With Byrd at the South Pole(a.k.a. "With Byrd at the South Pole: The Story of Little America ")
US (1930): Documentary
The 1920s were an age of technology and adventure. The radio became part of daily life.
Airplanes became a common sight. The movies became one of America's biggest industries. Adventurers and explorers became American heroes. While Charles Lindbergh is still remembered for his epic solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927, others were making equally impressive achievements, which captured the public's imagination. Explorers such as Martin and Osa Johnson, Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack were visiting the unknown areas of the world, and returning with photographs and motion pictures of areas never seen by civilized man.
The thrills of the risky new technology of aviation and excitement of exploration were combined in the adventures of Commander Richard Byrd. Byrd was one of the most popular heroes in the age of exploration of the twenties. While he is nearly forgotten today, Richard Byrd nearly beat Lindbergh to Paris (he flew a month later). In 1925, he was the first to fly over the North Pole making international heroes of himself and his pilot, Floyd Bennett. Then in an amazing feat of organization, heroism and courage in 1929 Byrd became the first to fly over the South Pole. The South Pole flight could be called the first media expedition. It was conducted as much for publicity as for science. A contest was held for a boy Scout to join the Byrd party. Russell Owen, a reporter for The New York Times, won a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the adventure, published daily on front pages throughout the country. Two Paramount Newsreel cameramen, Willard Van der Veer and Joseph Rucker, captured the entire journey on film and won an Academy Award® for the amazing With Byrd at the South Pole. The National Geographic Magazine published Byrd's account of the adventure, and his book, Little America, was a best-seller. (Milestone Films)
1 nomination, 1 Award
· Best Cinematography 1929-30: Willard Van Der Veer, Joseph T. Rucker