After the international success of WHITE HELL OF PIZ PALU and the arrival of sound, Universal decided to get itself involved in this two version effort from Fank's team.
The German copy is incoherent with our hero stumbling round on the ice flows for what appears to be weeks, getting help, but there are some quite amazing passages - harpooning the real polar bear who (understandably) takes a dim view of that or the actors swimming in with the genuine ice flows, an ice berg turning over, Ernst Udet's flying footage and rescue by kayak.
Dramatically things get by. Having Gibson Gowland from GREED in the US version in which a glamorous Leni Riefenstahl speaks English adds curiosity value.
These frozen waste dramas are a cycle which remains fascinating and it's a pity we don't have more access to them
