Three whalers--Oates, Bottoms, and Gossett--become stranded in the Arctic and take refuge with a tribe of Eskimos. They gradually take over the village, introducing liquor, gambling, thievery, and their style of sex to this isolated civilization. The natives tolerate this behavior at
first, but gradually resentment grows until the cultural clash becomes intolerable. The leads are very strong, particularly Oates as the meanest of the trio. The portrait of Eskimo life in the 1890s is sensitive and nicely detailed. The actual language of the tribe is used with English subtitles
for translation, a technique that works well. However, the story tends to ramble in various directions and occasionally has some slow spots. This does not detract from the overall production, for it maintains interest throughout. THE WHITE DAWN is an example of a good film that could have been an
excellent one if more care had been taken with the screenplay. The opening sequences are filmed in black and white, with the rest in color. This was only the third film in the history of moviemaking to be shot in the Arctic Circle, after NANOOK OF THE NORTH (1922) and ESKIMO (1932).
