Northern Patrol (195-)

One of the better films in the Kirby Grant and Chinook series is also one of the last ones. in the series.

The film begins with Grant heading heading home on vacation. Stopping at a cabin he finds what appears to be an apparent suicide. The troubling thing is the man killed himself in the middle of making breakfast. The suicide was obviously murder. Grant dives into the investigation and instantly realizes that something was up with the brother of the man's fiance. Things get worse from there.

Solid adventure film holds our attention thanks to a complicated plot involving a good number of characters. This isn't simply a small group of people circling each other, rather characters show up and add to what Kirby knows. Additionally there are a couple of unexpected twists. It keeps things moving and interesting in more than a by the numbers way.

One of my favorite films in the series.

Trail of the Yukon (1949)

Despite being set in the Yukon territory TRAIL OF THE YUKON is a full on western. If you changed the men’s hats, replaced talk of the Mounties with US Marshalls and removed the snow this film would become a western without anyone noticing. It has a plot that is so by rote that I’m guessing that the story was moved north of the border just to make it stand out. Its so by rote that you kind of wonder how this spawned a series that last eight more films,

TRAIL OF THE YUKON is not a bad film, not by a long shot, it’s just not that outstanding. Watching the other films in the series you know why the series went on, Kirby Grant had a real character and the films are lifted by a force of personality. I suspect that’s because the other films were set up to be about Grant and his dog, this film is telling a wider story.

The story here has a group of men robbing the local bank. After fleeing into the wilderness the group is double crossed by traitors in their midst and the money is stolen again. This results in a running gun battle in canoes. One of the double crossed men gets away with the money while the traitors go off after him. An injury brings Grant and Chinook into the mix as everyone tries to figure out who the real bad guy is.

As I said this isn’t a bad film. It’s very entertaining on its own terms but it suffers from being too similar to a couple other hundred films. Worse in this film the character Grant is given to play is way too similar to other characters. They look alike, the sound alike and if you aren’t pay attention you’re going to wonder who is who. I did.

TRAIL is a very good film on it’s own terms, and recommended to anyone wanting to see a good film, especially to fans of the Kirby and Chinook series which started here. The film is now out on a triple feature disc from the Warner Archive

Call of the Kondike (1950)

Corporal Webb and Chinook escort a young woman to Healey's Crossing in order to find out what happened to her father who has been missing for three months.  Webb has also been dispatched because weird things have begun to happen in the area and two trappers have gone missing.

Very entertaining entry in the series is, to be perfectly honest unremarkable as these things go plot wise, but at the same time it's warm and fuzzy. It's the reason that program pictures were so popular, you know what you were getting, and when they were put together correctly they were more entertaining than the regular features. This is a film that is a hell of a lot more entertaining than many main features. I would add that this film is also one of the best in the whole series.

While the film isn't big on action, there are only a couple of action set pieces, it is mysterious, you don't readily know who is doing what until a good clip into the film. I like the humor that runs through it with the early sequence of Webb trying to bathe Chinook and the question of Nancy's luggage on the trip a highlight.

Definitely worth seeing, especially if you have picked up the Kirby and Chinook DVDs from Warner Archive

Yukon Manhunt (1951)

Rod Webb of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and his dog Chinook are sent to investigate the murder of payroll messengers and the theft of mining payrolls.  Accompanying the payroll on a train to the mining camp Webb is knocked unconcious when he takes Chinook to the baggage car after he wakes everyone up when he senses something. When he awakens Webb finds that some one has gassed the passengers, killed the messenger and taken the payroll.  Soon more bodies turn up and Webb and Chinook are in a desperate race to find out who done it.

As an example of the much maligned western sub-genre of Mountie Movies this isn't a bad movie. It has great location photography, nifty action and great characters. It moves like the wind and so long as you don't think about it this is great fun. I mean how many films from the period end with the hero not being allowed to take a vacation because of an axe murder?

The problem with this film is that the mystery makes no sense. Bone headed things are done from the instant that the plot is set in motion, the most glaring being how did the people who jumped Webb on the train get out of the train car with no one noticing (they were all awake) and secondly why did Webb let everyone go when he had all of the suspects trapped on the train? Does the lack of sense ruin the film? No,but it does make what could have been a great film just a good one.

Currently out on DVD from the Warner Archive  on a disc that includes Northwest Territory and Yukon Gold.

Murder on the Yukon (1940)

"Probe the wound Constable Kelly"

While on a semi-vacation looking for the source of counterfeit money Renfrew and Kelly discover the body of a miner in a beached canoe. The murderer had set the canoe adrift hoping that it would go over the falls hiding his misdeed, however circumstance conspired against him and soon he, and his ring of counterfeiters have to deal with the mounties looking into the murder.

This is a good solid movie. Granted it isn't much of a mystery since you know who the bad guys are from the outset, but it doesn't really matter much because the point of these films is the action and the smart mouth exchanges between Renfrew and Kelly. These are two friends who pick on each other mercilessly and there verbal sparring is always very witty and several shades cleverer than most dialog you find in these programmers. I've seen all of the Renfrew movies now and it amazes me at how much the two genuinely seem to like and care for each other, even when they are cutting each other down. Its very real.

The films action is very good with several nice fights and couple of chases. Say what you will about the series the fact that the movies take place primarily outdoors in settings you haven't seen a thousand times before is another plus. The lack of studio settings adds a nice edge to the film and makes it seem less by the numbers.

Yes, there are songs but they are not intrusive and are over almost before they start. They are also used as a way for Renfrew to pick on Kelly.

Over all this is a good solid entry in the series and definitely worth checking out if you run across it.

