The gestation of Arctic Fury is more interesting than the film itself. In 1936, pioneer cinematographer Norman Dawn joined forces with Universal head Carl Laemmle to produce Tundra, a semidocumentary account of the life of Alaska's "flying doctor," Thomas Barlow. When the Laemmle regime collapsed at Universal, cameraman/co-director Dawn received funding from Burrough-Tarzan productions, an independent firm set up by Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs. After seven months' location filming in the Yukon and Arctic Ocean region, Dawn filled the gaps in the film's continuity with snippets from SOS Iceberg (1933) and newly-shot scenes of former football coach Del Cambre (as Dr. Barlow) and trained bears Tom and Jerry. In 1949, 13 years after the release of Tundra, the film was purchased by Plymouth Productions. Most of the location footage and the Del Cambre re-enactments were retained, but a new subplot, directed by Dan Riss and featuring Eve Miller and Gloria Petroff as Dr. Barlow's wife and daughter, was grafted onto the proceedings. Merrill McCormick, who'd played a crusty old trapper in Tundra, was rehired to repeat his role and provide linking narration. This "new" film, retitled Arctic Fury, was distributed by RKO Radio Pictures.
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