This film is based on the true story of Captain Robert Falcon Scott and his ill-fated expedition to be the first to discover the South Pole. The film, made at Ealing Studios and distributed by J Arthur Rank in 1948, was kindly advised and assisted by survivors and relatives of the late members of Scott's expedition to antarctica.
Captain Scott, a naval officer, started to get his plans together from 1908 for his journey to the vast, mysterious and inhospitable region of antarctica and the ship chosen for the voyage was the Terra Nova - a whaling ship. The first leg of the journey in the Terra Nova was half way around the world, to New Zealand where they left civilisation on 29th November 1910 for antarctica. Scott began his journey from the base camp to the South Pole on 11th November 1911, following Shackleton's route of 1909.
They endured blizzards and temperatures as low as minus 23 degrees with appalling weather and increasingly tough terrain. The conditions were so harsh that by January 1912, only five remained: Captain Scott, Doctor Wilson, Captain Oates, Lieutenant Bowers and Petty Officer Evans. However, On 17 January, Scott and his remaining party reached the South pole, only to find that a Norwegian party led by Roald Amundsen, had beaten them there.
The return trip was even more arduous and Evans became so weak and tired that he died in mid-February. A short while after this Oates was suffering from severe frostbite and suddenly walked out of their tent and was never seen again. Captain Scott, Doctor Wilson and Lieutenant Bowers died in their tent on 29 March 1912 of starvation and exposure to the freezing conditions.
Film and Movie Information
Scott of The Antarctic was released by J Arthur Rank in 1948 and was directed by Charles Frend. The prncipal stars were John Mills, Derek Bond. Harrold Warrender, Reginald Beckwith and J. R. Justice. The movie was filmed in Technicolor in Antarctica, Falmouth in Cornwall and the Ealing Studios.
