The World in His Arms (1952)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Raoul Walsh

Writers:

Rex Beach (novel)
Borden Chase (writer)

Release Date:

4 July 1952 (France)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | History

Plot:

Roistering sea captain Jonathan Clark, who poaches seal pelts from Russian Alaska, meets and woos Russian countess Marina in 1850 San Francisco...

Plot Keywords:

Sea | Prince | Captain | Countess | Race

Cast

Gregory Peck	...	Capt. Jonathan Clark
Ann Blyth	...	Countess Marina Selanova
Anthony Quinn	...	Portugee
John McIntire	...	Deacon Greathouse
Carl Esmond	...	Prince Semyon
Andrea King	...	Mamie
Eugenie Leontovich	...	Anna Selanova
Hans Conried	...	Eustace, Hotel Clerk
Rhys Williams	...	Eben Cleggett
Sig Ruman	...	General Ivan Vorashilov
Gregory Gaye	...	Colonel Paul Shushaldin (as Gregory Gay)
Bill Radovich	...	Ogeechuk
Bryan Forbes	...	William Cleggett
Henry Kulky	...	Peter, Russian Servant

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

West Germany:12 (nf) | Norway:16 | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:15

Company:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Quotes:

Jonathan Clark: Let's see what part of Russia you come from.
[leans in to kiss her]
Countess Marina Selanova: [moving away] Not from that part.
Jonathan Clark: Oh?
Countess Marina Selanova: Perhaps, not so quickly. In my part of Russia it is the custom to at least ask the girl's name before you kiss her.
Jonathan Clark: Oh... Well, you see, in America we kiss first and ask later.

An exciting colorful adventure, very entertaining...

In old San Francisco, Marina Selanova (Ann Blyth) - a dark-haired Russian countess on the run from imminent union to the ambitious prince Semyon (Carl Esmond) - implores Captain Jonathan Clark (Gregory Peck) to take her to Alaska after been rejected by his eternal rival Portugee (Anthony Quinn).

Jonathan, an American seal pirate, falls for the diminutive, fresh-faced brunette, while giving her a midnight tour of San Francisco—an impressive similar situation to Peck-Audrey Hepburn in William Wyler's "Roman Holiday."

On the eve of their wedding day, her odious Russian fiancé kidnaps her, and sails for Alaska taking her on his gunboat... He promises to kill her uncle unless she married him as it was originally planned...

The film's highlight is the outstanding windswept race between two boats led by Peck and Quinn from San Francisco harbor to the Fur Seal Islands off the coast of Alaska, with the winner acquiring the other's ship and crew to rescue the lovely heroine...

With her slightly oriental eyes and pleasant lyric soprano voice, Ann Blyth provides feminine decoration for this epic adventure...

Anthony Quinn gives a high-spirited performance as the cunning, sympathetic thief... Quinn is challenged in the film in a 'trial of strength,' an amusing drinking and wrestling bout..

Raoul Walsh's direction is simple, direct and muscular... As a popular entertainer he is confident with a sense of humor... His actions, fury, spirit, skill, ambition and unrestrained dreams remain his forte...