Casaca roja

Who ever wrote this scipt apparenly was never in The Canadian West. I live in Manitoba and have traveled many times to the West Coast I have never yet seen a mountain in Saskatchewan. We never had any sort of trouble with the Sioux when they came into Canada and certanly no N.W.W.P. constable would allow a Canadian never mind an American shoot an indian in the back. And the Costumes terrible, the Mounties wore Pill Box Hats I think untill about 1919 when they became the R.C.M.P.And th music is the march past of the royal 22 regement Vive la Canadienne and certanly would not have been known out west.All in all a lousey movie about the Canadian west, very little truth.

It is set in Western Canada , in the wonderful Saskatchewan region with its lush forests and wild rivers . A Mountie constable of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police called Thomas O'Rourke : Alan Ladd and his Indian partner , Jay Silverheels , encounter a fired wagon train , at the same time they meet a wounded woman and sole survivor named Grace : Shelley Winters . Meanwhile, Sioux commanded by chiefs Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse have vanquished George Armstrong Custer's 7th cavalry in 1876 , and they go across the border . Sioux are attempting to force the Cree in being allies to their battles the US army . Later on , Mountie Thomas revolts against his stiff-upper-lip commander : Robert Douglas and trying to persuade the Cree to help them . Thomas must aid Creek Indians and also Grace , who is accused for killing and being pursued by deputy Smith : Hugh O'Brian . Along the way the group of Mounties escapes from the Sioux by the wild river .

Spectacular and enough budget western with thrills , adventures , battles , go riding , emotion and being mostly shot on location in Saskatchewan . This is an impressive saga of the conquest of the Saskatchewan territory where the Royal Northwest Mounted Police stood alone against the fury of the Custer-massacring Sioux and the savage Cree nation . Thinly written for the screen by Gil Doud , author of the original story based on facts , including some disapponting moments ; nevertheless , it was ably made by the great director Raoul Walsh . On the plus side are reasonable good acting from a nice cast and support cast . As main cast is pretty good , it stars the estimable Alan Ladd , a fine actor who performed some classic Noir Films and a lot of Westerns , such as The Badlanders , Proud rebel , Drum beat , Branded and the classic Shane . Support cast is frankly fine , Robert Douglas is very authentic and striking looking as the inept and vengeful commandant . The female lead is taken by pretty Shelley Winters as a captive , but she has little to do and isn't in it very much . Other secondaries appearing are Hugh O'Brian , Richard Long , J. Carrol Naish , George J. Lewis , Lewis Gilmore and as narrator : Rex Reason. And some actors playing Indians as Antonio Moreno : Chief Dark Cloud , Anthony Caruso : Spotted Eagle and Indian Cajou played by Jay Silverheels , the famous Tonto from Lone Ranger series.

This colorful movie belongs to Canadian Mountie sub-genre including important titles as the classy Unconquered by Cecil B DeMille with Gary Cooper , Pony Soldier 1952 by Joseph M. Newman with Tyrone Power and The Canadians by Burt Kennedy with Robert Ryan . This Saskatchewan packs a glimmer and rousing cinematography by John F. Seitz , showing splendorous landscapes. The motion picture was well directed by Raoul Walsh . He was a prolific filmmaker , writer , actor and producer . He directed all kinds of genres with penchant for Western , Noir Film and Gangster movies. Raoul directed westerns for Warner Bros as They died with their boots on 1942 , Sílver river 1948 with Errol Flynn , Colorado territory 1949 with Joel McCrea , Cheyenne with Dennis Morgan and Along the Great Divide with Kirk Douglas . In Universal Pictures Walsh directed : The lawless breed , Gun fury with Rock Hudson , and Saskatchewan . His two best considered westerns were The Big TraIl and Dark Command. And his last westerns were The tall men 1955 , The King and 4 queens 1956 with Clark Gable and The sheriff of Fractured Jaw with Kenneth Moore .

Saskatchewan is no earth shattering watching experience at all , but with its saving graces as the attractive , appealing outdoors , and the presence of its charming stars , it is just about worth a look . Rating 6/10.

