Northern Pursuit

Northern Pursuit (1943)

A solid, serious film that shouts its political message too loudly, but is so unusual, and potentially scary it remains interesting for anyone into WWII films. Truly fascinating is the setting—the north woods of Canada in winter—and the involvement of Native Americans, who side with the Nazis for the simple reason that that means siding against Canada. (This is addressed in some brutal killings partway through.) The key plot idea is that a group of expert Nazis might actually sneak into remote areas of the country to perform acts of sabotage.

The movie audience here is mostly in the United States, to be sure (Canada's population is so small it is always a secondary concern from the studio's point of view). And the leading actor, Errol Flynn, takes on the larger issues well. That is: devotion to good, personal sacrifice to defeat the enemy, and providing an example of moral uncertainty resolving itself as the circumstances become clear. The issues he faces (in Canada) applied to the U.S. equally.

Canada, to be sure, entered the war officially with Great Britain in 1939. But by 1943 the U.S. was also officially fighting. Cooperation between the two neighbors was a given, overall, but they had different national priorities to smooth out. Flynn was so famous at the time, despite (or because of) some personal scandal, he carried the movie.

But it's cobbled together stuff, quasi-propaganda. None of it was shot in Canada, though it's convincing enough. The romance is really almost superfluous, but it gives of course the audience that extra layer to swoon about, briefly. Most viewers will find a lot of this formulaic and rough sledding, but it isn't terrible, and the themes have lasting power.

Raoul Walsh, the director of "Northern Pursuit", was a man with impressive credentials during his days in Hollywood. Unfortunately, this film, which kept reminding this viewer of Michael Powell's "49th Parallel", has its moments and will reward the viewer that sticks with it, in some ways.

The plot was typical of the films turned by the big studios during the days of WWII. Although the propaganda in "Northern Pursuit" doesn't strike the viewer as too obvious, it's there all along. The idea of a Royal Mountie, in this case, the dashing Errol Flynn, going after the bad guys have all the elements for a good adventure.

The screen play is ultimately the downfall of the film, although there are hints of greatness, especially on the last part of the film which involves a daring attempt from the head Nazi infiltrator to fly an aircraft with a bomb on board. The locations appear to be real, but we can see the scenes shot in the studio.

Errol Flynn does his job well. Helmut Dantine, playing Keller, the Nazi bad guy, is even better. Gene Lockhart has a pivotal role in the film. Julie Bishop is Errol Flynn's love interest, although there's no obvious chemistry between them.

Raoul Walsh's fans will probably enjoy this film a lot more than the casual viewer.

Attractive Canadian setting and interesting plot start-up degenerates into standard action flick with shootouts between bad guys and good guys. Well done and acted, but little plot interest the second half.

Although not quite as gripping as "Desperate Journey", or as marvelously sprawling as "49th Parallel", this slick film is everything you could ask for in a WWII actioner--even more, with Errol Flynn teaming up with Raoul Walsh. The acting is good, and the direction is taut and entertaining, with writers Bessie and Gruber providing a suspenseful story line concerning a nazi spy(Dantine) captured in Canada by a Royal Mountie(Flynn), the spy's escape from prison camp, and Flynn's efforts to thwart Dantine's nefarious mission in the great white north(and a dastardly mission it is, too--those dirty Nazis!).

Adolph Deutsch scores a cleverly subtle soundtrack to raise the suspense quotient, as he did for "High Sierra" and "The Maltese Falcon". Just the "Kick 'em in the Axis" kind of movie to watch, if you've already seen and liked "Tartu" and "The Commandos Strike At Dawn".

This is not a great movie, not Robin Hood or The Sea Hawk. But neither is it the bad movie some of the previous reviewers suggest.

I found it very suspenseful.

If you try viewing it as the original, intended audience did back in 1943, when the U.S. was not winning the war in Europe and there were fears of German infiltration everywhere, you can imagine how relevant this story would have been to audiences.

Tension is maintained for much of the movie by keeping us in suspense regarding Flynn's character's allegiances. No, of course we can't believe he's really a Nazi, but for the first half of the movie, it certainly seems as if he might be.

I was surprised, and thrown off guard, by the number of "good guys" who got killed in this movie. That made it seem more real to me.

The last scene is pure Hollywood, and pure corn. But up until then, there is a lot to admire and enjoy in this movie.