Caryl of the Mountains

Francis X. Bushman Jr. (Yes, his son!) and Rin Tin Tin Jr. (blood line questionable) star together in this somewhat implausible, but still entertaining barn-buster featuring an RCMP officer trying to find out who murdered a fur trapper, and why the fur trapper's daughter has embezzled from the company she works for! Happily, Rin Tin Tin is there to help sort out this mystery (Damn, that is one smart dog.. He knows who's the bad guy and the good guy AND which path the bad guys take to escape!). So this is all nonsense, not really to be taken seriously (including the atrocious Canadian accents and the RCMP mistakes!) but nevertheless good for an hour to kill.

Quebecois Josef Swickard is murdered in his cabin by Robert Walker -- not that one -- who demands the bonds and shoots Rin-Tin-Tin Jr. Swickard's niece, Lois Wilde shows up soon afterwards to find the carnage, as does Mountie Francis X. Bushman Jr. Miss Wilde is to be arrested for stealing the bonds, which she admits to, claiming she did it because Walker was about to steal them himself, and she's ready to return them, if they can be found, so Bushman lets her hide. He also disobeys orders to shoot the dog, which he ignores; apparently juniors must stick together.

With the audience filled in on exactly what is going on, the folks on the screen can't figure anything out until Rinty recovers from his wounds and points things out to Bushman. Meanwhile, director Bernard B. Ray is trying to make half an hour of material stretch to an hour by having everyone talk slow. Cameraman William Hyer offers some nice compositions in the sequences that were shot wild, but as stories go it's not much of one. Earl Dwire gets a small role as a decent guy, which is nice for a change. R.G. Springsteen is credited as assistant director. He probably spent a lot of his time taking down notes of what he shouldn't do.

Painfully bland Canadian Mountie movie starring Rin Tin Tin (Jr.) with most of the actors barely showing any emotion and saying their lines in a matter-of-fact "let's get this done on the first take" kinda way. The only actual acting is by Earl Dwire (Inspector Bradshaw), who brings some humanity, certainty, and nobility to the otherwise static cast.

Not much to say, just a simple plot involving embezzled funds and a woman who is brave enough to try to stop it, which is the basis for the whole thing. Being "smart", she sends the bonds to her uncle, which of course gets him killed, but there is no "oh I feel so guilty" here, which I did expect. In fact, this rather odd nuance in the plot is just taken for granted by every single character in this. Ah well.

One thing that kind of stood out was the nearly complete lack of sound and music. Music would have helped in some parts, as there are times when I was almost waiting for some mournful strings or some action music, but...nothing. There is one scene where Rinty looks as if he is snarling, but no growls emerge. Yes, other movies like this do not have a soundtrack, but for some reason, I noticed it more in this one. Still, the lack of sound was very effective with the first shots of the forest and the cabin.

At no time anywhere in the movie was I remotely convinced that the dog was actually of above average intelligence or that he was injured in any way (especially when he was slinking along near the cabin and just immediately stood up to do the climbing bit). Still worth a watch, though, primarily for historical reasons and film research.

For some bizarre reason, the UK title is supposedly "Get That Girl", which makes less sense than even "Caryl of the Mountains".

But thank goodness it's only about an hour long.

5/10