The Secret Land

This documentary quite rightly won an Oscar for its efforts at showing the large scale exploration of Antartica undertaken by the United States military. The weather conditions were rather extreme, to put it mildly. I'd be curious to learn just how many cameras froze up during the expedition! The narration is capably handled by three prominent actors who also seved in the military during World War II and everything is very well-executed. Turner Classic Movies has been airing this fairly often in the last two or three years. Highly recommended.

Back in the day when documentary film making was more than some obnoxious twit sticking a video camera in front of celebrities and then editing the content for a political agenda, MGM contributed this classic about Admiral Byrd's post World War II expedition to Antarctica. The film was narrated by three WWII veterans with MGM, Robert Montgomery, Van Heflin, and Robert Taylor.

The men here are assigned some of the most hazardous peace time duty the United States Navy ever had to perform. The polar regions are some of the most forbidding area on our globe. The film captures some real dangers the Navy faced. We see a submarine caught in a frozen ice flow, a rescue of a man being transferred from ship to ship via breecher's buoy when the line snaps and he's tossed into the frozen sea, a crash of one of the planes. This film captures all the hazards of the expedition and the forbidding beauty of Antarctica.

From his transatlantic flights and his early polar expeditions Admiral Richard E. Byrd was a genuine American hero. We probably know more about the geography of the polar regions due to his work than any other individual. After this expedition, Byrd in fact did return to the South Pole as late as two years before he died in 1957.

When TCM broadcasts this, catch it by all means. This is what reality TV is all about.

The oddly named O. O. Dull's last production is, according to Turner Classic Movies, an "authentic reproduction" of Byrd's 1946-47 expedition to the Antarctic, filled with sharp black-and-white photography and blotchy Technicolor footage, narrated by Robert Montgomery, Robert Taylor, and Van Heflin. This nicely edited documentary has some interesting shots of life aboard the ships and ice packs of Antarctica, and some staged shots of three or four admirals droning their lines. Always fun to look at penguins!

Telling the story of Byrd's 1946 expedition to Antarctica, this is narrated by Robert Montgomery, who himself had been in the service; this one has a whole buncha hollywood bigshots who had served in the military. Van Heflin, Robert Taylor. We were done with WW II, so now we could move on to exploring more places. We had all those war ships with nothing to do, so thirteen ships took the admiral down to Antarctica. We watch as some of the ships get stuck in the ice; they kidnap various types of seals to bring back to the U.S, set up tent-town on the ice shelf, and send out planes to map the area. Directed by Orville (Bunny !) Dull. last thing he did in hollywood. Pretty interesting for history buffs. Certainly gave the military something to do after being so necessary during WW II. won an oscar.

Although released some 71 years ago in black and white, The Secret Land is a living visual documentary testament of the fortitude of the 4,700 men of the United States Navy, Air Force and Army. This film is delivered under the pretense that the United States was interested in exploring the vastness of the sub zero temperature of Antarctica to map out the land for its minerals and oils and was led by Admiral Byrd's post World War II expedition to Antarctica.

This film is just so interesting from so many perspectives. First, Admiral Byrd was responsible for leading more than a dozen ships, even more planes and helicopters, as well a submarine was also deployed. Unfortunately the submarine was unable to make it through the deep thick glacier ice and the film shows us their audience where it got stuck and how the men pulled it out before it sunk with the 300 men aboard and turn around for safer open water. Secondly the planning of this expedition was completed in about three (3) quick months, and if the over 4,000 men was not significant enough, the huge amount of food, visual and technical equipment, husky dogs, sleds, and tents just added to the expanse of the filming in the Antarctica.

I am a believer in conspiracy theories, and since this documentary type film was made shortly after the end of world War 2, I for one am going to assume that the U.S. Navy, Air Force and Army quickly deployed a fleet of ships, planes and a submarine as well to the Antarctica to counter what other large and competitive foreign countries such as Russia, Germany and maybe even China had already deployed in the Antarctica. Regardless of the real reasons the United States made this film, it is a sight to see if for nothing else but to see these hardy men stepping out on to the plains of the Antarctica with what today would be considered antiques and survive in sub 30 degree weather, day in and day out.

I have watched this film twice now and I am sure to watch it again as it is very impressive both for the cinematography of the cold and vast Antarctica, but also for its historical value of the men and their equipment that they used some 70 years ago. I give this excellent film a 9 out of 10 rating.