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19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Duke Movie, but would be better on DVD, February 17, 2003
The great gold rush of the late 1890's brings out thoughts of the wonderful writings of Robert W. Service, and his poems about life during the gold rush. It's so easy to visualize the John Wayne we see in this movie as being part of Service's writings.Wayne, Stewart Granger, Fabian (???), Capucine and Ernie Kovacs all have major roles, and play them well. But the supporting cast is equally effective... I don't know the names of the actors, but the characters Mr. and Mrs. Lars Nordquist are terrific. And Mickey Shaughnessy is perfect as the inebriated miner who once worked the land near Sam McCord's (Wayne) claim. The film is a fun film, intermingled with some nice action. Some of the scenes seem as if they were copied from photos of the late 1890's. The scenery is terrific, but don't think that they really went to Alaska to film any of it... it's the best that California could come up with. The city of Nome is nicely done, right down to the muddy streets. As you can expect from any John Wayne movie, you'll have a couple of entertaining fights. For those who think of John Wayne as being anti-Indian... forget it. That is just the opposite of his character in all his films; and is just propoganda uttered by his political foes in an effort to make his feelings less acceptable. Forget it. As usual, the only folks Wayne picks on here are the ones who cause the trouble. The whole movie is a romantic fantasy and a very enjoyable one at that.
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