by Simon Callow
It was in the wintertime, and there was twelve feet of snow. Tom had cleared the area in front of the cabin, and the moose was hanging about in the clearing. A moose finds it difficult to get around in deep snow, as it is not equipped with snow shoes. Every time Tom opened the door to go up the path to the chic sales, the moose charged – so Tom had to put on snow shoes, climb out of a back window and go to the toilet over deep snow, where the moose could not follow. And Tom had a Husky that he kept around for company, and to bark at moose and bears. But the dog fell for the moose and slept with him underneath the cache. So Tom lost his only protection. Outside every cabin in Alaska there is a food cache built up on high stilts with sheet metal from old gasoline cans nailed around the stilts so that the bears cannot get a grip to tear the cache apart for the food inside it.
After a few weeks of this, Tom got mad and figured he would settle the moose. He started throwing hunks of wood, but the moose would not go away. So he picked up a big log and crept up on the moose and bashed it over the head, and the moose leaned against the stilts of the cache, bleeding. And Tom retired to the cabin and began to feel sorry for the moose – so Tom fell in love with the moose too. And he began to gather together young willow trees – that is what moose eat. They call moose ‘wood-burners.’ Tom made little heaps of young willow trees and began to think of the moose as ‘Sam.’ However, this made his life very complicated and inconvenient, and he figured he had to get rid of Sam somehow. So he made a pile of willow trees in front of the cabin, another a mile away, and another two miles away to lure Sam. And he shut up the dog so that he wouldn’t follow his friend. So Sam went away after the willow trees and after a couple of days Tom let out the Husky. And the Husky went after the moose and brought him back. So Tom was stuck with Sam until the spring thaw. And then Sam went away.
Everyone who lives this sort of life lives, in winter, on moose meat, which is hung in the open under the cache because the hibernating bears are not around then. And the next fall it was getting time for Tom to bag a moose for his winter supply of meat. About fifteen yards from the edge of the lake there is a large birch tree, and Stanley was with Tom. And Stanley saw a big moose standing by the birch tree. Tom was carrying a gun. And Stanley said, ‘There’s your moose.’
And Tom said, ‘That moose doesn’t look to have particularly good meat. Its ribs are showing. And there will probably be another thaw and the meat will go bad anyway.’
And Stanley said, ‘I believe you think it is old Sam.’
And Tom said, ‘You’re darn right. I know it’s old Sam!’
And Stanley showed me a picture taken by Tom of old Sam and the Husky looking at him with loving eyes – and that proved the story, I guess.
After that, Stanley started talking to me about the winters in Alaska. There are only a few hours of daylight. He talked about the sounds in winter and particularly about the northern lights which stretch out sometimes like a curtain draped across the sky – red and green and blue. I asked him how he started the engine of a plane when it was forty below. He said he warmed up the engine with a blow torch, and that one day he had burned up a plane doing that. I said, ‘How did you get out of the lake?’
He said, ‘After five days somebody came after me.’ He also said, ‘Once a friend of mine couldn’t start his engine because the temperature was eighty below and he had to wait until it warmed up to sixty below before he could start it.’
Stanley talked casually about these things. After all, they are less frightening than the stuff we read in our daily papers.
Living is expensive there. Gasoline – fifty cents a gallon – $1.30 for a couple of beers – hotels way above average, but not bad – and by the Lord Harry, it is worth it. I cannot wait to get back – for July when the salmon are running, and for midwinter.
I want to go to Kodiak Island where the brown bears weigh up to a ton a piece – to the Pribilof Islands which are the breeding ground of millions of seals – to Point Barrow where there are polar bears – to the north slopes of the Brooks Mountains which are enamelled with flowers in high summer – but more than that to meet my first hosts in Alaska again.
Reprinted from The Fabulous Country,
an anthology compiled by Charles Laughton
for McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc.,
Copyright © 1962 by Charles Laughton.
