The Savage Innocents is a 1960 film, adapted from the novel Top of the World by Swiss writer Hans Rüesch

Hans Rüesch

Hans Ruesch was a Swiss racing driver, a novelist, and an internationally prominent activist against animal experiments and vivisection.-Family:...

.

The screenplay was mainly written by its director, Nicholas Ray

Nicholas Ray

Nicholas Ray was an American film director best known for the movie Rebel Without a Cause....

, who shot the film in the Canadian Arctic (with interiors shot in Britain's Pinewood Studios

Pinewood Studios

Pinewood Studios is a major British film studio situated in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, approximately west of central London. The studios have played host to many productions over the years from huge blockbuster films to television shows to commercials to pop promos.The purchase of Shepperton...

 and in Rome's Cinecittà

Cinecittà

Cinecittà is a large film studio in Rome that is considered the hub of Italian cinema.-History:The studios were founded in 1937 by Benito Mussolini and his head of cinema Luigi Freddi for propaganda purposes, under the slogan "Il cinema è l'arma più forte"...

 studios). The film was an international co-production, with British, Italian and French interests involved; in the United States it was released by Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...

. It was entered in the 1960 Cannes Film Festival

1960 Cannes Film Festival

-Jury:*Georges Simenon *Marc Allégret *Louis Chauvet *Diego Fabbri *Hidemi Ima *Grigori Kozintsev *Maurice Leroux *Max Lippmann *Henry Miller...

.

Cast

The film stars Anthony Quinn

Anthony Quinn

Antonio Rodolfo Quinn-Oaxaca , more commonly known as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican American actor, as well as a painter and writer...

 as Inuk the Eskimo

Eskimo

Eskimos or Inuit–Yupik peoples are indigenous peoples who have traditionally inhabited the circumpolar region from eastern Siberia , across Alaska , Canada, and Greenland....

, and Japanese actress Yoko Tani

Yoko Tani

was a French-born Japanese actress and nightclub entertainer.-Early life:Her birth name was Itani Yōko . She has occasionally been described as 'Eurasian', 'half-French', 'half-Japanese', and even 'Italian-Japanese', all of which are incorrect....

, as his wife. Peter O'Toole

Peter O'Toole

Peter Seamus Lorcan O'Toole is an Irish actor of stage and screen. O'Toole achieved stardom in 1962 playing T. E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia, and then went on to become a highly-honoured film and stage actor. He has been nominated for eight Academy Awards, and holds the record for most...

 plays a Canadian trooper. O'Toole's voice was dubbed, causing the actor to demand that his name be removed from the credits.

Also in the cast is restaurateur Michael Chow, who appeared in several British films from the late 1950s onwards. Chow is the brother of actress Tsai Chin

Tsai Chin (actress)

Tsai Chin , also known as Irene Chow, is a Chinese-born actress living in England.-Early life, family & education:Chin was born to Peking Opera actor Zhou Xinfang in 1936. She spent her early life in Shanghai. She had two short marriages which both ended in divorce. Her brother is Michael...

, and they are the offspring of the famous Beijing Opera

Beijing opera

Peking opera or Beijing opera is a form of traditional Chinese theatre which combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance and acrobatics. It arose in the late 18th century and became fully developed and recognized by the mid-19th century. The form was extremely popular in the Qing Dynasty court...

 star Zhou Xinfang

Zhou Xinfang

Zhou Xinfang, , was a famous Beijing Opera actor who died in the Cultural Revolution. He is regarded as one of the greatest masters of Beijing Opera. He is the most famous and important member of the Shanghai School of Beijing Opera...

.

Plot

Inuk, an Eskimo hunter, kills a priest who rejects his traditional offer of food and his wife's company. Pursued by white policemen, Inuk saves the life of one of them, resulting in a final confrontation in which the surviving cop must decide between his commitment to law enforcement and his gratitude to Inuk.

The film's themes include the Eskimos' survival in the extreme arctic wilderness, as well as their raw existence and struggle to maintain their lifestyle against encroaching civilization.

Reception

Eugene Archer gave the film a mixed review in The New York Times upon its 1961 release: "Most of the qualities that have made Nicholas Ray one of America's most highly praised directors abroad while leaving him relatively unpopular and unknown at home are clearly apparent in 'The Savage Innocents.'" Describing the movie as "badly cut" and "a bitter drama," Archer nonetheless found that "Mr. Ray's highly individualistic preoccupation with moral tensions expresses itself in a series of unusually provocative scenes" and concluded that this "strange, disturbing drama will leave most of its viewers dissatisfied and some outraged, but few will remain indifferent."

The Mighty Quinn

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...

, an admirer of the film, wrote the song "Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)

Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)

"Quinn the Eskimo " is a folk-rock song written by Bob Dylan and first recorded during The Basement Tapes sessions in 1967. The song was first released in January 1968 as "Mighty Quinn" by the British band Manfred Mann and became a great success...

" in tribute to Quinn's performance.