"The Last Place on Earth"

Watch the series at YouTube.

"Kappløpet til Sydpolen: Familien Scott vil stanse serien"

Kappløpet til Sydpolen: Familien Scott vil stanse serien

Ivar Granaasen, Aftenposten papirutgave, 16. februar 1985

London, 13. februar.

Slektningene til den britiske polarforsker, Robert Scott, har forgjeves prøvd å stanse, eller i det minste å få forandret, en ny britisk TVserie om Sydpolenkappløpet mellom Scott og Roald Amundsen i 1911. Amundsen spilles av Sverre Anker Ousdal, og norske skuespillere innehar også rollene til Amundsens følgesvenner.

Det er ennå ikke klart om serien "The Last Place on Earth" kommer til å bli vist i norsk fjernsyn. I Central Televisions internasjonale avdeling opplyses det til Aftenposten at det har vært kontakt med NRK om fjernsynsrettighetene, men intet er ennå avklaret. Det britiske fjernsynsselskapet har undertegnet en kontrakt med et norsk videoselskap.

Serien er basert på Roland Huntfords omdiskuterte bok om Scott og Amundsen. Scotts familie gikk til retten for å få stoppet eller endret Huntfords bok da den utkom, og Huntford måtte foreta visse rettelser eller forandringer i senere opplag.

Polarforskerens sønn, Peter Scott, og hans halvbror, Lord Kenneth en sønn fra Kathleen Scotts andre ekteskap - har protestert overfor det uavhengige fjernsynsselskapet Central Television, men til ingen nytte.

Karin Millar i Central TV sier til Aftenposten at selskapets styreformann har hatt en lang samtale med Scotts slektninger, men ingen av innsigelsene som ble fremført, ble funnet så tungtveiende at det er foretatt noen rettelser i serien. Visningen av serien på seks episoder starter derfor som planlagt mandag.

Scottslektningene har forhåndssett serien, og har i et brev til TVselskapet krevet forandringer, noe som selskapet ikke har funnet nødvendig.

I brevet skriver Lord Kenneth at Scott er fremstilt som en usikker, paranoid, streng offiser (rekruttplager) , og at en slik person aldri ville ha greid å ha holdt en ekspedisjon sammen under forholdene i Antarktis. Sekretæren for Royal Geographical Society, John Hemming, har også underskrevet brevet til Central Television, hvor en rekke angivelige "feil" i fremstillingen listes opp.

Blant disse er bruken av karakteristika, skrevet av Scott og andre ekspedisjonsmedlemmer, i dagbøker og private brev, men som i serien er brukt som direkte tale fra Scott. Videre heter det i brevet at Scott fremstilles som en "psykologisk sadist" og en "utpresser" , og det påpekes at den videnskapelige del av Antarktisekspedisjonen nesten helt er utelatt.

Serien "The Last Place on Earth" vil utvilsomt dra i gang en ny debatt om polarheltene Amundsen og Scott, hva den seiersrike nordmannen (Sverre Anker Ousdal) gjorde rett, hva den tapende briten (Martin Shaw) hadde gjort galt da han nådde Sydpolen 17. januar 1912, bare for å oppdage at Amundsen og hans følge hadde vært der vel en måned tidligere. Serien tar til allerede i 1907, og dveler ved de to konkurrentenes forberedelser til polferden, marsjen mot polpunktet, og ikke minst Scotts dramatiske tilbaketur som endte med at alle ekspedisjonsmedlemmer omkom.

Amundsens følgesvenner spilles av Ivar Nørve (Oscar Wisting) , Ståle Bjørnhaug (Olav Bjaaland) , Erik Hivju (Sverre Hassel) og Jan Harstad (Helmer Hanssen) . Svenskene Max von Sydow og Sven Nordin fremstiller henholdsvis Fridtjof Nansen og Tryggve Gran.

Av andre norske skuespillere som deltar i serien, kan nevnes Jon Eikemo (Adolf Lindstrøm) , Astrid Follstad (Betty Amundsens husholderske) , Per Theodor Haugen (Leon Amundsen) , Hans Ola Sørlie (Jørgen Stubberud) og Toralv Maurstad (Hjalmar Johansen). Britiske seere får også noen korte glimt av Erik Bye som spiller Andreas Beck.

"Filmstaben igang på Svalbard"

Filmstaben igang på Svalbard: "Orions belte" også i engelsk fjernsyn

Edel Bakkemoen, Aftenposten papirutgave, 14. juli 1984

Longyearbyen. En gammel ubåtjager fra krigens dager kommer brusende inn Adventfjorden - navnet M / S "Orion" lyser med nye bokstaver på den hvitmalte baugen.