The Plays
The Government Inspector London
Barnes, 28 Apr 1926, writ. N. Gogol, dir. and des. Theodore Komisarjevsky. With: Elliott Seabrooke (Swistunov), James Lomas (Derzhimorda), Dan F. Roe (Luka Lukich), Hanley Drewitt (Amos Fyodorovich), Sidney Benson (Herr Hübner, Abdullin), Kimber Phillips (Artemi Philipovich), Frederick Lord (Bobchinski), Alfred Clark (Anton Antonovitch), Neil Curtis (Ivan Kusmich), Jack Knight (Dobchinski), Hilda Sims (Anna Andreyevna), Stella Freeman (Marya Antonovna), Jane Ellis (Avdotya), LAUGHTON (Osip), Claude Rains (Ivan Alexandrovich Khlestakov), John C. Laurence (Waiter, 2nd Merchant), Brian Watson (3rd Merchant, Gendarme), May Agate (The Locksmith’s Wife), Patricia O’Carroll (The Sergeant’s Wife).
Pillars of Society London
Everyman Theatre, 13 June 1926, writ. Henrik Ibsen, dir. Sybil Arundale. With: Gilbert Ritchie (Krap), Orlando Barnett (Aune), Milton Rosmer (Dr Rörlund), Margaret Carter (Mrs Rummel), Drusilla Wills (Mrs Postmaster Holt), Barbara Everest (Mrs Bernick), Josephine Wilson (Miss Bernick), Brember Wills (Hilmar Tönnesen), Anne Bolt (Olaf), Marie Wright (Mrs Dr Lynge), Gwendolen Evans (Dina Dorf), J. Hubert-Leslie (Vigeland), LAUGHTON (Rummel), Sybil Arundel (Miss Hessel), Charles Carson (Consul Bernick), Michael Hogan (Johan Tönnesen).
The Cherry Orchard London
Barnes, 28 Sept 1926, writ. A. Chekhov, trans. Constance Garnett, dir. and des. Theodore Komisarjevsky. With: Douglas Burbidge (Lopakhin), Stella Freeman (Dunyasha), LAUGHTON (Yepi Khodov), Edith Harley (A Servant), Dan F. Roe (Firs), Gabrielle Castarelli (Anya), Dorothy Dix (Mme Ranyevskaya), Lawrence Hanray (Gayev), Josephine Wilson (Varya), Martita Hunt (Charlotta), Oswald Lingard (Semeonov-Pishchik), W. Earle Grey (Yasha), Wilfred Fletcher (Trofimov), Leonard Calvert (A Tramp, Stationmaster), Gerard Barton (A Post Office Clerk), Leslie Paine (His Son), Monica Stracey (A Young Lady).
The Three Sisters London
Barnes, Oct 1926, writ. A. Chekhov, trans. Constance Garnett, dir. and des. Theodore Komisarjevsky. With: Martita Hunt (Olga), Josephine Wilson (Irina), Margaret Swallow (Masha), Stella Freeman (A Maid), Leonard Upton (Tusenbach), Dan F. Roe (Chebutykin), LAUGHTON (Vassily Solyony), Douglas Burbidge (Andrey Prozorov), Gerald Barton (An Orderly, Mihail Petrov), Elsie French (Anfisa), Oswald Lingard (Ferapont), Douglas Jefferies (Vershinin), Alfred Sangster (Kulygin), Dorice Fordred (Natasha Ivanova), Anthony Ireland (Alexey Fedotik), Lionel Redpath (Vladimir Rode).
Liliom London
Duke of York’s, 23 Dec 1926, writ. Ferencz Molnar, trans. Osmond Shillingford and Anthony Ellis, dir. and des. Theodore Komisarjevsky, mus. comp. and arr. Max Deutsch. With: Stella Freeman (Dancer), Beryl Harrison (Marie), Fay Compton (Julie), Violet Farebrother (Mrs Muskat), Ivor Novello (Liliom), Wm. Kendall (Berkovicz, 1st Mounted Policeman), Ben Webster (Police Captain, Sec. of the Magistrate), J. Hamilton Kay (Detective), Margaret Webster (Mrs Kalman), LAUGHTON (Ficsur), Ernest Hare (2nd Mounted Policeman), Dan F. Roe (Young Kalman), Douglas Jefferies (Wolf), Douglas Burbidge (Athlete, Linz), Alfred Sangster (Police Surgeon, Court Policeman), Drew MacIntosh (1st Policeman), Alfred Hilliard (2nd Policeman), Marjorie Mars (Louise).
