Ahh, the 1950's. I'm starting to think that that decade earns the western movie crown! The list of great westerns in that decade boggles the mind: High Noon, Shane, Broken Arrow, The Far Country, The Gunfighter, The Naked Spur, Hondo, The Last Wagon...and that's just a few famous ones! Though the late 1930's and early 1940's were the golden age of the mountie film, there were some good examples of the Canadian Mountie story in the 1950's, too. There was Saskatchewan in 1954 (starring Alan Ladd), Pony Soldier in 1952 (with Tyrone Power), and a good number of the Kirby Grant films were released in that decade.
Enter the splendid 1953 action epic, Fort Vengeance, starring the rugged James Craig, with Keith Larsen, Reginald Denny, and the oddly-cast-but-lovely Rita Moreno. Craig and Larsen play brothers Dick and Carey Ross, with Craig as the elder (and wiser) of the two. As the picture starts out, they're on the run from a posse, headed for the Canadian border. Larsen's character, Carey, has shot a man in what is ostensibly self-defense, and it's up to the older to get him out of the jam. They do out-distance the sheriff and his men, and they manage to make it to the jurisdictional safety of Canada's lush south. Immediately Carey's impulsive recklessness comes to play, as he shoots one of a pair Indians on the trail...an act which will come back to haunt the brothers.
Stuck north of the border and lacking work, Dick decides that he's going to join up with the Northwest Mounted Police, and little brother tags along. Things move quickly from there; Dick dives fully into his new life, taking on his responsibilities with vigour, while Carey chafes at these new restrictions and begins to engage in behaviours that will cause trouble for everyone around him.
Then there is a murder.
Enter the splendid 1953 action epic, Fort Vengeance, starring the rugged James Craig, with Keith Larsen, Reginald Denny, and the oddly-cast-but-lovely Rita Moreno. Craig and Larsen play brothers Dick and Carey Ross, with Craig as the elder (and wiser) of the two. As the picture starts out, they're on the run from a posse, headed for the Canadian border. Larsen's character, Carey, has shot a man in what is ostensibly self-defense, and it's up to the older to get him out of the jam. They do out-distance the sheriff and his men, and they manage to make it to the jurisdictional safety of Canada's lush south. Immediately Carey's impulsive recklessness comes to play, as he shoots one of a pair Indians on the trail...an act which will come back to haunt the brothers.
Stuck north of the border and lacking work, Dick decides that he's going to join up with the Northwest Mounted Police, and little brother tags along. Things move quickly from there; Dick dives fully into his new life, taking on his responsibilities with vigour, while Carey chafes at these new restrictions and begins to engage in behaviours that will cause trouble for everyone around him.
Then there is a murder.
I was very happy with this film, both as a 50's western, and as a solid depiction of the Canadian Mountie ideal. James Craig was fantastic as a Mountie, dependable and loyal, brave, and always there to do the right thing. In fact, he reminded me of one of my favourite motion picture Mounties, played by Robert Preston in the amazing North West Mounted Police from 1940 (reviewed by me HERE). I'd really like to see more of Craig as an actor in general; both charming and stern when required, and very much the type that you could believe could ride alone into an army of hostiles with not a drop of sweat on his brow. Keith Larsen was very good as the weak-of-character Carey Ross, in that he was impulsive and selfish, but not mustache-twirlingly evil. Reginald Denny was great as his usual servant-of-the-empire-type in the Mountie commander role, and Rita Moreno was luscious as the wild, exotic, eye-candy of the film. I had no idea that she was so lovely.
The director, Lesley Selander, really did a solid job here. He was a juggernaut of western film direction, cranking out dozens of wonderful cowboy movies from the mid-30's into the 1960's, in which he also directed for television, including Laramie, The Tall Man, and even Lassie! Fort Vengeance goes to the top of my list of his films, with a childhood fave of mine, Quincannon, Frontier Scout (available HERE).
This great example of Mounted Police perfection is a Warner Archive release HERE...get it while you can!
The director, Lesley Selander, really did a solid job here. He was a juggernaut of western film direction, cranking out dozens of wonderful cowboy movies from the mid-30's into the 1960's, in which he also directed for television, including Laramie, The Tall Man, and even Lassie! Fort Vengeance goes to the top of my list of his films, with a childhood fave of mine, Quincannon, Frontier Scout (available HERE).
This great example of Mounted Police perfection is a Warner Archive release HERE...get it while you can!
| Here's my list of Mountie films! Please feel free to download, and let me know any that I might be missing! | 
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