Northwest Trail

Canadian Mountie Matt O'Brien encounters Kate Owens, an arrogant American who is stranded in the wilderness en route to visit her uncle. Reluctantly, Matt escorts Kate to Canoga Valley, where he has been assigned to investigate some strange phenomena; a missing sergeant, unexplained gunfire, and a stream that has suddenly run dry. Before they reach town, Kate is robbed of the $20,000 she was carrying, and the ensuing deadly shoot-out leaves everyone in town suspect. Ignoring official orders to return home, O'Brien takes it upon himself to unravel the mystery, and uncovers a ruthless conspiracy that reaches deeper than anyone could have imagined.

Bob Steele has a very aptly named surname as he shows his usual steely reserve as an indomitable Canadian Mountie out to right wrongs. The scenery definable steals the scene giving the rather routine affair a punch. The repartee between Steele and Kate is quite good. Some decent action and a serviceable plot, though nothing too earth shattering.

Northwest Trail features a lot of positives, actually: Bob Steele and Joan Woodbury, a decent plot, a fast pace...and, especially, some color photography that was probably quite gorgeous in 1945 when the print was fresh. Unfortunately, the colors have long-since faded, at least on the version I saw. But it had to be something of an investment for an independent B-movie company to produce anything in color at that time. And the "Canadian" scenery really did add to my enjoyment of an otherwise solid story.

Fun to see John Litel as a Mountie whose actions must be described as "hm, suspicious." And the always-snarling Charles Middleton has a few good moments as a French-Canadian backwoods bad guy named "Pierre." (His name is how I know he's French.)

Plenty of action here. And the interaction between Joan Woodbury and Bob Steele is satisfying--as one might expect, he's steady as a rock throughout the picture, while she's annoying as can be in their initial encounter but they gradually grow on each other....

A lot to like in a mere hour.

This is an enjoyable programmer from Lippert's Action Pictures with a nice interplay between the lovely Joan Woodbury and Bob Steele. Steele plays a Mountie who is unwillingly assigned to lead Woodbury to a remote region in the Canadian Woodlands. Woodbury's feisty character all but steals this film from action star Steele. She looks great on horseback.

There is nothing serious here, just plenty of action, and nice interplay between the two principles. Troubled silent screen star Madge Bellamy, who had starred in Fox's first ever talkie, Mother Knows Best, makes her final screen appearance as the mistreated wife of one of the bad guys.

The video I saw could have been much better. The two-strip Cinecolor was washed, and the images were not as clear as one would like, but these defects in no way took away from the enjoyable factor.

This Bob Steele film is a bit unusual because it's filmed in color (using the Cinecolor system)--and most B-westerns were made in glorious black & white. What else is interesting is that the film in many ways is NOT a western--and the picture is a slight departure from the films Steele usually starred in during his career. The film is set in Canada and Steele plays a Mountie. However despite the change in locale and him not being a cowboy, the film is very much like a western. He and the rest of the folks ride horses, shoot guns and like a typical western, there is a gang of baddies.

When the film begins, Steele comes upon an annoying lady who is having car trouble. Despite his helping her and being very polite, this woman is grouchy and unappreciative. Later, not surprisingly, Steele is given an assignment to escort a woman into the wilderness...and the woman is the annoying lady. What he doesn't know and she didn't tell anyone is that she has $20,000 on her--and it's the payroll for her uncle's business. So, when the money is stolen, you can't exactly blame Bob. However, being a hero, he investigates and the trail takes him to the uncle's town--and soon it's obvious that something else is afoot. The local Mountie is oblivious or simply doesn't care about this or other crimes and orders Bob back to headquarters. However, with folks shooting at him right and left, he decides to disobey orders and investigate further. What's really going on here?

The change of pace for Steele is welcome here. However, what is not welcome is that occasionally the plot seems as if pieces were cut out of it--with Steele making some astounding leaps in logic when it comes to figuring out who is behind all this nonsense and why. Additionally, the direction was occasionally sloppy--with a scene or two which should have been re-shot but weren't (such as when the lady was talking over Steele because she missed her cue). Not great but watchable.

Bob Steele who occasionally diverted himself from westerns with some great character roles in A pictures, still stayed in the B slot with this Northern which is what you would call a Canadian based film. Northwest Trail had the benefit of some outdoor location scenery which put it a cut above the usual B films.

Bob's a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who gets to do escort duty of a woman who doesn't bother to tell him she's carrying a $20,000.00 payroll for her father John Hamilton. Steele and Joan Woodbury do kind of grate on each other's nerves, but of course there are sparks underneath.

If you think you've got the plot figured out than I can tell you you're wrong. There is skullduggery afoot here, but it's not anything you might initially suspect. Plus the fact the gang here commit a truly horrendous crime by RCMP standards. The real suspense in Northwest Trail is just figuring out who the good and bad guys are let alone what's afoot.

I would rate Northwest Trail higher, but the writers copped out in the end in dealing with Woodbury's character. She should have gotten the Mary Astor treatment as in The Maltese Falcon.

Silent star Madge Bellamy made her farewell appearance in a role as a battered wife. She's the one who eventually cooks the whole gang.

Northwest Trail a nice independent production with much better values and story than one might expect.