Scott of the Antarctic – 1948 | 111mins | Drama | B&W

Plot Synopsis

There is something intensely British about Scott of the Antarctic, an epic story of great heroism which ended in failure. Robert Falcon Scott had already made a name for himself in polar exploration when he set out in 1910 on an attempt to reach the South Pole. It took two years for his small party to get to it, and when they did they found the Norwegian flag planted by Roald Amundsen flying there. On the way back everyone perished in the snows, and it was only after a search party several months later had found the Scott diaries and pieced together the story that Edwardian England was able to thrill to the courage of a small band of gallant men fighting impossible odds. The film that Ealing made was as worthy as its subject demanded. The direction was by Charles Frend who had been responsible for the wartime story of epic heroism, San Demetrio, London.

It was made in TechniColour, with Jack Cardiff, Osmond Borradaile and Geoffrey Unsworth in charge of photography. The script by Walter Meade and Ivor Montagu, with sequences by Mary Hayley Bell, leaned heavily on the diaries and Arne Akermark’s art direction gave as authentic a look as possible to the sets and props. As historical reconstruction it looked impeccable, although it has to be said that there were difficulties in getting approval from all the survivors of the expedition, particularly Lord Mountevans, formerly Lieutenant Evans, who had objected to his namesake and companion, Petty Officer Evans, being chosen by Scott for the final dash to the Pole. John Mills played Scott, a popular choice as he had established his reputation portraying level-headed, stiff upper-lipped men of courage. The supporting cast included Harold Warrender as Wilson, Derek Bond as Oates, Kenneth More as Lieutenant Evans, James Robertson Justice as Petty Officer Evans, Reginald Beckwith as Bowers and Diana Churchill as Scott’s wife.

Location photography was shot in Grahamland, Switzerland and Norway – in the first, which was in Antarctica itself, without any actors. In addition, there were many hazardous scenes filmed at Ealing on a sound stage covered in ‘fuff’, as the revolting artificial snow was called. Because of the difficulties of location shooting it had been decided to use the then new TechniColour monopack system which did away with the cumbersome three-strip camera, and their seventy pounds of film magazines, but it was not so easy to get the new stock from America. The beautiful documentary footage shot on the original expeditions on black-and-white nitrate stock by Herbert

Ponting was studied closely and some shots were even accurately duplicated. The final touch to enhance the picture’s prestige was the vibrant, atmospheric score by Ralph Vaughan Williams, one of the composer’s rare and most successful forays into film music, and a triumph for Ealing’s musical director, Ernest Irving. Although there is a tendency nowadays to scoff at hagiographies of national heroes, it would be unfair to deny Scott of the Antarctic its excellence. It is a cool, carefully-stated account, which does not flinch from showing the casual, gentlemanly way in which Scott made his plans, leaving far too much to chance and good fortune than was prudent for a determined explorer. He had the ambition, but not the ruthlessness.

In contrast, the unseen Amundsen is the highly organised professional with luck on his side. Characteristically, the final disaster is seen to begin with a small incident, a cut finger which in the appalling conditions becomes gangrenous and impedes progress. The sacrifice of Oates is simply depicted, and some critics felt that it was not made fellows, rather than merely absent-mindedly walking out into the snow because he had lost his rationality. The film is the perfect evocation of the team spirit, the submergence of individual emotion for the greater good of everyone. Thus the suffering is borne stoically, without complaint. As in so many Ealing films, the women are subordinated to a totally passive role – they wait patiently at home in Britain knowing that they will probably never see their husbands again.

At the conclusion we hear John Mills speak Scott’s famous last words in his diary: “Had we lived I should have had a tale to tell of the hardihood, endurance and courage of my companions, which would have stirred the heart of every Englishman. It seems a pity, but I don’t think I can write more. These rough notes and our bodies must tell the tale…. For God’s sake, look after our people.” And on the cross that marked the place in the frozen wilderness where they were found were the words: “To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.” It is the last shot of the film.

Extract© George Perry: Forever Ealing.