This rarely-seen short, silent film shows the 1933-34 Admiral Richard Byrd Expedition to Antarctica, also known as the Second Byrd Antarctic Expedition or BEA II. Byrd hoped to continue his scientific research and to discover new territory in the frozen continent, using the original “Little America” site as a base camp. Despite the on-going Great Depression, Byrd managed to assemble two ships, four airplanes (including a big Curtiss Wright biplane) and four tractors for the expedition. Upon arrival in Antarctica, Byrd set up an advance weather station 123 miles south of LIttle America, which he planned to man by himself for six months. After Byrd’s transmissions suddenly stopped, his second-in-command Tom Poulter organized a rescue team using the tractors. They managed to reach Byrd on the third attempt and discovered that he had been poisoned by carbon monoxide fumes from a diesel generator. His recuperation took months, but Byrd survived, and the expedition returned from the south with a treasure trove of scientific data.
The film begins with footage of the SS Bear, a barkentine vessel formerly known as the Bear of Oakland, and which had served as an Arctic icebreaker. The film then traces the journey to Easter Island (:26) and onward to the ice floes (1:26). At (2:09) an airplane is offloaded onto Antarctica as well as a car. At (2:45) ships stores are shown on the ice, after the departure of the support vessels. At (3:04), the expedition arrives at Little America, the base camp established by Byrd four years earlier. Various activities are shown including scientific research, prior to the dramatic rescue of Admiral Byrd from his isolated advanced camp (6:20). At (9:02) a stricken Byrd arrives at Little America for further recuperation. The film wraps up with images of the expedition using aircraft and tractors to map the coastline of Antarctica, and to perform other research prior to returning to the United States via ship.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