På dekk står skuespillerne Helge Jordal, Sverre Anker Ousdal og Hans Ola Sørlie og myser mot kaien. De kommer i fredelig hensikt: De tre skal spille hovedrollene som de tøffe "redergutta" som opererer i tvilsom fraktfart mellom isflakene på våre nordlige breddegrader i filmen "Orions belte" . "Sandy Hook" - den rustne lastebåten de reker rundt med - følger like i kjølvannet.

Jon Michelets roman fra Svalbard danner bakgrunn for et på så mange måter spennende prosjekt som Filmeffekt A / S står bak. "Orions belte" er den første kommandittfinansierte film her i landet. Den bir også den dyreste norske spillefilm som er laget hittil. Budsjettet er på 10,5 millioner kroner, men omfatter da ikke de to båter som er kjøpt opp til innspillingen. Staten garanterer for 6,5 millioner kroner.

- Og en spennende actionfilm skal det bli, forteller produsent Dag Alveberg. - Den engelske manusforfatter Richard Harris har kuttet i og snudd og vendt på Michelets roman, med hans godkjennelse. Handlingen er ganske forandret, og jeg vil ikke røbe den helt. Men Harris har selvsagt ikke utelatt det dramatiske møte mellom de tre hardhausene og russere som er ute i enda mer obskure oppdrag enn de . . .

I tillegg til den norske spillefilmen lages en engelsk TVversjon, som regissøren Tristan de Vere Cole (vi minner om "Den hemmelige arme") har det kunstneriske ansvar for. Men ikke nok med det: Fordi hele opplegget er såpass spesielt, lages samtidig en dokumentarfilm om innspillingen og de to filmer.

Noe forsinket kunne "Orion" legge til kai i Longyearbyen torsdag. De to travle produsenter Dag Alveberg og Petter Borgli i Filmeffekt A / S ønsker oss velkommen til omvisning ombord, der vi finner nesten hele filmstaben på ialt 27 mennesker og en skipshund. Regissør Ola Solum lar ennå skuespillerne gå fritt omkring, innspillingen er ikke kommet igang. Men det arbeides og planlegges hele tiden. Båten er fiffig omskapt til et flytende atelier med produksjonsrom, kinorom og klipperom, slik at filmen kan gjøres fedig fortest mulig.

Ubåtjageren skiftet status og navn til passasjerskipet M / S "Sognefjord" i 1950, og tjener anno 1984 også som hotell for filmfolkene, som forsikrer at de får god forpleining og har alt de måtte trenge ombord - også en egen videosalong som har vært flittig besøkt under den ukelange turen fra Bergen.

I tre uker fremover skal "Orion" og "Sandy Hook" farte langs Svalbardkysten, de neste tre uker ligger de utenfor Finnmark. De siste deler spilles inn i Oslo til høsten, ifølge planen. Men været lar seg ikke alltid planlegge. Og Sverre Anker Ousdal og Hans Ola Sørlie må pendle mellom "Orion" og opptak til den engelske filmen om Nordpolfarerne Scott og Amundsen.

Premieren på "Orions belte" er nå beregnet til februar 1985.

"The Last Place on Earth"

"The Last Place on Earth"
Television series
1985
Genre: Drama/Historical
Language: English
Running time: 6 hours, 36 minutes

Directed by Ferdinand Fairfax

Cast includes:

Martin Shaw as Robert Falcon Scott
Sverre Anker Ousdal as Roald Amundsen
Stephen Moore as Dr. 'Bill' Wilson
Richard Morant as Capt. 'Titus' Oates
Max von Sydow as Fridtjof Nansen
Toralv Maurstad as Hjalmar Johansen
Jan Hårstad as Helmer Hanssen

Stills from framheim.com

"Sverre Anker Ousdal plays Roald Amundsen"

This part of the "Last Place on Earth" press packet (1985) was included in the wealth of information on the series at the now-defunct framheim.com. See other entries under the "Last Place on Earth" category at the end of this post.


Sverre Anker Ousdal
plays Roald Amundsen

The key role of Roald Amundsen in "The Last Place on Earth" came to Sverre Anker Ousdal courtesy of Max von Sydow who recommended the tall, blond Norwegian actor after they'd worked together on a Swedish film called "The Flight of the Eagle".

For Sverre, one of the leading performers in Norway, it was an exciting opportunity to play a major part in an international production.

Sverre recognises the extent of Amundsen's supremacy over Scott in Norwegian eyes, but he is not entirely convinced of his heroism, especially in light of his treatment of his mentor, Fridtjof Nansen. "Nansen gave his ship, Fram, to Amundsen on the understanding that he was going north to explore the Arctic Basin. When he turned toward Antarctica, Nansen felt doubly betrayed, because he still hoped to take the South Pole himself. After Amundsen's success, there was some celebration in Norway, but it was always Nansen who was lionised.

