barrymore seems a bit wasted - no pun intended.

stanleybix-1 This is a real good movie. Henry Fonda and George Raft Play the rival fishermen. Near the end of the movie George Raft is shot. While resting in bed he smokes a cigarette and the smoke comes up out of the bullet holes in his chest!? I remember when I was in high school. We were learning about first aid. The teacher told us about never giving a cigarette to an injury victim. Then he told us about a Humphrey Bogart movie where after being shot he smoked a cigarette and the smoke came out of his chest. I searched for years and found out it was the "Spawn of The North", With GEORGE RAFT not Bogart. Watch for this movie on AMC or TCM, just to see this scene. It is well worth watching, with fine acting and great scenery.

bkoganbing I've always looked on this film as a perfect blend of obvious location shooting for background very well integrated with the plot of the story which was done on the Paramount back-lot. The best part of the film is the footage of Alaska, of the Inuit, and even of the salmon going upstream to their demise.Looking at Henry Fonda and George Raft however is quite a contrast between a great actor and a personality. Raft's gangster persona is not quite right for this tale of best friends ending up on opposite sides of the law. Still he gives it his best shot and the results are more than adequate. However the best acted performance in this film without a doubt goes to Akim Tamiroff as the Russian fish pirate Red Skane. Skane is a swaggering thug and Tamiroff is perfect.Many years ago I saw Henry Fonda and he said he divided his films in two categories, those he did for art's sake and those he did for the money. Spawn of the North was one for the money, but still he was proud of it as entertainment. His Jim Kimmerlee does not belong in the category of his great parts like Mister Roberts or Oxbow Incident, but it still is a good piece of work. Fonda does the best he can with a part that doesn't call for him to do much, but be noble.Back in the 1930s location shooting was an expensive proposition and here Paramount did a superb job at masking the studio origins of the film. Looking at those shots with the fisherman against the backdrop of the glaciers and icebergs you really do think you're in Alaska. Great special effects here, especially in the climax which involves boats being crushed by icebergs.Nice entertainment and Dorothy Lamour does NOT wear a sarong.