The arrival of the mother bear forces the half-clothed Barlow to beat a hasty retreat, with the angry mother in hot pursuit. |
Sunday, December 08, 2013
Tundra #7
Tundra #8
As the chase continued onto a steep, snow-covered slope, the mother bear’s greater weight puts her at a disadvantage when she starts sliding and can’t stop herself. |
Tundra #9
Picking up speed, the mother bear is propelled down the mountainside and into a raging river, which carries her many miles downstream before she is finally able scramble back on shore. [The Disney people apparently studied this film very carefully since a similar bear-sliding-down-a-steep-snow-covered-slope sequence appears in the 1958 True-Life Adventure WHITE WILDERNESS.] |
Tundra #10
Once his clothes are dry, Barlow sets off on foot in the direction of Noonak, leaving the two cubs behind in the cave to fend for themselves as best they can. |
Tundra #11
When he makes camp for the night, Barlow is surprised to discover that the cubs have followed him.
[The filmmakers apparently used this same pair of bear cubs all through production. Although they appear small here, by the time filming ended, they were nearly half grown! As the film unfolds, they change size from sequence to sequence and sometimes from shot to shot depending on when a particular scene was filmed during production.]
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Tundra #13
. . . and soon all of Alaska learns that the Flying Doctor has crashed and is now missing. |
Tundra #14
Surviving on bird eggs and the fish and small game that he is able to catch, Barlow continues his overland trek. Using the notebook and pencil, he jots down brief comments that describe his thoughts and circumstances . . . |
Tundra #16
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Tundra #21
Trading in on their father’s reputation, the cubs save Barlow by frightening off the musk-oxen with their loud bawling. |
Tundra #22
As the journey continues, the cubs are constantly getting into trouble via encounters with other animals and through the mischief they cause while in camp. In exasperation, Barlow finally braids a grass rope, which he uses to tether them together . . . |
Tundra #24
Meanwhile, Alaska’s bush pilots have been conducting an extensive air search in a desperate attempt to locate Barlow amid thousands of square miles of wilderness. When the search proves unsuccessful, Barlow’s friend “Mac” (the bearded man with the “Smokey Bear” hat) volunteers to make the arduous overland trek to Noonak on the slim chance that doctor might be able to reach it on foot.
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Tundra #25
Even tethered together, the cubs manage to get into trouble. Working their way out onto a narrow point to investigate a pool of boiling water located far below. . . |
Tundra #28
. . . while the first cub desperately attempts to keep from sharing his brother’s pending fate. |
Tundra #32
The cubs, meanwhile, find still another opportunity to get into trouble. Discovering an unattended mountain lion cub, they attempt to befriend it. |
Tundra #34
. . . Barlow must once again come to the cubs’ rescue. [The unique manner in which they make good their escape was later used in WHITE WILDERNESS, providing further evidence that the Disney people studied this film and then borrowed ideas from it.] |
Tundra #35
The finale notebook entry reveals how desperate Barlow has become in his battle to stave off death-by-starvation. |
Tundra #36
Barlow’s resolve to kill one of the cubs for food is shattered when the cub licks his hand. |
Tundra #37
Resigned to his fate, Barlow numbly stumbles on, only to find himself at the village of Noonak, which he had been trying to reach all along. |
Tundra #38
In an empty cabin, Barlow finds a note which explains why the village is deserted and which warns of the peril that is lurking about. |
Tundra #39
Sensing the presence of fresh meat, a huge pack of savage, half-starved sled dogs begins rampaging through the village, searching for the fugitives. |
Tundra #40
Following their natural instinct to climb as a means of escaping danger, the cubs are quickly trapped. |
Tundra #45
Just when all seems lost, the mother bear, which had been following her cubs’ trail for weeks, appears on the scene. Hearing the cubs’ bawls of terror . . . |
Tundra #46
. . . she rears up on his hind legs and wades into the pack, swatting dogs right and left with her huge paws. |
Tundra #47
The noise also brings Barlow’s friend “Mac,” who had been scouting around Noonak on the slim chance that the doctor might be in the vicinity. Between the mother bear’s paws and Mac’s rifle, the sled dogs are either killed or put to flight.
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Tundra #48
With the danger removed, there is one final, bittersweet reunion between Barlow and the cubs. He will be going back to civilization with Mac and the cubs, now reunited with their mother, will be returning to their old way of life in the wild. |
Tundra #49
In the film’s final scene, the cubs turn to give Barlow (and the audience) one last backward glance before following their mother into the forest. |
From Jerry Cash
In Fridays Vargas photo #4, Chic noticed that part of the big top was not laced. This is the reason why. Two of the problems playing in mall parking lots, lamp posts and trees. "One year with Sid Kellner (James Bros.) we had a row of parking meters in front of the grandstand." Buckles |
Saturday, December 07, 2013
From Jerry Cash #1
Harry wanted to see the 5 pole Vargas big top. I shot this in 1980 in the East Los Angeles area. |
From Jerry Cash #2
Chic had a question about the orange and white big top. This was shot in 1974 in Torrance and goes with photo 2 from yesterday. |
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