Alaska *** (1996, Charlton Heston, Thora Birch, Vincent Kartheiser) – Classic Movie Review 1655

Director Fraser Clarke Heston’s admirable 1996 children’s outdoor adventure stars Thora Birch and Vincent Kartheiser as two nice kids, Jesse and Sean Barnes, who are stranded in Alaska’s snowy mountain-scapes.

With the authorities dithering, their mission is to try to find and save their single-parent father (Dirk Benedict) after his plane’s gone down somewhere in the mountains during an emergency delivery in a storm. The kids have the help of a gorgeous polar bear they have rescued from a ferocious poacher.

The director’s father Charlton Heston enjoys himself extravagantly in an unusual baddie role as a wicked poacher.

Alaska’s beautifully photographed (in British Columbia) by cinematographer Tony Westman, so it looks a chilling ice cream of a treat. And it’s very well acted and nicely handled by director Heston, who since has made no more feature films.

Fraser Clarke Heston played the infant Moses, while his father starred as Moses in The Ten Commandments (1956). Charlton Heston died on April 5 2008, aged 84.

Kartheiser is known as spitfire advertising executive Pete Campbell on Mat Weiner’s Golden Globe, Emmy and SAG Award-winning TV drama series Mad Men. Birch propelled to stardom with her role as the disillusioned daughter in American Beauty (1999).

© Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Movie Review 1655

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