I have mixed feelings about this picture. I'm a mad Errol Flynn fan, a fan of Canadian Mountie movies, and on top of that, I have a certain special spot in my heart for WWII movies written during the war...anything to boot Hitler in the arse, wot? Well, Northern Pursuit has all the fixin's for a killer propaganda actioner: enemy agents on homeland soil, stalwart good guys, hidden weapons, Nazis, and rampant double-agentry.
Unfortunately it left me a bit flat.
The film begins promisingly, with a team of German spies en route to a secret stash of enemy technology hidden before the war. Their plans go amiss when all but one of the party are killed by an avalanche; the remaining Nazi stumbles across the wilderness until he succumbs to the elements. He's found and detained by two Canadian Mounties, one of them being Corporal Steve Wagner, played by Errol Flynn.
To shorten things a bit, Flynn's character, a Canadian of German extraction, is accused of being on the side of the Nazi he captured, Hugo von Keller (well played by Helmut Dantine), and is set up for a treason trial by his own people. Everyone that he knew outside the police, including his lovely fiance (played by the stunning Laura McBain), goes along believing that he's actually become a turncoat. He jumps bail as per a secret R.C.M.P. plan, then is set out as bait for the Nazis, to tempt them into drawing him onto their side. It wasn't a surprising plot turn, of course, as many German-Americans were suspected and shunned because of their backgrounds, but I think I may have expected something different. I was hoping for a deadly hunt through the frosty wilds of the north, but it turned out to be a bit more like I Was a Communist for the FBI than I had hoped for. The acting is really super, there is some nice action, and it isn't afraid to go to very dark places, but somewhere along the line I faltered.
This isn't an atypical reaction to a Raoul Walsh movie for me, as he does challenge his viewers in a number of interesting ways. He's fond of twists and a bit of an indirect storyline, but I think, overall, it's this quality that can make many of his films so great. He's no stranger to the Canadian Mountie movie either, having directed Alan Ladd in the stellar 1954 picture Saskatchewan, also known as O'Rourke of the Royal Mounted.
It isn't often that I wish for a plot to be simpler than filmed, but I do in this case. It's still a very good movie, but the espionage angle made it just a little too convoluted to be fully enjoyable. This time anyway. I'll give it a year or two and see what I think then.
I recommend that you give it a shot...it'll probably hit you just right.
Unfortunately it left me a bit flat.
The film begins promisingly, with a team of German spies en route to a secret stash of enemy technology hidden before the war. Their plans go amiss when all but one of the party are killed by an avalanche; the remaining Nazi stumbles across the wilderness until he succumbs to the elements. He's found and detained by two Canadian Mounties, one of them being Corporal Steve Wagner, played by Errol Flynn.
To shorten things a bit, Flynn's character, a Canadian of German extraction, is accused of being on the side of the Nazi he captured, Hugo von Keller (well played by Helmut Dantine), and is set up for a treason trial by his own people. Everyone that he knew outside the police, including his lovely fiance (played by the stunning Laura McBain), goes along believing that he's actually become a turncoat. He jumps bail as per a secret R.C.M.P. plan, then is set out as bait for the Nazis, to tempt them into drawing him onto their side. It wasn't a surprising plot turn, of course, as many German-Americans were suspected and shunned because of their backgrounds, but I think I may have expected something different. I was hoping for a deadly hunt through the frosty wilds of the north, but it turned out to be a bit more like I Was a Communist for the FBI than I had hoped for. The acting is really super, there is some nice action, and it isn't afraid to go to very dark places, but somewhere along the line I faltered.
This isn't an atypical reaction to a Raoul Walsh movie for me, as he does challenge his viewers in a number of interesting ways. He's fond of twists and a bit of an indirect storyline, but I think, overall, it's this quality that can make many of his films so great. He's no stranger to the Canadian Mountie movie either, having directed Alan Ladd in the stellar 1954 picture Saskatchewan, also known as O'Rourke of the Royal Mounted.
It isn't often that I wish for a plot to be simpler than filmed, but I do in this case. It's still a very good movie, but the espionage angle made it just a little too convoluted to be fully enjoyable. This time anyway. I'll give it a year or two and see what I think then.
I recommend that you give it a shot...it'll probably hit you just right.
| Here is my (ever-growing) list of Mountie movies and serials! They span from 1914 to modern times, and cover every style and format; silent, talkie, b&w, colour, film, videotape, & DVD! Enjoy! | 
| ||||
RSS Feed
