Ice Palace

If this is the movie where there is a great granddaughter all grown and the two men are still battling and she says she is still 1/4 Eskimo. This happened at the end and there is a big parade - probably the state hood. I saw this back in 1961 and have remembered it for over 45 years and never seen it again. I've been frantically looking for this movie. I hope this is the one I am looking for. I loved the movie. And I want to see it again and again only this is the first time I've even come close to seeing if this is the right one or not. I found this movie to be educational, yet entertaining. I would recommend this movie to all young people who would like to hear about it. Rhonda Hill

Trailer—Ice Palace

source: Ice Palace

Ice Palace

Edna Ferber insanity about Alaska during the first half of the twentieth century. Richard Burton, extremely uncomfortable sans his Welsh accent, opens a cannery with salmon fisherman Robert Ryan. Silliness ensues. A high gloss soap opera in the guise of a historical epic directed by Vincent Sherman. Though released in 1960, it's so old-fashioned it's difficult believe this melodrama wasn't made in the 1930s. Sherman, a marginally talented studio director with no talent for anything that should be done on a grand scale, brings very little to this type of film. The supporting cast is far more colorful than any of the studio-bound scenery. Carolyn Jones is terrific as the woman caught between Burton and Ryan. Jim Backus, Ray Danton and Martha Hyer are in it too.

Alaskan melodrama in which Richard Burton rises from unemployment to cannery mogul, getting everything he wants through ruthless determination. Carolyn Jones is the other side of the coin, a woman who fails through indetermination to get anything she wants out of life - including Burton. It's another Edna Ferber novel about industrial pioneers with an underlying environmental message (the devastation of fish stocks). It's unappealing and humourless, with Burton laying it on too thick, and the drama driven by unpleasant people finding excuses to get on each others' nerves. Then (like Ferber's Giant) it starts to creak across generations with lots of unconvincing aging and new characters appearing late in the film we are surprised to have to care about. Finally, just to ratchet up the excitement, it gets all political. Watching pack-ice breaking up would be more satisfying.

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.

If this is the movie where there is a great granddaughter all grown and the two men are still battling and she says she is still 1/4 Eskimo. This happened at the end and there is a big parade - probably the state hood. I saw this back in 1961 and have remembered it for over 45 years and never seen it again. I've been frantically looking for this movie. I hope this is the one I am looking for. I loved the movie. And I want to see it again and again only this is the first time I've even come close to seeing if this is the right one or not. I found this movie to be educational, yet entertaining. I would recommend this movie to all young people who would like to hear about it. Rhonda Hill

This is one of the great movies ever made. I really would love to own it on DVD. I have it on VHS, but the color is fading. Do you know when it will come out on DVD. I recommend this movie to all ages.Anyone who is interested in the history and stories of Alaska will enjoy the story. The actors are Robert Ryan, who is great, Richard Burton, who is always very good, and Carolyn Jones and Marther Hyer who portray their parts perfectly. You are in for a real treat, so grab your popcorn, something to drink, set back and enjoy a great movie, full of entertainment and good acting. To bad that Hollywood does not put out this kind of movies anymore. An era has pasted and that is too bad.