The Viking 1931

Set on the rugged coast of Newfoundland, a rivalry grows between Jed Nelson, a seasoned seal hunter, and Luke Oarum, a local man regarded by many as a jinx. Jed fears Luke may charm his girlfriend, Mary Joe, away. In a show of bravado, Jed taunts Luke into signing onto an Arctic sealing expedition aboard the ship Viking, led by Captain Barker, a voyage that begins with the tense promise of challenge.

The journey shifts from rivalry to survival as a hunting party splits and becomes stranded on the ice floes. The crew battles bitter cold and shifting ice while a plan for rescue unfolds. In the chaos, Jed tries to kill Luke, but Luke has been rendered nearly blind by the snow and his gunshot misses. First Luke, then Jed, become separated from the main group, which nonetheless finds its way back to the ship. Barker waits for a while, sounding the ship’s horn in hopes of guiding the lost pair, but the search eventually stalls, and the Viking returns to Saint John’s. Mary Joe is told the news.

Luke eventually finds Jed. Despite the earlier attempt on his life, Luke urges Jed to keep going. The two men push on across the ice floes all the way back to land, arriving just as they interrupt a church service. Luke and Mary Joe share a quiet, relieved embrace, while Jed, softened by the ordeal, vows that he will beat senseless any man who derides the character of his new friend.