Eskimo (1933) - Eskimo (1933) - DVD

From the director of Trader Horn and Tarzan the Ape Man comes this riveting Arctic adventure, the first feature film shot in Alaska and in a Native American tongue. When Mala (Ray Mala) is told there's a White Man's boat harbored in Tjarnak that will barter furs for guns, the Inuk makes the 500-mile trek across the tundra accompanied by his woman, Aba (Lulu Wong Wing). Trading his skins for a rifle, Mala goes out on a hunt, returning to learn Aba was killed while escaping the ship's lecherous captain (Peter Freuchen). Stabbing him dead, Mala goes home, unaware he's broken the White Man's law and that the Mounties are tracking him down. Based on two books by Peter Freuchen, the Danish explorer who plays the role of the captain, Eskimo also featured director W.S. Van Dyke doubling as Inspector White and received the 1934 Film Editing Oscar, the first ever awarded.