snicewanger Ice Palace strives to be a blockbuster movie. It boasts an eye catching cast, a wonderful musical score,and some impressive cinematography....and IT STINKS!!! Awful adaptation from the book. Laughably bad script! Poorly edited with a plot that moves so slow that it is almost comatose.Pedestrian direction by Vincent Sherman.Dickie Burton is totally miscast in the lead role. Robert Ryan's performance has all the subtle nuance of a kick in the groin. Carolyn Jones is in way over her head in a role that was supposed to have gone to Jean Simmons. The younger talent doesn't fare much better.Burton latter admitted that his principle interest in taking the role was in bagging his leading ladies in the film. He scored the trifecta and bedded Jones, McBain, and in the case of Shirley Knight claiming her maidenhood. He didn't mess with Martha Hyer because, according to George Takei, she was involved producer Hal Wallis and Wallis could have destroyed Burton's career. It certainly wasn't an interest in the film production that kept Burton in front of the camera.Ice Palace is sort of a dinosaur. Big, lumbering, clumsy, and out of date. You'll laugh, you''ll cringe ...at all the wrong times. Its 143 minutes of your life you will not be able to get back.

MartinHafer I can't believe this movie has a rating as high as it does! This is an absolutely awful "epic" film that is about as dull and poorly made "big picture" as you'll find. To put this in perspective, this came out just a few years after GIANT and seems to be a similar-type movie (having been written by the same person, by the way) but it's set in Alaska instead of Texas. And,...in addition, it is chock full of histrionics and soap opera elements.My biggest complaint is actually the music. This is an odd thing to complain about, but throughout the movie incredibly loud and flamboyant music occurs in the most mundane moments! For example, when people are out catching salmon in fishing boats, you are assaulted by loud classical-style music! Again and again, the lousy musical score dominates and overwhelms. A lot of the time, it simply would have been better with no music instead of the brash music they used.Secondly, no one in particular is very likable or interesting. At first, Richard Burton seems interesting and pretty likable, but soon he becomes and unreasoning money-crazed robot instead of a real human being. So, in effect, he's a caricature of a person--completely one-dimensional and fake. His kid and later grandkid MIGHT be interesting, but their characters really are never developed--they're more like a part of the set or a plot device. Despite Robert Ryan's character being a little less repellent and wooden, he isn't a BIG improvement, either. Of the three leads, Carolyn Jones probably comes off best.Thirdly, George Takei (yes, from STAR TREK) plays the role of a very stereotypical Chinese lackey. Considering how broad and insulting the character was, I feel sorry for him having to take such a demeaning role. Plus, he's Japanese--this just isn't the same as Chinese! Why not get a real honest-to-goodness Chinese guy who can act like he's not an idiot to play the part?Fourthly, I hated the scene involving the fight between Thor's son and the bear. In the distant shots it's obviously a real bear. But in the close shots it's also obviously a guy in a bear suit! It's so obvious that it looks like something you'd see in a 3 Stooges short, not an expensive epic.And finally, the film is just uninteresting. The movie seemed like it was 4 hours long, but it wasn't. It's just that a guy making money by operating a fish cannery just isn't compelling.So in conclusion, the movie stinks. It's BIG and SWEEPING and has some nice cinematography, but that's all!!!

bkoganbing Another cinematic weakness of mine has been the filming of Edna Ferber's stories. Here work adapts so well to the cinema I think it's impossible to make a bad movie of her work. Ice Palace is always given short shrift when it is viewed in comparison to Showboat, Cimarron, and most importantly Giant. Actually it is Giant that Ice Palace seems to have the most in common with. Two men grow wealthier during the history of the area's growth and are changed by their love for the same woman. Carolyn Jones had quite an effect on the two men panting after her, the same as Elizabeth Taylor did to Rock Hudson and James Dean.I viewed Ice Palace again after seeing it many years ago and it is as good as I remembered it the first time. Two fine portrayals of rival empire builders are given by Richard Burton and Robert Ryan. You can feel the hatred they have for each other come crackling right out of the TV screen as on the big screen. Carolyn Jones as she ages from comely young Scotch lassie to matronly spinster because she won't commit to either man, makes you forget her as Morticia Adams.If Ice Palace has a weakness it's in the direction. I think if George Stevens had done this one it would have been a cinema classic like Giant is. Still Ice Palace is a fine film that is often overlooked in retrospectives of either Richard Burton or Robert Ryan.

enlewellyn The growing tension between Richard Burton and Robert Ryan is amazing. Both actors were as serious, driven, righteous (in their own minds), and caring as the other. All performances were believable and interesting. The change from generations to generation was seamless. And character change melded nicely with Ryan and Burton. Carolyn Jones however did not impress me as much as she did in the beginning. She somehow lost her luster as the film seemed to continue without her. Strangely this also was her role through the duration of the film. And I felt she seemed to be going through the motions towards the end. Just my opinion. I also found the characters of Christopher and Grace charming at first and utterly brainless towards the end. You have to see it and the circumstances to believe it. The innocent bliss that leads them throughout the film culminates. To mention Jim Buckus, his performance was quite an agitation to most every event in the film due to his characters business interests. Believable even if you still see him as Mr Howell! LOL! Four years later, character development, who can say, Recommended if you looking for a (mini) epic that might just keep your interest.I'm keeping my copy!Otherwise outstanding performances