Robert Morse excelled in light, romantic musical and comedy roles back in the '60s and '70s. This movie, taken from a book by the same name, is cute, mostly fun to watch, and has Anjanette Comer. If you are familiar with Anjanette Comer back in this era, then you can enjoy this movie even more. Basic plot is that a non-too-successful newspaper reporter is sent to the Antarctic (South Pole in case you are trying to imagine a map) to see if he can dig up a story about anything, especially Communists and plots against the free world. What he finds is a romance while trying to get down there (he is already married) and a bunch of bored scientists and military personnel once he gets there. George Maharis, as the girl-chasing photographer, and Michael Constantine, as the only Russian Morse can even find, are good in their roles. There is nothing that isn't just a shade predictable here, but the movie was directed by Delbert Mann (several Doris Day movies, A Gathering of Eagles, All Quiet on the Western Front-the one with John-Boy-and Night Crossing) who can spin an enjoyable tale. I only wish it were shown on TV or available on video.
Add a Review
-
thud-53 December 2001
-
moonspinner555 December 2009A womanizing photojournalist and a milquetoast reporter are partnered on an assigned business venture to the South Pole. At a military outpost in the Antarctic, they encounter government meatheads and Russian scientists, but what they really want is girls! Screenwriter Dale Wasserman, working from a novel by Philip Benjamin, doesn't provide the actors with anything other than head-butting humor, and seldom have I seen so many floundering performances in one picture. George Maharis and Robert Morse end up looking like a poor man's Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon; their comic rapport is colorless, though they do remain relaxed in the midst of such witless shenanigans. Daniel Mann directed, perhaps with his eyes shut. * from ****
-
edwagreen19 December 2009Major stinker. Obviously, they tried to capitalize on Robert Morse's huge success in HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING. Having George Maharis co-star was a complete waste. As a photographer big on women and drink, Maharis was a complete and utter dud here.
You had a good plot go completely awry here when Howard St. John sends his reporter Morse to the Antarctic to get him away from his daughter. The film becomes utterly nonsensical. What was the brawl all about in the New Zealand bar?
Michael Constantine plays a Russian scientist who winds up with a love interest of Morse. Constantine needed Room 222 on television; that's where he really shined.
How dare they name a penguin after a dead sea man? That also was ridiculous, but the film was inane. I wasn't only cold seeing the scenes at the Antarctic; the entire film gave me the chills.