Adapted from the final book by once-popular American adventure novelist Rex Beach, published in 1946, Raoul Walsh’s 1952 Technicolor extravaganza is an absurd but enjoyable equivalent of an old-fashioned swashbuckler transposed to the nineteenth century. Gregory Peck, in iron-jawed mode, plays Jonathan Clark, nicknamed the Boston Man, a strutting schooner captain who, in 1850, is prospering by poaching seals in raids on the Russian-controlled Pribilof Islands off the Alaskan coast and selling the pelts back in San Francisco. By chance, he returns from his latest voyage just as Russian countess Marina Selanova (Ann Blyth) is seeking quick passage to Sitka, capital of Russian Alaska, where she plans to ask help from the governor, her uncle Ivan (Sig Ruman), in evading a marriage to Prince Semyon (Carl Esmond), who is pursuing her on his fearsome gunboat. When a deal for passage with the boisterous Portugee (Anthony Quinn) falls through, she turns her charms on Clark, and after a whirlwind courtship, they are engaged. But the night before the wedding ceremony, she is abducted by Semyon. That sets up a race to Alaska between Clark and the Portugee, with the loser agreeing to turn over his ship to the winner, but the contest ends with both men captured by Semyon. Of course, Marina intervenes to free Clark, who uses courage and guile in a dangerous attempt to destroy Semyon’s ship, and the prince along with it. The plot also includes a scheme by Clark to purchase Alaska for the United States, as well as a lengthy monologue by Deacon Greathouse (John McIntire), the captain’s aphorism-spouting second-in-command, about mimicking 'nature’s way' in harvesting seals selectively, rather than following the Russian habit of indiscriminate slaughter, which will inevitably lead to their extermination. Neither the historical invention—Alaska would only be purchased by the U.S. in 1867, and then not through the machinations of any private party—nor the pious nod to more modern notions of conservation makes the story any less ludicrous, but while the movie is nothing more than hokum, it has been handsomely mounted and rousingly directed by Walsh, with the race between the schooners generating a good deal of excitement even with pre-CGI background process shots of towering waves now looking unrealistic. Throughout the lensing of master cinematographer Russell Metty makes for stunning visuals, and with Peck a stalwart if rather a stiff hero, Quinn a rambunctiously volatile rival, Esmond a hissable villain, and Blyth a gorgeous heroine—as well as a superb supporting cast that includes not only McIntire and Ruman but Bryan Forbes as a banker and Hans Conried as a dyspeptic hotel desk clerk—and a sweeping score by Frank Skinner, the movie is great fun despite Beach’s laughable plot. The splendid transfer on this new Blu-ray eclipses those on previous DVD issues, and as extra features, the disc includes the theatrical trailer and an audio commentary by film critic Nick Pinkerton. Recommended. (F. Swietek)