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Just perfect...

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

ICE PALACE was a failed 1960 Warner Bros. minor blockbuster! Rather poorly adapted for the screen by Harry Kleiner from the best selling novel by Edna Ferber it was stodgily directed by Vincent Sherman on one of his off days! This would-be sprawling saga about Alaska statehood and the feud between two men in the fisheries industry did however have rich colour Cinematography by Joseph Biroc and a magnificent score by the studio's legendary Max Steiner!The picture, set in Alaska just after WW1, turned out to be a wearisome 143 minute soap opera! Like most Ferber stories, which tend to be overlong and tediously generational, ICE PALACE as a film suffers from an unremarkable screenplay, flabby direction and most importantly an unimpressive cast. Firstly, Richard Burton as the main protagonist is wholly wrong for the part! His "just mustered out regular U.S. soldier" character is simply at odds with Burton's own personality! His stern Englishness (does he ever smile) renders his playing totally unconvincing! You keep waiting for the actor to break into a reading from "Richard The 3rd" or use something from "Romeo & Juliet" in the love scenes! Secondly, Robert Ryan, in one of his rare sympathetic roles and sporting the colourful name of Thor Storm, isn't much better! He just doesn't suit the part of a bible quoting goody-two-shoes moralist! And the female lead has to be the casting director's idea of being humorous! Carolyn Jones - a second rate actress of little account - is amazingly cast here as the object of desire for both Burton and Ryan! Miss Jones - trying to look and act like Bette Davis - never struck me as the ideal woman that could set a fire alight in a man - let alone two! But I guess that's life.... in the movies anyhow! C'est La Vie!!The best thing about this near Turkey is Max Steiner's wonderful music! This was the composer's fourth score for a Ferber story following "Cimarron" (1931), "Saratoga Trunk" (1946) and "So Big" (1953). The composer's magnificent Anthem-like main theme for ICE PALACE - first heard over the titles - was purposely based on "Maryland My Maryland" and was once considered by Alaska for its state song. After the main title it segues into the music for the Prologue which can be heard under the splendid on-screen poem "Alaska" by Robert W. Service.............Wild And Wide Are My BordersStern As Death Is my Sway,And I Wait For The Men Who Will Win meAnd I Will Not Be Won In A Day,And I Will Not Be Won By WeaklingsSubtle, Soft And Mild,But By Men With The Hearts Of VikingsAnd The Simple Faith Of A Child. The score also boasts two beautiful love themes and a haunting Eskimo cue where the intuitive composer conveys a compelling ethnic impression. Also heard are exciting variations on the main theme for a montage of some fishing sequences and a terrific frenetic cue for a dog-sled as it races across a snow covered landscape.ICE PALACE never made the grade as even a competent movie! It could have been and should have been a whole lot better. If it is worth anything it is for Steiner's music! The esteemed composer once said that great music could never save a movie. In the case of ICE PALACE he was right on the button!

This is one of those grandiose movies in which everyone is destined to be a governor or some such character. So, this isn't a movie that you take too seriously. It is a movie which depends on characters to keep you interested. Two friends, played by screen legends Richard Burton and Robert Ryan, go through ups and downs, and a big feud that culminates through the generations. The story itself isn't too bad. It gets a bit too grandiose for some people, and possibly not enough for others. At the time, Burton was considered the great actor, and Ryan was considered a Western actor. But now both are regarded as superstars. And this is a pretty star studded cast. And it isn't a boring story. There are assets to this film.

I can't believe this movie has a rating as high as it does! This is an absolutely awful "epic" film that is about as dull and poorly made "big picture" as you'll find. To put this in perspective, this came out just a few years after GIANT and seems to be a similar-type movie (having been written by the same person, by the way) but it's set in Alaska instead of Texas. And,...in addition, it is chock full of histrionics and soap opera elements.My biggest complaint is actually the music. This is an odd thing to complain about, but throughout the movie incredibly loud and flamboyant music occurs in the most mundane moments! For example, when people are out catching salmon in fishing boats, you are assaulted by loud classical-style music! Again and again, the lousy musical score dominates and overwhelms. A lot of the time, it simply would have been better with no music instead of the brash music they used.Secondly, no one in particular is very likable or interesting. At first, Richard Burton seems interesting and pretty likable, but soon he becomes and unreasoning money-crazed robot instead of a real human being. So, in effect, he's a caricature of a person--completely one-dimensional and fake. His kid and later grandkid MIGHT be interesting, but their characters really are never developed--they're more like a part of the set or a plot device. Despite Robert Ryan's character being a little less repellent and wooden, he isn't a BIG improvement, either. Of the three leads, Carolyn Jones probably comes off best.Thirdly, George Takei (yes, from STAR TREK) plays the role of a very stereotypical Chinese lackey. Considering how broad and insulting the character was, I feel sorry for him having to take such a demeaning role. Plus, he's Japanese--this just isn't the same as Chinese! Why not get a real honest-to-goodness Chinese guy who can act like he's not an idiot to play the part?Fourthly, I hated the scene involving the fight between Thor's son and the bear. In the distant shots it's obviously a real bear. But in the close shots it's also obviously a guy in a bear suit! It's so obvious that it looks like something you'd see in a 3 Stooges short, not an expensive epic.And finally, the film is just uninteresting. The movie seemed like it was 4 hours long, but it wasn't. It's just that a guy making money by operating a fish cannery just isn't compelling.So in conclusion, the movie stinks. It's BIG and SWEEPING and has some nice cinematography, but that's all!!!

This is a surprisingly little known generational saga based on a novel by Edna Ferber (who also penned "Cimarron".) It spans about 45 years in the lives of a trio of entrepreneurs in Alaska. Burton plays an ex-WWI soldier who isn't given his old job back as the war ends. He makes his way to Alaska where he (after some plot complications) meets up with fisherman Ryan and Ryan's fiancée Jones. From here, the story follows their many trials and tribulations leading up to the statehood of Alaska. There is a TON of story to be told in this film and, though it is long, most vignettes only get touched on and many characters come and go and age so quickly it's sometimes head-spinning. Burton is a thoroughly unsympathetic lead character. All he does is brood and bellow. Ryan is less grating at first, but soon joins in. Jones, though solid, seems to be channelling Bette Davis half the time and her long-suffering role is one like Ms. Davis might have essayed back in her prime at Warner Brothers. Hyer, in a thankless role, pretty much models some nice suits before her big (and hilarious) scene involving a heart attack. Backus does okay as Burton's sidekick. One shocker is witnessing the well-spoken Takei portraying a demeaning, pigeon-English, Chinese servant complete with all the stereotypical traits and insulting "comic relief". It is odd to see Burton sharing screen time with "Mr. Howell" and "Mr. Sulu"! Knight barely appears at all. McBain comes along toward the end to provide a welcome dose of spark and sex appeal. The film is not exactly good, but it is watchable. Several scenes are marred by tacky effects like plastic snow and rear-projection (and in one howler of a scene, an attack by a man in a bear suit!) Also, Burton, who was twelve years YOUNGER than Backus, ages and ages while Backus just goes a little gray. He passes Backus up! Max Steiner provides some nice music. One scene, which seems daring for the time, involves two Eskimo women getting naked under some furs to thaw out a frozen traveller.