Though controversy still rages as to who actually was the first man to reach the North Pole, most history books maintain that American explorer Robert E. Peary accomplished the feat on April 6, 1909, giving him credit rather than Dr. Frederick Cook.
But, until recently, most historians had virtually ignored the contributions of Matthew Henson, the African American who is now credited with "co-discovering" the Pole with Peary 89 years ago.
TNT's new film, "Glory & Honor," examines the complex relationship between Peary (played by Henry Czerny) and Henson (Delroy Lindo). Kevin Hooks ("Passenger 57") directed the historical drama, which was partly filmed on Baffin Island, near the Arctic Circle.
Peary had hired Henson to be his personal valet in the early 1890s. Over the next 18 years and nine expeditions to the Arctic, Henson became indispensable to Peary. He learned to communicate with the Arctic's Inuit natives, drove the dog sleds and was Peary's translator.
After the 1909 expedition, though, Peary's fame soared and Henson drifted into obscurity, working as a valet and a custodian before his death in 1955. Finally in 1988, Henson got the recognition he long deserved and his remains were interred in Arlington National Cemetery next to Peary's.
Executive producer Bruce Gilbert ("The China Syndrome," "9 to 5") believes the themes explored in "Glory & Honor" are very relevant for today's audiences.
Peary, Gilbert says, represents "the kind of figure which we see a lot of today who is totally goal-driven. He is so focused on the goal, he's not paying attention to the process. Henson, on the other hand, starts the story as somebody who is directionless. He comes to understand the value of having a goal and trying to achieve something that is difficult. He learned how to combine the goal with the process. By that, I mean he is in the moment. He savored everything the journey represented to him along the way."
"The title really becomes very accurate in terms of how these two men lived their lives," adds director Hooks. "It's very easy to see how Peary was wooed by the glory and the fame of being the discoverer of the North Pole. Conversely, for a man like Matthew Henson, who had no chance of gaining any kind of glory or fame at all, he was really in it for the experience and what that experience meant for him . It was really more about the honor of being there."
