By Richard Harland Smith
Man of Two Worlds
Brief Synopsis
An Eskimo is brought to England and "civilized."
Cast & Crew
Read More
J. Walter Ruben
Director
Francis Lederer
Aigo
Elissa Landi
Joan [Pemberton]
Henry Stephenson
Sir Basil [Pemberton]
J. Farrell Mcdonald
Michael
Steffi Duna
Guninana
Film Details
Genre
Drama
Release Date
Feb
9,
1934
Premiere Information
New York opening: week of 11 Jan 1934
Production Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the novel Man of Two Worlds: The Novel of a Stranger by Ainsworth Morgan (New York, 1933).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 37m
Film Length
10 reels
Synopsis
After returning to his Greenland village with a slain polar bear, the great Eskimo hunter Aigo chooses Guninana as his wife, and the newlyweds live together happily until two British explorers, Sir Basil Pemberton and his assistant, Michael, arrive in the village. As soon as the white men impress Aigo with a few modern innovations, they ask him to join their expedition to capture live polar bears for the London Zoo. Tempted by a photograph of Sir Basil's smiling daughter Joan, the naive Aigo agrees to participate in the gruelling expedition and says goodbye to a pregnant Guninana. While on board Sir Basil's ship, Aigo learns English and is instructed in the ways of "civilized" conduct. Soon after their arrival in the far north, Aigo builds a clever trap and, using himself as bait, captures an enormous polar bear, who mauls Aigo's leg in the process. Before he will allow the ship's doctor to operate on his leg, Aigo insists on gazing at Joan's photograph. Later, while listening to Joan send her father greetings during a Christmas radio broadcast from London, Aigo faints in a trance. When asked about his fainting spell, Aigo explains that, while making a spiritual voyage, he had seen Joan in London, and that earlier, her spirit had helped him to catch the polar bear. Aigo then asks Sir Basil to take him to London to meet Joan in person as payment for his work. In London, Joan, repulsed by his rough manners, remains cool toward Aigo until Sir Basil explains Aigo's belief that she is his old "spiritual" friend. As a favor to her father, Joan agrees to humor Aigo and begins a patronizing flirtation with him. Eventually, Aigo succumbs to an infection and, while recuperating, catches Joan and her boyfriend embracing. Devastated by his discovery, Aigo collapses and is saved only by Joan's reassurances that his vision was a bad dream. Later, however, Joan gives Aigo a glass of whiskey, and suddenly intoxicated, he makes a forceful sexual advance. In her fury, Joan reveals her deception to Aigo, who is then returned to Greenland. There, Aigo, disillusioned and rejected, wanders into a blizzard and is found nearly frozen by his fellow villagers. Finally, Aigo is reborn by the sight of his young son and by the excitement of a village hunt.
Director
J. Walter Ruben
Director
Cast
Francis Lederer
Aigo
Elissa Landi
Joan [Pemberton]
Henry Stephenson
Sir Basil [Pemberton]
J. Farrell Mcdonald
Michael
Steffi Duna
Guninana
Sarah Padden
Olaga
Walter Byron
Eric Paget
Forrester Harvey
Tim
Ivan Simpson
Dr. Lott
Lumsden Hare
Capt. Swan
Christian Rub
Knudson
Emil Chautard
Natkusiak
Gertrude Wise
Crew
Jimmy Anderson
Assistant Director
Pandro S. Berman
Company
Merian C. Cooper
Executive Producer
Henry W. Gerrard
Photography
Howard J. Green
Screenwriter
Al Herman
Art Director
George Hively
Prod Editor
Jack Hively
Editing
Capt. Frank E. Kleinschmidt
Technical Advisor
Ainsworth Morgan
Screenwriter
Van Nest Polglase
Art Director
Max Steiner
Music Director
John Tribby
Recording
Vernon Walker
Photography Effects
Film Details
Genre
Drama
Release Date
Feb
9,
1934
Premiere Information
New York opening: week of 11 Jan 1934
Production Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the novel Man of Two Worlds: The Novel of a Stranger by Ainsworth Morgan (New York, 1933).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 37m
Film Length
10 reels
Articles
Man of Two Worlds -
A protégé of Austrian theatrical impresario Max Reinhardt, Francis Lederer's Byronic beauty was put to good use in Reinhardt's 1928 staging of Romeo and Juliet. That same year, he made his film debut at the Berlin über-studio UFA, where G. W. Pabst paired him with American actress Louise Brooks in Pandora's Box (1929). Cast in the 1931 premiere of the British play Autumn Crocus, Lederer brought the play to Broadway, where he drew the attention of Hollywood. Signed by RKO Radio Pictures, the actor struggled with English, prompting the studio to assign him a role requiring little of it - an Eskimo guide who crashes British society in J. Walter Ruben's Man of Two Worlds (1934). Sensitive to a potential backlash against Lederer's "ug-ug" dialogue, the RKO publicity department went on the offensive: "Adored by a world of women, envied by millions of men, the star of Autumn Crocus ... hurls his blazing genius into a drama of barbaric love." At MGM Irving Thalberg saw great things for Lederer but further plans went unrealized with Thalberg's death in 1936. An American citizen after 1939, Lederer returned often to the stage but is best remembered for starring in Paul Landres' creepy economy shocker The Return of Dracula (1958).
By Richard Harland Smith
By Richard Harland Smith
Man of Two Worlds -
A protégé of Austrian theatrical impresario Max Reinhardt, Francis Lederer's Byronic beauty was put to good use in Reinhardt's 1928 staging of Romeo and Juliet. That same year, he made his film debut at the Berlin über-studio UFA, where G. W. Pabst paired him with American actress Louise Brooks in Pandora's Box (1929). Cast in the 1931 premiere of the British play Autumn Crocus, Lederer brought the play to Broadway, where he drew the attention of Hollywood. Signed by RKO Radio Pictures, the actor struggled with English, prompting the studio to assign him a role requiring little of it - an Eskimo guide who crashes British society in J. Walter Ruben's Man of Two Worlds (1934). Sensitive to a potential backlash against Lederer's "ug-ug" dialogue, the RKO publicity department went on the offensive: "Adored by a world of women, envied by millions of men, the star of Autumn Crocus ... hurls his blazing genius into a drama of barbaric love." At MGM Irving Thalberg saw great things for Lederer but further plans went unrealized with Thalberg's death in 1936. An American citizen after 1939, Lederer returned often to the stage but is best remembered for starring in Paul Landres' creepy economy shocker The Return of Dracula (1958).
By Richard Harland Smith
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Steffi Duna, a Hungarian singer and dancer, and Francis Lederer, a Czechoslovakian actor who was well-known in Europe, made their American screen debuts in this film. Several reviewers commented disparagingly about RKO's decision to cast Lederer in an "ugh-ugh" part as a way to cover up his heavy Slavic accent. A Hollywood Reporter news item announced that Marguerite Churchill was to play the feminine lead in the production. According to another Hollywood Reporter news item, after twelve days of shooting, Lederer's co-star still had not been chosen. Motion Picture Herald's "In the Cutting Room" stated that the film story was to begin with "Aigo" as a boy living with his mother, surviving a plague and then growing into manhood. Some of the film's dialogue was written and performed in Eskimo and required a sub-titled English translation. Capt. Frank E. Kleinschmidt, the film's technical advisor, was a well-known Arctic explorer and documentary maker. According to modern sources, the film lost $220,000.