The Greater Love London
Prince’s Theatre, 23 Feb 1927, writ. J. B. Fagan, dir. Fagan and Lewis Casson, des. Fagan. With: Charles Bealby (Count Ivan Sergevitch Pestoff), Lawrence Hanray (Prof. Panshine), Brember Wills (Zabalow), John H. Moore (Porphery Micolaievitch), Ronald Kerr (Dr Abramitch), Lewis T. Casson (Polusky, Col. Schultz), Sybil Thorndike (Nadeshda Ivanova), Colin Keith-Johnston (Vassili Ivanovitch), Ada King (Tatiana Sergevna), Chris Walker (Piotr), Henry Hewett (Captain Pavel Kaulbach), Basil Gill (Col. Tzaloff), Doug Thompson (Sergeant), Charles Herriot (Lieut.
), Brember Wills (Nuhlin), LAUGHTON (Gen. Markeloff), Desmond Deane (Col. Almazoff), Wallace Wood (Captain Alexieff), Elliott Seabrooke (Captain Nazernoff), John H. Moore (Officer).
Angela London
Prince’s Theatre, 14 Mar 1927, writ. Lady Bell, dir. Lewis T. Casson. With: Dora Barton (Hon Mrs Carr), Jessie Bateman (Lady Hartley), Sadie Speight (Mrs Priestman), John H. Moore (Footman), Lilian Moubrey (Servant), Sybil Thorndike (Angela Guiseley), LAUGHTON (Sir James Hartley), Lewis T. Casson (Valentine Guiseley), Lawrence Hanray (Jack Wilding), Thomas Warner (Mr Priestman), Percy Varley (Mr Lambert), Zillah Carter (Violet Guiseley), Winifrid Oughton (Clare Marriner), Ronald Kerr (Geoff Marriner), Wallace Wood (Mr Wilson), Godfrey Baxter (Clerk), Brember Wills (John Quarll).
Naked London
Royalty Theatre, 18 Mar 1927, writ. Luigi Pirandello, dir. Theodore Komisarjevsky. With: Nancy Price (Ersilia Drei), Allan Jeayes (Ludovico Nota), Florence Tyrell (Onoria), LAUGHTON (Cantavalle), George Relph (Franco Raspigi), Joan Levett (Emma), Elliott Seabrooke (Consul Grotti).
Medea London
Prince’s Theatre, 27 Apr 1927, writ. Euripides, trans. Gilbert Murray, dir. Lewis T. Casson, cos. Bruce Winston. With: Sybil Thorndike (Medea), Lawrence Anderson (Jason), LAUGHTON (Creon), Lawrence Hanray (Aegeus), Lilian Moubrey (Nurse), John H. Moore (Attendant), Lewis T. Casson (Messenger), and Zillah Carter, Margaret Webster, Iris Baker, Ursula Granville, Renee Rubens, Grace Poole, Penelope Spencer (Chorus).
The Happy Husband London
Criterion, 15 June 1927, writ. Harrison Owen, dir. Basil Dean. With: Laurence Grossmith (Bill Rendell), David Hawthorne (Arthur Tolhurst), LAUGHTON (Frank K. Pratt), Madge Tetheridge (Dot Rendell), Ann Trevor (Sylvia Fullerton), Eric Cowley (‘Sosso’ Stephens), Stella Arbenina (Consuelo Pratt), A.E. Matthews (Harvey Townsend), Sheila MacGregor (Ada), Mabel Sealby (Stella Tolhurst), Carl Harbord (A Visitor).
