Arctic Fury (1951)

Dr. Thomas Barlow, a young physician living in Alaska, is called upon to come to the aid of a wandering tribe of Eskimos who are spreading a plague of unknown origin in the far reaches of the Arctic Circle. Thomas learns that the Eskimos, having fled their encampment, traveled to Noonack, the nearest settlement where, within two months, they infected the entire area. Tragedy strikes soon after Thomas sets out for the plague-ridden area, when his small airplane loses an engine. The plane crashes in a wilderness area hundreds of miles from human habitation. Although he manages to eject safely from his airplane before it crashes into an iceberg, Thomas suddenly finds himself stranded in one of nature's most brutal environments. Almost immediately, Thomas is threatened by a polar bear attack and crashing icebergs. Surviving only on the fish he captures from the icy Arctic waters, Thomas, accompanied by two young polar bear cubs he has adopted, begins a desperate search for civilization. Two weeks pass and Thomas, still wandering through the wilderness, barely survives an attack by musk oxen, which he calls the "most dangerous animal of the North." Meanwhile, Trapper Mack, a friend of Thomas', sadly tells Thomas' wife Martha that her husband never arrived in Noonack, and that pieces of his plane were found by an Eskimo in the Coleville River region. A search party is formed, but hope of finding the doctor lessens with every passing day. Thomas continues to travel in the direction he hopes will lead him to safety, but only finds himself in greater danger. A short time after a search plane flying above Thomas fails to spot him, Martha is told that the search is being called off. Refusing to believe that her husband is dead, Martha insists that the search continue, and her hopes are bolstered when some of Thomas' gear is found miles from the plane wreck. Three months pass, and the famished doctor, nearing Noonack, is attacked by a pack of wild dogs. Things look bad for Thomas until Trapper Mack, who has just arrived in the Noonack area, finds Thomas and scares away the dogs with rifle fire. Thomas makes a full recovery and settles with his family in Cape Fear, where his ordeal becomes a local legend.