The Island at the Top of the World
- G
- Year:
- 1974
- 93 min
- 128 Views
- Good evening.
- I'm Professor Ivarsson.
Yes, Sir Anthony
has been expecting you.
It's in your hands, Milo.
- Stand fast. They'll come to terms.
- Very well.
If problems come up,
consult with the board.
They know my thinking.
Ah, Professor Ivarsson.
I cannot tell you how grateful I am
you've joined me.
I haven't agreed to anything.
Someone woke me up
at 6.00 yesterday morning
saying he was the
British ambassador.
It was the British ambassador.
He'd arranged my passage
on a mail-boat to England,
and a large man packed my bags
and drove me to the dock.
- Your train leaves in ten minutes.
- Good. Come along, Ivarsson.
But the... Sir Anthony.
Expedition to the Arctic?
I'm hardly a professional explorer.
No, let me finish.
- I've had you looked into.
- Oh.
You're an American
from the University of Minnesota,
currently a guest lecturer
at the University of Christiania.
Your specialty is
the archaeology of the North.
In the past, you've led
several successful expeditions.
You've done interesting work
in Greenland.
Oh, no. You're the right man
for the job, all right.
For what job? What's so urgent
about it? What is it you hope to find?
My... son.
You see, my wife died
when Donald was a child.
to take my place in the business.
I pushed him too hard, I think.
Anyway, we had words.
And suddenly,
Donald dropped everything
and went off on a whaling ship
as an ordinary seaman.
Three months later, I got word
that he'd left the ship in Bathenland.
Why?
I had no idea
until I received this from a trading post
at Fort Conger on Ellesmere Island.
Donald had left it with the factor
for safe keeping
when he had gone off
on some sort of expedition.
When he didn't come back,
the factor sent it on to me.
Hmm. It's an old page from
a Hudson's Bay Company journal.
Look at the entry for January 15, 1856.
"To this post, this day came
John Merchison with his Eskimos,
"who hunt the white bear
far beyond the land's end.
"He told of seeing a lone cloud,
as if lying on the ice,
"and hidden beneath it, an island.
"This island, he sought to examine,
"saying it's guarded by evil spirits.
"For it's the place
where the whales go to die."
- We're coming into Dover now.
- Thank you.
Sir Anthony, the graveyard of whales
is just a fantasy, a whaler's El Dorado,
where he thinks he's going to find a
fortune in whalebone and ambergris.
Fact is, it simply doesn't exist.
It's a legend, nothing more.
Legend or not, the graveyard
is what my son went after.
It's my son I'm looking for.
- Quarters?
- Take our luggage to the admiral DPO.
Sir Anthony, I'm afraid this has
to be the end of the line for me.
I'd help if I could. I know
how much this means to you.
But you're trying the impossible.
To try to find one man with nothing
more than a page from a journal...
There is something more.
Donald also left this with the factor.
I was hoping
you might know what it was.
It's a carved bone. It's Eskimo work.
It's quite common in the Arctic.
- This one's a kind of a map.
- Map?
If I had a chart,
I could show you how this works.
My yacht is at the pier.
You can have all the charts you need.
This pattern, hopefully, will correspond
to some part of the shoreline
here on the chart.
Look.
See how this matches.
It's not exactly to scale, of course.
Then this red mark could be
what we're looking for.
If there were such an island.
- Why shouldn't there be?
- There's no land here.
It's just a gigantic frozen sea.
All explorers agree.
Peerey, Nance and all of them.
And what is Ivarsson's opinion?
Of course, there's a lot
they haven't covered.
But if there were such an island,
if the graveyard of whales
really did exist...
The world will never know, will it?
Unless you discover it,
or unless someone else beats you to it.
Sir Anthony, you're a devious man.
Yes, I am, aren't I?
I've got your contract here.
Your leave from the university.
Power of attorney. My solicitors will
handle your affairs in your absence.
- We're under way.
- And have been for some time.
We'll be in France in the morning.
Why France? That's hardly
the most direct route to Fort Conger.
On the contrary.
I think you'll find that it is.
Can't you slow him down?
You'd think we were
leaving tomorrow morning.
We are.
What?
I said, we are.
First thing in the morning.
Impossible. It's winter.
No ship can get through
the ice before spring.
- I've made other arrangements.
- What arrangements?
If I told you, you'd think I was mad.
Sir Anthony, you are mad.
And now you're gonna meet
another mad one. Capt. Brieux!
Ah, Monsieur Ross!
What a pleasure!
He was building this for Americans,
but he ran through all their money.
I heard of it and took it over.
- Ah, Capt. Brieux.
- Good evening, Sir Anthony.
- Professor Ivarsson.
- I'm honoured.
- Do you mind if I take a closer look?
- No, please.
I'm proud we shall have you with us
for the ceremony tomorrow.
- What ceremony?
- Why, the first flight of my creation.
Tomorrow, the whole world
will know of me on my Hyperion.
France will rule the air!
Whatever you planned, cancel it.
Tomorrow, we leave for the Arctic.
The Arctic?
The Arctic?
Sir Anthony, that's ridiculous!
It can't be done.
That's impossible.
We would need food, supplies,
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