Los siete jinetes de la victoria

One of several idiosyncratic inclusions in that silly book, 'The Fifty Worst Movies of All Time', DeMille's first film in full Technicolor is actually good fun; and adroitly exploits his new toy by filling the screen with Mounties' red uniforms (one of them worn by a fleetingly glimpsed young Robert Ryan).

Starring Gary Cooper as the delightfully named Dusty Rivers, the ladies comprise a rare appearance in colour by the blonde Madeleine Carroll (who describes Coop as "an angel in leather"), visually contrasted with dusky half-Indian wildcat Paulette Goddard (of whom Robert Preston snarls "If your neck wasn't so lovely I'd break it!!).

As usual in a late DeMille all the spectacular outdoor scenes are left in the hands of second-unit director Arthur Rossen; while veteran editor Anne Bauchen's ability to lick this all into coherent shape was acknowledged by the Academy with an Oscar.

this first demille color epic was a sensation in 1940, deep in the era of fitzpatrick traveltalks ("so as the sun sinks slowly behind the rugged rockies we bid a reluctant adieu to the friendly metis people of canada.") it surely has many fine moments. but the plot is somewhat convoluted and the hero keeps picking up different horses along the way. "the horse he rode in on" was 1500 miles from home (texas). we see a somewhat distorted map of canada at the opening. the pivotal town of batoche is situated too close to the US border, about where regina should be. regina isn't shown, despite continual reference to it throughout. demille isn't the best director for gary cooper, who was allowed to brandish his bizarre mannerisms in a duel to the finish with paulette goddard. the cool blonde madeleine carroll and stout fella preston foster were pleasant to see, but best acting was done by george bancroft as the heartless whiskey runner, jacques corbeau. best lines include one by montagu love as the mortally wounded inspector cabot: some fool at headquarters wants to change the uniform to green. stand up for the redcoats! it's a good color. and another colonialism from foster as sgt. brett to an indian chief: will big bear kneel to the queen and be chief of his people again? it was a valiant two hour fight, but the scenery won. bonus quote by lynne overman as scottish-indian todd macduff: do they have fast horses in texas, mr. rivers? i'm bettin' they can nae keep up wi' the men.

... but the director is Cecil B. DeMille, and given that DeMille helped build Paramount, it's not like the studio is going to deny even his worst impulses.

It's 1885, and the Metis (half-breed) people of western Canada are planning a rebellion, led by bad guys Corbeau (George Bancroft), Riel (Francis McDonald), and Duroc (Akim Tamiroff). Out to stop them are the stalwart men of the North West Mounted Police, led by the straight-backed Sgt. Jim Brett (Preston Foster). He bristles when he's forced to accept help from Texas Ranger Dusty Rivers (Gary Cooper), who has come north in search of a fugitive murderer. Both Brett and Rivers chase after angelic nurse April Logan (Madeleine Carroll). Meanwhile, young Mountie rake Ronnie Logan (Robert Preston) is conducting an illicit affair with half-breed wildcat Louvette (Paulette Goddard).

This is a big, loud mix of the dumb and the entertaining. It's bad but never boring, with outrageous characters sporting silly names ("Dusty Rivers"? Really?!?), tonally awkward scenes of slapstick comedy followed by people being shot in the head, and laughably misplaced romance. The gorgeous "Canadian" scenery was achieved primarily on LA soundstages, and the filmmakers never did make it to Canada, although there's some legitimate outdoor scenes shot in California state parks. However silly it all is, DeMille knew his formula well, as this ended up being Paramount's biggest hit of the year, as well as earning Oscar nominations for Best Score, Best Sound, Best Color Art Direction, and Best Color Cinematography, as well as winning for Best Editing.

Would it have gotten these accolades had the director NOT been De Mille? I doubt it.

The master of spectacle doesn't let us down in that regard with his first movie shot in Technicolor.The action sequences are as exciting as in other De Mille spectacles but the hammy acting,the ridiculous dialog and slow pacing makes this a below par movie for De Mille. Gary Cooper and Madeleine Carroll look embarrassed throughout speaking those silly lines.Preston Foster as the third party of the love triangle has one of his more substantial parts in his career.But it is fun to watch Paulette Goddard's hilarious overacting.As her villainous father George Bancroft isn't far behind in that department.The best acting are provided by the two veterans Akim Tamiroff and Lynne Overman who provide some comic relief.The movie is beautiful to look at in bright colors and passes the afternoon quite painlessly.

You first have to understand that DeMille has taken considerable poetic licence, while using the story of the return of Louis Riel to Canada, and the subsequent Duck Lake massacre of a large unit of Mounties. Even the pronunciation by DeMille of the word "Metis" at the introduction to the movie is quite incorrect.

Fun to watch the fictional introduction of Gary Cooper as a Texas marshal travelling into Canada in pursuit of a Metis criminal.

Some good aspects of the film include the historical accuracy of the uniforms at that time... no wide brimmed hats... and the correctness of the name of the Mounties at that time. The only item of historical inaccuracy is the fur hats that DeMille has the Mounties wear. During the warmer weather they wore either a pill box hat or a white helmet. They did wear fur hats during the winter with their Buffalo hide coats, but DeMille did not like the design of any of the head wear that was part of the actual uniform, so he had this design made for the picture.

The two key bad guys are historical fact, although whether they acted as they are shown in the movie is another question. Whether there was a gatling gun at the Duck Lake massacre is another question the historians will have to answer.

Generally, a good romp... a great movie to sit back and watch with popcorn and a soft drink.