The Secret Land

The Secret Land is a feature-length 1948 documentary film about a United States Navy expedition code-named "Operation Highjump" to explore Antarctica and to evaluate its potential for military operations in 1946.[2] It won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature.[3][4]

The Secret Land
Film poster
Written byHarvey S. Haislip
William C. Park
Produced byOrville O. Dull
Narrated byRobert Montgomery
Robert Taylor
Van Heflin
CinematographyNavy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Army cameramen
Edited byFredrick Y. Smith
Music byBronislau Kaper
Distributed byMGM
Release date
  • October 22, 1948 (1948-10-22)
Running time
71 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$216,000[1]
Box office$576,000[1]

Summary

The Secret Land was filmed entirely by USN and US Army military photographers, and was narrated by actors Robert Taylor, Robert Montgomery, and Van Heflin. It was produced by Orville O. Dull.

An early scene features Chief of Naval Operations Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz discussing Operation Highjump with admirals Richard E. Byrd and Richard H. Cruzen prior to their departure. Also depicted are the rescue of a crew of a crashed aircraft and the discovery of an Antarctic "oasis" of bare ground and ice-free fresh water lakes atop a thermal bulge deep inland.

The film has re-enacted scenes of critical events, such as shipboard damage control and Admiral Byrd throwing items out of an airplane to lighten it to avoid crashing when one engine of the aircraft he was in failed and the other began to falter under the excess load.

It won the 1948 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Reception

The film earned $395,000 in the US and Canada and $181,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $10,000.[1]

Cast

See also
  • Survival film, about the film genre, with a list of related films

References
  1. The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study
  2. "AFI: The Secret Land". AFI. Retrieved January 6, 2012.
  3. "The 21st Academy Awards (1949) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved August 18, 2011.
  4. Chowther, Bosley (2011). "NY Times: The Secret Land". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Baseline & All Movie Guide. Archived from the original on May 21, 2011. Retrieved November 7, 2008.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.