Fighting Mad (1939)

Constable Kelly: I'm thinking of asking for a transfer.
Renfrew:Why?
Constable Kelly:Because nothing ever exciting happens any more.

Third film in our Renfrew series begins with two bad guys and a woman they have kidnapped wandering across the border from the US into Canada. They have a stolen 100 grand in a suitcase. They steal the car and house trailer of Benny, a man they meet on the road and drive off. It's at this point the opening exchange occurs moments before Kelly and Renfrew have to chase down the run away trailer with our heroine inside. From there it's typical Renfrew adventures as Renfrew and Kelly have to untangle the mess of stolen cars and stolen money.

This was the toughest of all the Renfrew films to track down. Until Amazon's streaming video I'd only seen it available from a collector on Ebay who was selling it on a DVD with two other Renfrew films. Why it was so difficult to find has eluded me since all of the other films are readily available from places like Sinister or Oldies.

This is one of the best Renfrew films. It's got a great characters, a great sense of place and some thrills that would have made this a great serial had the series gone that way. The songs aren't all that intrusive, and there isn't an over abundance of bad humor. Sure, Benny gets a bit bothersome, but for the most part it all works.

I really like this film. It's got all of the best things you want in a film like this, mainly a high level of action and adventure mixed with a healthy dose of suspense. It's the sort of film that would have had it been the first in the series I had seen, I would have been hooked.

This is a great little film.

Renfrew of the Royal Mounted On the Great White Trail (1938)

After a week off we continue on with our look ay all the Renfrew of the Royal Mounted films. This week we go On the Great White Trail. (I have no idea if the title is just On The Great WHite Trail or if the the title actually begins with Renfrew..., but I digress.)

While not the best in the series, it's not quite the worst either. The film is a step in the right direction, and quite charming on it's own terms.

The plot of the film has Renfrew escorting a young woman North to find her father. It seems he's gone missing and the Mounties can't reach their man in the same area so they sent Renfrew to accompany the girl. While Renfrew is on the trail it's revealed that the Mountie Renfrew is trying to contact is dead and that the girl's father has gone missing with a large sum of money.The locals believe he killed Mountie and another man. Of course things are not as they seem and Renfrew has his work cut out for him.

A much more straight forward film than the first film in the series, this film at least knows what it's about. The film's first half is closer to a straight out musical comedy with a good number of (actually quite good) songs and what seems to be a never ending series of one liners coming from Renfrew. However once the film's second half arrives things turn more serious as Renfrew sets about trying to unravel what is really going on.

I like the film, but it's not as good as the later ones in the series. Part of it is the uneven tone, part of it is the cheapness of the production (there is an over use of rear screen projections). It's an interesting bridge between the first go at the character and where it would end up a short time later when you got six films in just over under two years.

Definitely worth searching out.

(Of trivial note, this is the first appearance, fleetingly, of Constable Kelly who would become Renfrew's partner in later films.)

Renfrew Of the Royal Mounted (1937)

Today we’re starting a series which is going to run every Wednesday (except next week) to the end of the summer. We’re going to take a look at one of the most neglected and overlooked film series from the 1930’s and 1940’s, The Renfrew of the Mounties series.

Based on a series of novels the films were an odd mix of Mounties/western/mystery/ musical genres. They were the sort of thing that don’t completely fit anywhere except in the small genre of Mounties movies, and even then the films cross too many other genres to fit anywhere except with in their own series. (The novels also inspired a radio series. The 1950's TV series was simply the 8 films cut up with linking material)

The problem with the films is that they are kind of a punchline to a series of Hollywood jokes in the early 1940’s because of Renfrews tendency to burst into song for no really good reason one or twice a film. That’s all well and good but the songs stop the films dead since they more often then not, really don’t fit in the story.(Western stars like Gene Autrey or Roy Rogers more often than not seemed to fit the songs into the films more naturally) With the Renfrews the songs just happen when ever he feels like singing, usually on a long horseback ride or when wooing a girl. I’m a huge fan of the films but even I can’t justify the songs and often scan through them. On the other hand if you can forgive the songs the rest of the films are fantastic, with great action and even better mysteries. These really are super little films that you should search out. Over the next 9 weeks we’re going to look at the 8 films in the series.

The first film is simply titled Renfrew of the Royal Mounted. Some of the other films in the series begin with that and then add a qualifier after the Renfrew part.

This first time out is probably the weakest time out. Its a mixed bag film that has some of the same elements and plot points that would be reused in later films.

The plot has to do with some American counterfeiters (lead by a guy with one of the worst Italian accents you'll ever see) working out of a lodge 100 miles or so from the American border and shipping the money to the US in blocks of ice with trout frozen in them. Into the mix add an Indian and a young woman trying to find her father.

Its a hit or miss film that starts and ends with a song, has a long digression at the start concerning a picnic (time for another song) and eventually finds it's footing at which point it races to the end in a manner that is at best described as silly. Sure there is some excitement, but mostly it's a flat foot by the number action film.

I'm guessing that the series was planned and that they used this film more as an introduction to the character and set up for the series rather than an actual pilot for a potential series.

In all honesty this is the one film in the series I wouldn't bother with again. Don't get me wrong, the film isn't bad, it's just not up to the films that follow it. Films like Crashing Thru or Sky Bandits are just damn fine films on any scale, this one is just way too clunky and unsure.

The film is currently out on DVD from Alpha Video and other sources. If you skipped it it wouldn't be the end of the world.

(We'll be skipping visiting the Great White North next week as there are other things a foot. When we come back we will be On The Great White Trail.)