North West Mounted Police

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.

1940's "North West Mounted Police" may have been Paramount's biggest box office success that year, but considering it as the first color film for director Cecil B. De Mille it must rank as one of his few failures. The Duck Lake massacre of 1885 led by Louis Riel (Francis McDonald) provides a solid backdrop for an abundance of poorly sketched characters unable to overcome the sluggish pace. The chief villain is Jacques Corbeau (George Bancroft), whose wildcat half breed daughter (Paulette Goddard) is in love with Mountie Ronnie Logan (Robert Preston). Gary Cooper toplines as the Texas Ranger sent north to bring Corbeau to justice, sparring with dedicated Sergeant Jim Brett (Preston Foster) over the lovely April Logan (Madeleine Carroll), sister of Ronnie. This makes it sound like a real snoozefest, and while it's not quite that bad it certainly isn't very captivating. Supporting players like George E. Stone are on and off in a flash, while poor Lon Chaney (previously seen in a silent role in De Mille's "Union Pacific") doesn't fare much better as Shorty, one of the trappers involved with Riel, who at least has a chance to exult in becoming a father. We last see him with his pretty young wife, properly scolding him before he meekly replies, "yes mama."

"Oh Dusty, you're an angel in leather!" "I love you so terrible bad I feel good!" "You're the sweetest poison that ever got into a man's blood!"

Campy and implausible enough to be written up in "The Fifty Worst Films of All Time", yet too slow to be as amusing as "The Conqueror". Set in 19th century Quebec, the characters mill around a wilderness fort, chase each other and a gattling gun, lust after each other, and spout ridiculous dialogue. It takes forever and drags a lot, but it looks nice for something shot on a soundstage, and there are some decent actors like Gary Cooper and Madeline Carroll in it, even if they look kind of embarrassed.

What keeps this from being other boring costume melodramas like "Unconquered" is the usually wooden Paulette Goddard as a half-breed temptress. (You just know you're in for something bad when you see those words) We're talking high camp, over-the-top ludicrous, with her silly accent and sillier makeup, and supreme overconfidence in her ability to handle a role like this. It's worth tuning it to see her sashay around in her leather-and-feather costumes, chewing the scenery while doing stuff like public spankings and tormenting a bound Robert Preston.

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.

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.