Paul I London
(Royal) Court Theatre, 4 Oct 1927, writ. D. Merejkovsky, adapt. by John Alford and J.C. Dale, dir. and des. Theodore Komisarjevsky. With: Carl Harbord (Grand Duke Alexander), Lydia Sherwood (Elizabeth), George Hayes (Paul I), Elliott Seabrooke (Grand Duke Constantin), Arthur Macrae (Lieut. Marin, Ropchinsky), LAUGHTON (Gen. Count Pahlen), Hugh Barnes (Gen. Talyzin), Bramwell Fletcher (Col. Prince Yashvil), Vivian Beynon (Gen. Bennigsen), Ian Davison (Col. Argamakov), Dan F. Roe (Dr Rodgerson, Col. Baron Rosen), Dorothy Green (Empress Marie), Dorothy Cheston (Princess Anna Gagarine), W.E.C. Jenkins (Lieut. Bibikov, Kirilov), G. Vernon (Cornet Gardanov), Scott Sunderland (Prince Platon Zoubov), Barry K. Barnes (Prince Nicolas Zoubov).
Mr Prohack London
(Royal) Court Theatre, 16 Nov 1927, writ. Arnold Bennett and Edward Knoblock, dir. and des. Theodore Komisarjevsky. With: LAUGHTON (Mr Prohack), Hilda Sims (Mrs Prohack), Lydia Sherwood (Susie Prohack), Carl Harbord (Charles Prohack), Juliet Mansel (Machin), Scott Sunderland (Softly Bishop), Frederick Cooper (Ozzie Morfey), Dorothy Cheston (Lady Massulam), Dan F. Roe (Hollins), Arthur Macrae (Tailor’s Boy), Elsa Lanchester (Mimi Winstock), Elliott Seabrooke (Sir Paul Spinner).
A Man with Red Hair London
Little Theatre, 27 Feb 1928, writ. Benn W. Levy, from the novel of Hugh Walpole, dir. Theodore Komisarjevsky, des. Aubrey Hammond. With: Ion Swinley (David Dunbar), Keyo Akimoto (A Servant), J.H. Roberts (Charles Percy Harkness), Gillian Lind (Hesther Tobin), LAUGHTON (Mr Crispin), James Whale (Herrick Crispin), George Bealby (Dr Tobin), Kay Chiba (Another Servant), O. Morai (Another Servant).
The Making of an Immortal London
Arts Theatre Club, 1–2 Apr 1928, writ. George Moore, dir. Robert Atkins, des. George Sheringham, mus. arr. Sir Thomas Beecham. With: Malcolm Keen (Richard Burbage), Edmund Gwenn (Anthony Grindle), Edward Chapman (Christopher Fir), D. Hay Petrie (Jack Ford), Billy Shine (Jack Thornley), Brian Glennie (Prenny Lister), Thomas White (Robert Warner), George Brijan (Stephen Frion), Sandford Gorton (Henry Cuffe), LAUGHTON (Ben Jonson), Leslie Faber (Francis Bacon), Charles Carson (William Shakespeare), Sybil Thorndike (Queen Elizabeth), Clement Hamelin, Leslie Coles, More O’Ferrall (Javelin Men), John Laurie, Geoffrey Clark, Cyril Hardingham (Players), Barbara Horder (Maid of Honour).
Riverside Nights London
Arts Theatre Club, Sun. 24 June 1928, writ. and arr. Nigel Playfair and A.P. Herbert, dir. Nigel Playfair, mus. Alfred Reynolds. With: Marie Brett-Davies, Joan Carr, Renee de Vaux, Elsa Lanchester, Florence McHugh, Violet Marquesita, D.H. Petrie, Nigel Playfair, Mark Raphael, Scott Russell, Penelope Spencer, Laura Wilson, Geoff Wincott, Fay Yeatman, and for this occasion only CHARLES LAUGHTON. (Laughton and Lanchester performed ‘The Ballad of Frankie and Johnny’.)
Alibi London
Theatre Royal, Haymarket, 12 Nov 1928, writ. Michael Morton, from the novel by Agatha Christie, dir. Sir Gerald duMaurier, des. Stafford Hilliard and J. Crosbie-Frazer. With: Lady Tree (Mrs Ackroyd), Jane Welsh (Flora Ackroyd), E. Disney Roebuck (Parker), Basil Loder (Major Blunt), Iris Nobel (Ursula Bourne), H. Forbes-Robertson (Geoffrey Raymond), Gillian Lind (Caryl Sheppard), LAUGHTON (Hercule Poirot), J.H. Roberts (Dr Sheppard), Oliver Johnston (Ralph Paton), Norman V. Norman (Sir Roger Ackroyd, Bart.), John Darwin (Inspector Davies), J. Smith-Wright (Mr Hammond), Constance Anderson (Margot).
