• Short Summary

    Captain Bartlett and crew make their way through ice-covered waters - no soundtrack.

  • Description

    Soundtrack currently missing.

    Titles read: 'On the Fringe of the Pole No. 5. In the staunch little "Morrissey" we journey with bluff old Capt. Bartlett to the far North. "Braving the ice-choked waters".'

    Exact location of events unknown - somewhere near the North Pole!

    M/S of Captain Bob Bartlett wearing cap and overcoat, talking to camera while ice flows past on the water behind him. Several shots of the Effie M. Morrissey sailing ship going through icy water. Crew on board. Small boat comes alongside. L/S of flowing icy waterfalls or glaciers. Bartlett looks through binoculars. Fast flowing water.

    Some of the crew set off in a small boat and make their way between ice-floes. C/Us of booted feet marching through soggy, marshy grass. Several shots of the small group of men walking along on land and climbing rocks to reach the nest of a bird - falcon or similar - that we see sitting on a crag. Little chicks sit in the nest - C/Us of them stretching their wings and looking about. L/S of parent bird in flight.

    In a rocky clearing we see the men looking at gravestone or commemorative stone of James Pringle. C/U of it with the inscription 'Pringles of HBMS - HECLA...' (remainder indecipherable). The men start digging. Arctic fox (?) takes a look then scurries away. Cut to night shot of the men with lots of big stones piled up around the inscribed one with the Union Jack flag spread over them. Flares are smoking.

    More Arctic scenes from the Morrissey as we move past icebergs. A man jumps from the ship to the ice. Several shots of Bartlett and others dynamiting the ice so they can get through (Bartlett sits down by accident in water pool in the process - tee hee!). Good shot of ice explosions. More scenics as we move through. Rainbow over rocky land or island.
    End title: 'Final Instalment Shortly'.

  • Tags

  • Data

    Film ID:
    3199.04
    Media URN:
    57903
    Group:
    Pathetones
    Archive:
    British Pathé
    Issue Date:
    07/05/1934
    Sound:
    sound
    HD Format:
    Available on request
    Stock:
    Black & White
    Duration:
    00:03:43:00
    Time in/Out:
    01:06:56:00 / 01:10:39:00
    Canister:
    PT 215

Comments (3)

  1. Unknown user says

    The "Morrissey" is the schooner "Effie M. Morrisey".

    "C/U of it with the inscription 'Pringles of HBMS - HECLA..." - this is the gravestone for James Pringle, a seaman on board HMS Hecla, who died on 18 May 1922 while on an expedition here......

    http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=md34V9vdlEsC&pg=PA80&lpg=P
    A80&dq;="james+pringle"+hecl
    a&source=bl&ots=_qe2xLVZHw&s
    ig=NxkU4ETEqSTdAMFOR6N0uZWPB-g&hl=en#v=onepage&q="james%2
    0pringle" hecla&f=false

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  2. Unknown user says

    "HBMS" on the gravestone stands for His Britannic Majesty's Ship (Hecla).

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  3. Unknown user says

    Thanks.

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