Saskatchewan is directed by Raoul Walsh and written by Gil Doud. It stars Alan Ladd, Shelley Winters, J. Carrol Naish, Hugh O'Brian, Jay Silverheels, George Lewis and Robert Douglas. Music is by Joseph Gershenson and cinematography in Technicolor is by John F. Seitz.

Saskatchewan River Country, Spring 1877, and Mountie Sergeant O'Rourke (Ladd), who was reared by the Cree Indians, sets about trying to prevent the Cree from joining forces with the Sioux who have crossed the border into Canada after massacring General Custer at Little Bighorn.

Competent story with muscular direction for the action sequences, Saskatchewan is undoubtedly reliant on the beautiful visuals to keep the viewer enthralled. Plot is one of those that telegraphs the outcome right from the off, thus any genuine suspense is hard to garner, while the characterisations are drawn as standard.

Male cast members are mostly fine, with Ladd always watchable when doing stoicism, but Winters, in a character desperately trying not to be a token, is sadly miscast. However, the action is of high standard, with lots of extras and horses whizzing about to create excitement, and the photography in and around Banff National Park in Alberta is sublime.

Whether it's the wonderful mountains, the angled trees or the shimmering river (the latter providing a truly breath taking reflection at one point), Seitz's (The Lost Weekend/Sunset Boulevard) work for this film is reason enough to seek it out. 6/10

The Pegasus Region 2 DVD release is presented in 4:3 full frame and the picture quality is good to fair, if a little grainy for the very light scenes.

Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse vacationed in Banff. There are snow capped mountains surrounding Fort Walsh in SW Saskatchewan. The Mounties had a gun battle with the Sioux, leaving many dead on both sides. You can travel by canoe from the Rockies to Fort Walsh in a day (quite a feat considering it's hundreds of miles, and there's no river).

It's all good.

Indian scouts making jungle calls to each other at night. Mighty Alan Ladd slaying men left and right, winning the heart of the beautiful woman, and never having to raise his voice or change it from a flat, dull monotone. That's the kind of men the Mounties were made of.

Best of all, Shelley Winters in a low cut dress, six gun in hand explaining "I was on my way to Battleford!"

10/10

No, I've never been to the province. But a quick look at a relief map will show that all but the very southwest corner of Saskatchewan is prairie. Nevertheless mountains loom in the background in every shot of this film which is supposed to take place in the central part of the then-territory. The film is not alone in this; there are no mountains in western Oklahoma either, contrary to "True Grit." Alan Ladd plays O'Rourke, a RCMP officer with a progressive bent who must battle his mutton-headed commander as well as the Indians. Shelley Winters, here in her brief Marilyn Monroe-competitor period, is an American fugitive in a low cut dress. Unless you don't see many movies, you can probably surmise complications arising between the two. Jay Silverheels, later of "Lone Ranger" fame, is O'Rourke's Cree companion who angrily leaves him when the RCMP insist on confiscating the tribe's rifles and who must later confront his former friend.

A previous post noted that the RCMPs are wearing "Smokey Bear", not the correct "sepoy" hats. More noticeable to me was the dress of the Indians, who always look to be gussied up for a powwow. Photographs of the time show that by the late 1800's Indians usually dressed in manufactured (i.e. white) clothes with a some Native touches. Common sense also makes me doubt leaders wore the heavy, conspicuous headresses into battle, although again this film is not alone in this.

The plot involves the entry of the Sioux into Canada in the aftermath of Little Big Horn. In reality, the fragmented Sioux could hardly attempt a takeover of Western Canada, but merely hoped to find refuge from the vengeful U.S. Army. But here the setup is for a spectacular mass battle at the end, showing Indians charging en masse into white firepower the way they almost never did in actual history. Noticeably missing from depiction, by the way, are the Sioux women and children who trekked into Canada along with the warriors.

Because of the spectacular backdrops in Technicolor, this is not too terrible an oater if only to see the conventions of the period.