"In later years, Amundsen quarrelled with his family and lived alone which made him bitter. He had a lot of debts from the expedition which he expected a grateful government to pay off, but Norway was newly independent of Sweden and looking towards an alliance with the British Empire, so enthusiasm was muted."

Sverre describes himself as an indifferent skier even though he has been going to the mountains every Easter for as long as he can remember. Driving the huskies in the series was a new experience. He had found it comparatively simple when he practised in Norway because the dog teams there were expertly trained, but the reality of Baffin Island was another matter.

"The Canadian dogs were normally used for Polar Bear hunting and they certainly didn't understand the filming instruction 'cut'! They were very unpredictable and gave us a lot of trouble".

Sverre Anker Ousdal was born at Flekke Fjord [sic] on the south coast of Norway in 1944. The small town had no cinema and no theatre so his father was understandably surprised when his son left the local school and announced he was going to be an actor. There was only one National Theatre school, in Oslo, and the seventeen-year-old boy was thrilled to be accepted.

His first job, after graduation in 1965, was in Bergen and two years later he was established in Oslo's New Theatre which specialised in satire. In 1971, he was invited to join the prestigious National Theatre where he has worked ever since. Favourites are Shakespeare and Ibsen, but he has also played leading roles in modern plays like "The Real Thing" and "Whose Life is it Anyway?". Musicals are another matter -- he only sings if he has to, although he's prepared to revive a precocious talent for the guitar whenever it's required, on stage or off.

Sverre lives in Oslo with his wife, Bodil, and their three children. He's prepared to see them follow in his footsteps -- provided they start, as he did, with modest expectations. Like Amundsen, he's a true northerner. "If I think of a long vacation, I'm not interested in the sun and sand between the toes. I'd much rather sail my boat up the Norwegian coast or over to Shetland and Orkney."

"My Coffee With Amundsen"

NB. This was part of the fascinating stuff at the late, much-lamented framheim.com -- come back, Emily, we miss you! -- that we were lucky enough to snatch almost from thin air before it disappeared from the Google cache forever. The author, a self-confessed Polargeek, had been so smitten with "The Last Place on Earth" and Sverre Anker Ousdal as well that she managed to wangle a trip to Oslo and an interview with the man himself. Gosh, do we wish we'd thought of it first. Instead, we reprint it here.

My Coffee With Amundsen

by Emily Slatten

c2002, 2001

One Polargeek's interview with a legend


Recently, I had a chance to sit with Sverre Anker Ousdal and chat (in English) over coffee. I found him to be warm, intelligent, and quite up on polar history. Since I was unable to record our interview, I will instead paraphrase some of his more enlightening stories from our hour-long conversation. These short notes do not adequately capture how utterly charming he really is. My thanks to Herr Ousdal for graciously agreeing to meet with me.

We had arranged to meet in the lounge of the Continental Hotel at 5pm. He arrived right on time and ordered a coke with lemon. Our conversation meandered through topics as diverse as Norwegian geography, World War II planes, genealogy, cars with manual transmissions and his work as an actor. I had prepared a few questions regarding Last Place on Earth, but our conversation thread answered them before I could even pose the questions.

Their own stuntmen

This website's suspicions were confirmed-- all the actors in LPOE did their own skiing, dog driving and, poor English, man hauling. Sverre told about learning how to drive dogs from the native Inuit on Baffin Island, where LPOE was shot. Apparently, one should never use the voice to command a dog, as very soon your voice will be completely shot. Instead, he was taught, one should use breathy exhalation (that's the only way I can describe it. I know it sounds weird but honestly, I can't think of any other way to say it)-- like lamaze breaths.

Shooting on Baffin Island

The blizzard scenes were, at first, shot using small plastic snowflakes but the English, who had to shoot in more of the snowy scenes, soon complained that they were getting plastic in their eyes. So, they flew in tons of potato flakes. Bags were piled on top of bags, Sverre told me, and the shoot went on as planned.

Until they stopped for the night. The next morning, they returned to the shoot and the potato flakes were gone. The Inuit had recognised the bags as the food they were and absconded with them!

Strangely like real life

When asked about how the Norwegian and English fared together during the shoot, he said that it in some ways mirrored the experiences of the explorers in the South. Upon arrival at Baffin Island for the shoot, the Norwegian actors were right at home in the snow and ice. Meanwhile, the English were always cold and not quite comfortable enough to enjoy themselves. In addition, since the Norwegian contingency had worked together before --being as they were all from the Nationaltheater -- the shoot was a lot fun, like an extended winter camp with friends. The comaraderie apparent between the crew of the Fram in LPOE was really true in the Norwegian cast. I would like to say that I pointed out that the Norwegians did have an easier shoot, since they did not have to manhaul all their stuff, but I didn't think of it at the time.

