With Byrd at the South Pole

1930 Documentary 82 minutes Directed by Julian Johnson

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About With Byrd at the South Pole

Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd introduces the record of his 1928–1930 Antarctic expedition. The ships leave New York, escorted by the Leviathan, hit a storm, and fight the ice pack. The party winters at Little America on the Ross Ice Shelf. Bernt Balchen is credited as the aviation pilot. Floyd Gibbons reads the narration over music and effects.

Cast & crew

More about With Byrd at the South Pole

Paramount Publix released the documentary. The New York premiere was 19 June 1930. It runs 82 minutes, about 7,411 feet. Jesse L. Lasky and Adolph Zukor produced. Julian Johnson wrote the titles. Joseph T. Rucker and Willard Van der Veer photographed it. Emanuel Cohen edited. Manny Baer is credited with the music. Floyd Gibbons narrates.

Themes

  • the voyage south
  • winter at Little America
  • the aviation unit
  • Richard Byrd
  • Little America
  • Ross Ice Shelf
  • Bernt Balchen
  • Floyd Gibbons
  • ice pack

Background

Byrd's first Antarctic expedition set up Little America in 1929 and stayed through the polar winter. Paramount opened the film in New York on 19 June 1930, after the party had come home.

Making

The two cameramen wintered with the expedition and brought the negative back for Paramount to cut. Gibbons, a newspaper correspondent, spoke the track.

Look

Joseph T. Rucker and Willard Van der Veer filmed the ice pack, the winter at Little America, and the aviation camp. That footage won the cinematography Oscar.

Music

Floyd Gibbons narrates. Manny Baer is credited for the music. Much of the track is music and effects rather than dialogue.

Preservation

An 82-minute release print is the version listed by TCM and the Academy record.

Notes

  • Rucker and Van der Veer won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography at the 3rd Academy Awards. It was the only documentary to take that prize, and the first documentary to win any Academy Award.
  • The next winner, Tabu, was also shot far from a Hollywood stage. The cinematography branch then limited the award to black-and-white films photographed in America under ordinary production conditions.
  • Cast lists include Claire Alexander as supply officer, George H. Black, Quin Blackburn, and Dr. Francis D. Coman.
  • TCM notes the Paramount on Parade theme under the hut-building and after the first blizzard.
  • An alternate title is With Byrd at the South Pole: The Story of Little America.

Awards

  • Academy Award for Best Cinematography (Joseph T. Rucker and Willard Van der Veer, 3rd Academy Awards)

Scenes

  • The ships leave New York with the Leviathan as escort.
  • The expedition fights the Antarctic ice and settles in at Little America.
  • Byrd speaks at the start of the picture.