Susannah

Well, "all good things come to an end," or "nothing lasts forever." One of those clichés can pertain to this film which, sadly,signaled the end of Shirley Temple's career as the cute kid America and the world fell in love with during the 1930s. Her films that were so successful during this decade that she was number one at the box office for several years. This movie did not do well at the box office and certainly is not a memorable film.

One reason it wasn't appealing was that Shirley only sang one quick number (a waltz). That's it - one song! There was no dancing, nothing up-tempo to perk up the audience.....zilch!

The story is a Canadian Mounted Police/railroad one with good and bad Indians thrown in. The two main bad men, a railroad guy and an Indian, don't have big roles so most of the people in the film are good guys. Randolph Scott and Margaret Lockwood are appealing leads.

I just found the story too bland, too flat....just nothing to get excited about or warrant giving a second look. Most people who saw it at the theater seemed to agree. Her "era" had come to an end.

SUSANNAH OF THE MOUNTIES (20th Century-Fox, 1939), directed by William A. Seiter, stars Shirley Temple, now 11-years-old, trying new ground so not to repeat herself. No songs or dance numbers here, just plain outdoors adventure between white men and Indians.

Set in the Canaadian mounties of the 1880s, the story revolves around Susannah Sheldon (Shirley Temple), a young girl who is orphaned after her family is killed in an Indian massacre, thus, becoming the sole survivor found and taken in by a Canadian Mountie, Angus Montagu (Randolph Scott). She soon bonds with the Mountie who assists she overcome her fear of Indians by living in peace among them.

Not as memorable as some of her earlier outings, but watchable. Temple has her moments with Scott in a scene in which she tries to teach him how to dance in order to impress an attractive visitor, Vicky Standing (Margaret Lockwood). Margaret Lockwood, an English actress, is best known for her performance in the Alfred Hitchcock's suspenser, THE LADY VANISHES (1938). She also worked in another Hollywood produced feature, RULERS OF THE SEA (Paramount, 1939) before returning to England where her roles surpassed those made in Hollywood. As for Shirley, she is even given some screen time opposite an Indian boy, Little Chief (Martin Good Rider), who calls her "papoose," which is Indian for "baby." Also featured in the cast are J. Farrell MacDonald, Moroni Olson and Victor Jory. As mentioned during the opening credits, scenes were filmed on location in the Canadian Mounties. With plenty of background scenery, one wonders why it wasn't done in Technicolor. Otherwise, it's convincing actioner.

SUSANNAH OF THE MOUNTIES, which can be found on video cassette from Playhouse Video, formerly played in the colorized context on the Disney Channel in the early 1990s, later on American Movie Classics (1996-2001), the Fox Movie Channel, where it's presented either in its original black and white format or colorization, and later on Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: August 4, 2019). (***)

Mountie Randolph Scott is leading a patrol when they discover a massacred wagon train with the sole survivor, a little girl hidden inside a barrel. Scott takes Shirley Temple back to the post where she becomes the mascot of the post.

Susannah of the Mounties borrows a whole lot from Shirley's previous film Wee Willie Winkie. She's the granddaughter of the post commandant there, also becomes a mascot. She's got an Irish sergeant as a special friend in Wee Willie Winkie it's Victor McLaglen, here it is J. Farrell MacDonald. And of course the little child in all her innocence brings about an accommodation between Indians on two separate continents and the white man.

The period identified here is 1882-1884 when the Canadian Pacific Railway is being constructed and that's worked into the plot also. I thought I had spotted a goof in Susannah of the Mounties when I saw during a flag raising ceremony a British Union Jack raised. A Canadian cyberfriend says I was wrong and proved it. Canada even though it became a self governing dominion in 1867 never got its own flag until 1965. Learn something new every day.

Susannah of the Mounties also reminded me of the Rin Tin Tin series from back when I was a lad. A boy and a German Shepherd puppy were the only survivors of a wagon train massacre and Lee Aaker as Corporal Rusty got to grow up on Fort Apache. I thought the same back in the Fifties when I saw this film re-released as the second half of a double bill.

Randolph Scott and Shirley Temple show some real affection for each other, he may have been the best of her adult male co-stars. Of course Scott also has eyes for the extraordinarily beautiful Margaret Lockwood who is his commanding officer's daughter. Lockwood did two films in Hollywood, Rulers of the Sea and this one before returning to the UK.

Although Shirley was getting a bit old and her box office was just beginning to wane, Darryl Zanuck still made a mint off Susannah of the Mounties. And the public got its money's worth too.

"Susannah of the Mounties" begins with a group of Canadian Mounted Police (the 'Mounties') coming upon some wagons that were attacked by the Natives. All the settlers, aside from a child (Shirley Temple as the title character), have been killed and the girl is taken back to the fort to live. She is taken in by a handsome young officer (Randolph Scott) and she soon adjusts to camp life.

Because of this and other attacks, the leader of the Mounties calls a meeting with the local Chief. The two swear to end the violence and as a sign of his integrity, the Chief sends his young son to live with the white folks. Soon, he and Susannah are at odds with each other. BUT, because she is so gosh-darn spunky and sweet, soon she and the boy become best friends. However, a small group of evil renegade natives are bent on stoking the fires of war. Can resourceful little Susannah bring everyone together? Considering how many times she hit the peace pipe with her new friend, it's a good bet she can.

The film gets some credit for having a tribe of actual Indians play the natives....with a few obvious exceptions. The chief and the leader of the renegades are BOTH played by white guys painted up to look like natives. Why did Hollywood always insist in this era in giving all the major roles for most every ethnic group to white folks?! This is especially silly with the chief-- a guy by the name of Maurice Moscovitch! However, Shirley's acting is great (as usual) and the film is never boring. Overall, a pretty good family film--even if it isn't 100% politically correct!

I have a vast collection of Shirley Temple movies in my possession. I don't however have all of them I am still in search of some of the ones that I don't have but, I do have Susannah of the Mounties and I watch it often. I enjoy this movie because I've always liked movies that have a variety of nationalities in it. And Susannah of the Mounties has a mixture of white and native americans in it and I liked it. True she doesn't sing or dance in it like she is known for in her earlier works but, she still touches the hearts of watchers through her talents. In this movie she ends up teaching watchers that not all native americans are bad and that indeed whites and native americans could live together peacefully. Through her befriending the young native american chief she is showing people that all ethnic groups can live together peacefully and be friends to. She also shows how important it is to be there for loved ones or good friends when they are in need like she does for Inspector Montague after she finds out that he has been captured and almost put to death by the Blackfeet Tribe. And by being friends with Chief Big Eagle and Little Chief she convinces the Blackfeet tribe to save Inspector Montague and to punish the real traitor. I think all her movies teaches us the lessons of life we need to learn and because of her being the popular child star she was and how everyone loved her she was able to teach children good from bad and be the positive influence that she was and always will be.