Mr Pickwick London
Theatre Royal, Haymarket, 15 Dec 1928, writ. Cosmo Hamilton and Frank C. Reilly, from the novel by Charles Dickens, dir. Basil Dean, des. Aubrey Hammond, cos. Mr Simmons. With: Eliot Makeham (Sam Weller), May Chevalier (Housekeeper), Gypsy Raine (Betsy), Delring Wells (Augustus Snodgrass), Harold Scott (Nathaniel Winkle), Lamont Dickson (Tracy Tupman), Oswald Roberts (Waiter, Mr Jackson, Sergeant Snubben), Wallace Douglas (Mr Trundle, Gamekeeper’s Boy), Richard Turner (Bob Sawyer), Denis Mowbray (Ben Allen), Bruce Winston (Tony Weller, Sergeant Buzfuz), Ambrose Manning (Mr Wardle), Kathleen Gelder (Emily Wardle), Kathleen Kelly (Isabella Kelly), Madeleine Carroll (Arabella Allen), Susan Richmond (Rachel Wardle), Jack Corps (Fat Boy), Dotrice Fordred (Mary), J. Hubert Leslie (Mr Perker), LAUGHTON (Mr Pickwick), D.J. Williams (Cabman, Justice Stareleigh), George Curzon (Alfred Jingle), Mary Clare (Mrs Bardell), Billy Salmon (Master Bardell), Eugene Leahy (Gamekeeper, Mr Skimpin), Huntley Gifford (Butler), Rollie Emery (Mrs Cluppins), Anne Esmond (Mrs Sanders), Huntley Gifford (Mr Phunky), Archibald McLean (Mr Dodson), Richard Coke (Mr Fogg), Walton Palmer (Mr Roker), Arthur Bawtree (Job Trotter).
Beauty London
Strand, 16 July 1929, writ. Michael Morton, from the French of Jacques Deval, dir. Felix Edwardes. With: Oswald Skilbeck (Gustave), Lady Tree (Henriette Sopite), Morton Selten (Xavier Sopite), Grace Wilson (Mme Vadiche), Gwendolen Floyd (Mme Toube), Ena Grossmith (Berenice Toube), Isabel Jeans (Estelle Duparc), Eric Maturin (Paul de Severac), LAUGHTON (Jacques Blaise), Alex Chentrens (Bonamy), W.E.C. Jenkins (Adolphe), Dorothy Dunkels (Rose), E. Lyall Swete (Prof Flammet).
The Silver Tassie London
Apollo, 11 Oct 1929, writ. Sean O’Casey, dir. Raymond Massey, des. Augustus John (Act 2), G.E. Calthrop (Acts 1, 3, 4). With: Barry Fitzgerald (Sylvester Heegan, 3rd Soldier), Sidney Morgan (Simon Norton), Eithne Magee (Mrs Heegan), Beatrix Lehmann (Susie Monican), Una O’Connor (Mrs Foran), Ian Hunter (Teddy Foran), LAUGHTON (Harry Heegan), Billy Barnes (Jessie Taite, 4th Stretcher-Bearer), S.J. Warmington (Barry Bagnal, 6th Soldier), Leonard Shepherd (The Croucher), LAUGHTON (1st Soldier), Ian Hunter (2nd Soldier), Jack Mayne (4th Soldier), G. Adrian Byrne (5th Soldier), Sinclair Cotter (The Corporal), Ivo Dawson (The Visitor), Alban Blakelock (The Staff Wallah), Emlyn Williams (The Trumpeter), Norman Stuart (1st Stretcher-Bearer), Oswald Lingard (2nd Stretcher-Bearer), Charles Schofield (3rd Stretcher-Bearer), Clive Morton (1st Casualty), James Willoughby (2nd Casualty), Hastings Lynn (Surgeon Forby Maxwell), Audrey O’Flynn (Sister of the Ward).
