The World in His Arms (1952)

In San Francisco in 1850, a Russian Countess runs away from an arranged marriage to a Russian Prince and falls into the arms of an American sea captain who occasionally poaches seals in Russian Alaska.

Director:

Raoul Walsh

Writers:

Borden Chase (screenplay), Horace McCoy (additional dialogue)

Stars:

Gregory Peck, Ann Blyth, Anthony Quinn

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Gregory Peck	...	Capt. Jonathan Clark
Ann Blyth	...	Countess Marina Selanova
Anthony Quinn	...	Portugee
John McIntire	...	Deacon Greathouse
Carl Esmond	...	Prince Semyon
Andrea King	...	Mamie
Eugenie Leontovich	...	Anna Selanova
Hans Conried	...	Eustace - Hotel Clerk
Rhys Williams	...	Eben Cleggett
Sig Ruman	...	General Ivan Vorashilov
Gregory Gaye	...	Colonel Paul Shushaldin (as Gregory Gay)
Bill Radovich	...	Ogeechuk
Bryan Forbes	...	William Cleggett
Henry Kulky	...	Peter, Russian Servant

Storyline

Roistering sea captain Jonathan Clark, who poaches seal pelts from Russian Alaska, meets and woos Russian countess Marina in 1850 San Francisco. Events separate them, but after an exciting sea race to the Pribilof Islands they meet again; now, both are in danger from the schemes of villainous Prince Semyon.

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Plot Keywords:

sea | alaska | race | prince | countess | 

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Taglines:

Danger...Excitement...Romance Sweep the Screen!

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | History | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

The flogging of Capt. Clark ranks 96th in the book, "Lash! The 100 Great Scenes of Men Being Whipped in the Movies." However, no such flogging occurs in the novel on which this movie is based.

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Goofs

When the Pilgrim is pursuing the Santa Isabella, the ships are shown leaning to port. Shots of Ogeechuk using the telescope show him standing as though the boat deck is flat.

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Quotes

Jonathan Clark: Did it amuse you? Did it make you laugh to have a common American seaman ask you to marry him?

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Connections

Referenced in El crimen del cine Oriente (1997)

User Reviews

I like it!

Fascinating movie! I felt pleasure in this story. Though at first I did not want to watch it. I'm the Russian and I believe Hollywood makes fables about Russia as it had turned out with this movie. There were a trite Russian tavern, cossacks, balalaikas, the plaintive Russian songs, the funny Russian aristocracy. There were some Russian names sounding strange for the Americans. The Americans do not know that the Russians have a name and patronymic. The Russian countess is not too bad, even it was possible to keep noble pallor and some aristocratic manners. The countess' servant was speaking in Russian almost without accent. Though the countess' dresses were in a British manner. But above all it was LOVE. And Alaska, sold to the USA, played not such large role. Certainly, it was impossible for the Russian, Orthodox countess got married with the Catholic American in a church. And Marina Selanova and Prince Semyon wanted to get married into strange place that was absolutely not similar to an orthodox temple. But it did not irritate me. It would be better, if this movie was made in Russia. But sometimes I believed this movie was made in Russia. I believe Gregory Peck was the best choice for this role. The American steadfast captain and the Russian charming countess were beautiful couple. With what other American could the Russian countess fall in love? Jonathan Clark looked very well and manly. He was smart, just, thoughtful and slightly imprudent. The final scene was dazzling beautiful and it had no equal even DiCaprio's Titanic. I saw this scene at picture and decided to watch this movie and I did not regret. I'm so sorry it was not released on DVD. But in Russia it is easy to buy VHS. We like it!

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Russian Portuguese

Release Date:

9 October 1952 (USA)

Also Known As:

Rex Beach's The World in His Arms

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$3,000,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1