The Island at the Top of the World (1974)

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

For a Disney movie, this was above average in conception and execution. The Balloon vehicle provides very interesting plot twists. The lead actors aren't top stars except Mako in a good support role as an eskimo guide, but they all turn in good performances that stand above normal campy Disney fare. The French pilot and English Expedition head clash most enjoyably. And there is a comic mascot. There are several true villains and they battle weather elements as well. This is not a great film, but for Disney it stands out and is a satisfying adventure flick with typical Disney ending. All the elements are there and even the music is good.

"Mary Poppins" director Robert Stevenson's fantasy outing "The Island at the Top of the World" has all the makings of an adventurous outdoors saga, but loquacity between the two leading characters, played respectively by David Hartman and Donald Sinden, sabotaged this formulaic epic. Although Ian Cameron authored the novel "The Lost Ones," Cameron's narrative appears to have been inspired by Jules Verne. Interestingly enough, Cameron is a pseudonym for Donald G. Payne, who also has also written novels under another name James Vance Marshall. The son of Sir Anthony Ross (Donald Sinden of "The Day of the Jackal") vanishes during an expedition two years earlier in the Arctic, and Ross invites Arctic expert Professor John Ivarsson (David Hartman of "The Ballad of Josie") to accompany him on a journey to the North Pole. Although they cannot ply the frozen waters of the Arctic to reach the area where Ross' son Donald (David Gwillim of "Nostradamus") vanished, Ross has found an alternative form of transportation in the form of an airship piloted by French aviator Captain Brieux (Jacques Marin of "Charade") to take them to their objective. Along the way, our intrepid adventurers pick up Donald's Eskimo pal Oomiak (Mako of "Bulletproof Monk") and take him with them to Donald disappeared. Eventually, our heroes find an evergreen section of the Arctic and a graveyard where whales go to die. The whale graveyard reminded me of an elephant graveyard in African movies. Finally, Ivarsson and Ross find Donald. It seems that he is living with a lost colony of paranoid Vikings who abhor the idea of outsiders entering their society. They call their remote outpost Astragard and they have lived there for a thousand years. No sooner have these Vikings greeted our heroes to their colony than they take them hostage, put them on trial—a kangaroo trial—and sentence them to death by immolation aboard a boat in the middle of a fjord. Happily, Donald's attractive girlfriend Frejya (Agneta Eckemyr of "Blindman") rescues them and they embark on a long, arduous journey with the Vikings nipping at their heels.Most of the time, Sinden and Hartman's characters exchange important points of exposition and it almost seems that the movie devolves into a two man drama. "Island at the Top of the World" improves substantially after our heroes escape from the Vikings and literally turns into Verne's "Journey to the Center of the Earth." The payoff that enables our heroes to escape from the Vikings is rather cheesy. Sinden is really good as a bulldog of a character and his dialogue delivery is gripping. Hartman delivers his dialogue well enough, but he plays a lifeless character without a shred of charisma. The action seems threadbare and the special effects a rather slight.

I cannot recall ever seeing this Disney movie in my youth but I caught up with it recently on DVD. Its certainly great to look at with some splendid effects and at times it is really quite exciting. Some effects such as the volcano look a little contrived by todays standards but there are moments that are simply splendid. Highlight is the opening moments in the air ship as well as the splendid scenery. THe look of the Viking Village is splendid. The acting of the leads is pretty awful. Donald Sinden is quite irritating. You feel like pushing the old fool out of the air ship. The character is annoying and he plays it as though he is auditioning for My Fair Lady. As for David Hartman as the Professor it is like watching a block of wood. It is so wooden that he delivers his lines as though he is reading the news. He gives a flat lifeless performance, its really dreadful. David Gwilliam as the lost son sounds like a first term drama student. He delivers lines as though he is taking elocution lessons. Mako normally is superb but in this its little more than a carricature. Its quite incongruous actually. In the first half of the film Mako plays the eskimo as a native who speaks no English but a few reels later he speaks English and there is no explanation as to why. Fortunately Mako went on to other things and was always a dignified presence on the screen. This was not his best performance. I think its due to poor direction and story structure. Best performance comes from Jacques Marin as the Captain who steals the acting honours from everyone. Of course being Disney there is an incredibly cute dog. That little poodle acts better than poor David Hartman. Still its a fun film. If you forgive the acting and enjoy the look of the movie its pleasant viewing.

FYI...I flew the camera ship for the Polar Bear and Narwhal scenes. The camera man was Bill Bacon from Squim, Washington. According to my log book, I met Bill in Resolute Bay, NWT on about July 24, 1973. On July 26, 1973 we flew 2+00 hours to Arctic Bay, NWT for staging and fuel. I logged 6+30 hours flying on July 27th, this was en-route from Arctic Bay,NWT to Admirality Inlet for the filming and returning to Resolute Bay. The Aircraft was a Bell 206B (CF-OKU) belonging to Okanagan Helicopters Ltd. A Canadian company out of Vancouver, BC, Canada with a base in Resolute. The Narwhal scenes were filmed with a 35 MM camera, but if I remember correctly Bill shot the Polar bear as an after thought and was filmed with a 16 MM camera.Walter Lasher Everett, Washington [email protected]