French Leave London
Vaudeville, 7 Jan 1930, writ. Reginald Berkeley, dir. Eille Norwood, des. Aubrey Hammond. With: Charles Groves (Corp. Sykes), Frederick Burtwell (Rifleman Jenks), Madeleine Carroll (Mademoiselle Juliette), James Raglan (Capt. Harry Glenister), LAUGHTON (Brig
adier-General Archibald Root), Edward Scott-Gatty (Lieut. George Graham), Emlyn Williams (M. Jules Marnier), May Agate (Mme Denaux).
On the Spot London
Wyndham’s, 2 April 1930, writ. and dir. Edgar Wallace. With: Frank Everart (Shaun O’Donnell), Agnes Somerset (A Nurse), Philip Valentine (A Priest), Julian Andrews (A Doctor), Roy Emerton (Captain Harrison), Douglas Payne (Patrolman Ryan), LAUGHTON (Tony Perelli), Gillian Lind (Minn Lee), John Gold (Kiriki), Emlyn Williams (Angelo), Ben Welden (Con O’Hara), Gladys Frazin (Maria Pouliski), Ben Smith (Jimmy McGarth), Dennis Wyndham (Mike Feeney).
Payment Deferred London
St James’s Theatre, 4 May 1931, writ. Jeffrey Dell, from the novel by C.S. Forester, dir. H.K. Ayliff. With: Ernest Jay (Hammond), Quinton McPherson (A Prospective Tenant), LAUGHTON (William Marble), Louise Hampton (Annie Marble), Elsa Lanchester (Winnie Marble), Paul Longuet (Jim Medland), Jeanne de Casalis (Mme Collins), A.S. Homewood (Dr Atkinson), and Edgar K. Bruce, Ernest Haines (Furniture Removers).
The Cherry Orchard London
Old Vic, 9–28 October 1933, writ. A. Chekhov, trans. Hubert M. Butler, dir. Tyrone Guthrie. With: LAUGHTON (Lopakhin), Barbara Wilcox (Dunyasha), Marius Goring (Yepi Khodov), Athene Seyler (Lyubov Andreyevna), Ursula Jeans (Anya), Flora Robson (Varya), Leon Quartermaine (Leonid Andreyevitch), Elsa Lanchester (Charlotta Ivanovna), Roger Livesey (Semeonov-Pishchik), Morland Graham (Firs), James Mason (Yasha), Dennis Arundell (Trofimov), Ernest Hare (A Vagrant), John Allen (The Station Master), Raymond Johnson (A Post Office Clerk).
Henry VIII London
Wells, 7–18 Nov 1933.
Old Vic, 21 Nov-2 Dec 1933, writ. W. Shakespeare, dir. Tyrone Guthrie. With: Nicholas Hannen (Duke of Buckingham), Dennis Arundell (Duke of Norfolk), Ernest Hare (Lord Abergavenny, Duke of Suffolk), Robert Farquharson (Wolsey), James Mason (Cromwell), Desmond Walter-Ellis (Brandon), Derek Prentice (A Sergeant-at-Arms), LAUGHTON (Henry VIII), Flora Robson (Queen Katharine), Philip Thornley (Surveyor to the Duke of Buckingham), Roger Livesey (Lord Chamberlain), Richard Goolden (Lord Sands, Cranmer), Christopher Hassall (Sir Thomas Lovell), Bertram Grimley (Sir Henry Guildford, 1st Usher), Ursula Jeans (Anne Bullen), Peter Croft (A Servant to Wolsey, 2nd Usher), Raymond Johnson (1st Gentleman), John Allen (2nd Gentleman), Orford St John (Sir Nicholas Vaux), Marius Goring (Cardinal Campeius, Garter King-at-Arms), Cecil Scott-Paton (Gardiner), Athene Seyler (Old Lady), Elsa Lanchester (A Singer), Morland Graham (Griffith), Frank Napier (Earl of Surrey), Evelyn Allen (Patience), Thorley Walters (A Messenger), Peter Copley (Capucius).