Getting the part

I asked him how he got the part of Amundsen, and he said he was approached by the producers and did not have to audition. He said he thought it a little strange, since he is not much like Amundsen (I concur-- he is far better looking and not quite so dour and single-minded, to say the least). He noted that Per Theodore Haugen, Leon Amundsen in LPOE, had actually played Roald Amundsen in Scott of the Antarctic and was, he felt, perhaps better suited to play him.

The Shackleton's Furthest South song

I asked him if he could remember the song that was sung when Amundsen's party made it to Shackleton's furthest South ("Now Shackleton," he said, "was a hero."). Much to my delight, he sang a bit of it to me, and said he thought it had been written specifically for the show. Then I asked him if all the actors in the Nationaltheater could sing, and he just laughed.

Masterpiece Theatre press junket stories

Some of his best stories came in response to my asking him where he had been in the states. He told me that Masterpiece Theatre had flown several of the actors out to Boston (on a Concorde, no less) for some sort of press shindig celebrating an anniversary of some kind. They were then put on a train to New York to go to a fancy dinner. He said he was in the car with many of the British actors, who put on an improvised show for the passengers that was just delightful. Unfortunately, I did not press for particulars (Who was in it? What did they do?). Once in New York for the dinner, Sverre received a call early the next morning from someone with instructions about something that he was too sleepy to pay attention to. But once at the dinner (he was seated next to George Bush Sr.'s sister), he was approached by a man who began his conversation with "Ok, now, when you go up to make your speech, be sure to..." Sverre was stunned. --- My what? --- Your speech. Remember? I called you about it this morning... He quickly excused himself from the table and hightailed it to the bathroom. His speech would be following some of the most distinguished British actors to play in Masterpiece Theatre productions, and they got very competitive with their speeches, each trying to out-Shakespeare and and out-Wilde the last. At this point he described to me his feelings of panic as he sat on the toilet in the Waldorf-Astoria and tried to think of something he could say to the waiting crowd of dignitaries and mucky-mucks. It was a wonderfully animated telling of a funny story, and I'm sorry I can't even come close in my retelling of it. Anyway, he said he finally hit upon something and returned to his seat. When it was his turn to speak, this was how he started: (note: I am writing this as if he really said it, but this is not a direct quote. In the interest of narrative, I am --for all intents and purposes-- putting words in his mouth. Please bear with me and know that he told it much better.) "Many people have asked me if I was cold when shooting Last Place on Earth. Well, no, but I will answer that question with a story. When I was 16 I saw West Side Story, and decided that I had to see New York for myself. I got myself a job on an American Liner peeling potatoes. I thought that if I peeled my quota of potatoes early enough, I could slip out to see New York once we docked. So, I peeled and peeled and peeled until finally I had met my quota. I slipped on my jeans, went out into New York, and then I felt cool." Sverre said the audience had been sitting in rapt attention during his story (as was I), and cheered and applauded when he said that final line. He said that this was one of the proudest moments of his life.

Thoughts on the history

Sverre was very knowledgeable about polar history in general and Amundsen in specific (though this should be no surprise. Amundsen has been practically canonised in Norway along with Nansen, perhaps to make up for the fact that no one else on the planet seems to be taught anything about him in school). We discussed the possibility of lead poisoning as a contributing factor to Amundsens descent into paranoia toward the end of his life. He recommended "The Race", a book by Kåre Holt that pulls Amundsen off the historical pedestal in much the same way Roland Huntford did in LPOE. I hadn't read it when we met, and now that I have read it I'm dying to go back and discuss it further. I asked him if he ever discussed the politics of history's treatment of the Race for the South with any of his costars, especially the English. He told me that, not surprisingly, most of the English were Scott supporters, particularly Martin Shaw, who did his best to infuse as much dignity into an obviously slanted screenplay.

What's next

Sverre has a lot on his plate right now. He is currently starring as Orgon in the NationalTheater's production of Tartuffe (it's a great play to showcase his comic timing). He is also the voice of Captain Roarke in the Norwegian release of Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire. In July, he'll be heading to Sweden to shoot a Swedish miniseries.

In conclusion

In hindsight, it might have been better had I not been quite so starstruck. It occurred to me later how many opportunities I missed to ask pertinent LPOE questions. Nevertheless, that hour in the Continental Hotel bar remains the absolute highlight of an already fantastic trip. Sverre Anker Ousdal is a genuinely kind and open person, more down to earth than most non-famous people that I know. My deepest thanks to him for his hospitality.