Phantom Patrol

Very silly Canadian Mountie movie, with a lead character that grins far too much, and villains from a Saturday morning cartoon, which is fine if you are entertained by such things. It gives Rocky and Bullwinkle a run for their money! The entire plot requires a ridiculous sequence of coincidences (making it even more cartoon-like) - for example, the crook (Dapper Dan) looking and sounding the same as well-known writer Stephen Norris (yes it is NORRIS, not Morris as listed in the credited cast) and the other criminals just happening to select that particular cabin to hide out at. This of course is made even more silly by the same actor playing both parts.

Of course there is a trapper named Frenchie, but guess where he was born?

Worth a watch, as it is thankfully short, and silly enough to entertain through a few scenes.

Note: If the criminals had been thinking at all (which of course is moot, as criminals are never allowed to actually think in these types of movies), they would have shaved off Norris's mustache and beard to make him look a little less like who he was and help Dan's plot a bit more, but...oh well. *Sigh*

Silliest scene:

Doris McCloud: "You alright Jim?"

Sgt. Jim McGregor: "Oh yeah, I'm fine. A little dirty from dodging bullets."

Doris McCloud: "Just think what you'd look like if you hadn't dodged..."

5/10, for silliness, as well as how long Jim (the Mountie) is able to keep the same expression on his face throughout.

Silly and moronic Mountie film here, this features a bad guy who escapes the law by going into Canadian forests and impersonating a famous author vacationing there (thanks to the absurd ¼ page article in the paper saying just that), he connects with some bad guys there, which of course, are zee French trappers, and pretty soon, he's enjoying this impersonation and wooing the RCMP commander's daughter, much to the chagrin of our hero, who realizes something isn't right about the author, who he's met before. Soon, Our antagonist's cover is in peril.. will it be our hero discovering his true identity? Or will the actions of the people around him cause him to blow his cover? All of this sounds somewhat interesting, but really it's not, it's somewhat too talky, the hero isn't at all someone you would really root for, and it all seems sloppily put together.

And oh, there are no phantoms. None. Nada. Zilch.

An outfit called Conn Pictures got Kermit Maynard to star in this Northwestern which is a poverty row Rose Marie. Earlier in 1936 the MacDonald/Eddy classic was released by MGM and singing Mounties got their vogue. Not that Kermit Maynard sung a lot and if he wasn't dubbed it wasn't with the caliber of Nelson Eddy. But we did learn that Mounties do have pillow fights in the barracks.

Harry Worth plays two roles, a public enemy from New York who is on the lam and sees in a New York newspaper that his lookalike who is a mystery writer is going to stay in his cabin in the Canadian woods. So he beats it up to Canada from New York and kidnaps him and takes his place with a false beard for disguise. Why he doesn't kill him God only knows among other questions.

Paul Fix who also took on the lam to Canada meets up with an old jail house buddy Julian Rivero who is presumably a Meti though he says he was born in New York, not too many of those around. They also need a place for a hideout and a partnership is born. For the rest of the film let's say the partnership doesn't work out.

This film is bad, but it's also kind of goofy in its own way. On that level it might be enjoyed.

Kermit Maynard doesn't usually get praise for his acting nor for the quality of his movies, but "Phantom Patrol" proves he has been terribly under-rated.

For example, I had known nothing of his athleticism, but pay attention during the barrack-room horse-play. Amazing!

I expected nothing much when I started watching "Phantom Patrol" on YouTube, but was enthralled from the very beginning, partly by the credits and partly by the music. Unfortunately, even here at IMDb, there is no credit for the music.

The director, Charles Hutchison, is someone I had seen in some silent serials where he was "Lightning Hutch." Until I saw the credits here, I never knew he had become a director and, judging only by "Phantom Patrol," a very good director.

This is, obviously, a low-budget movie, but there is such a good and literate script, and the players are so above average, the lack of money doesn't matter.

For example, Harry Worth plays two parts, two very different characters although they do, of course, look alike. And he is two very different characters, in a great job of acting. (He reminds a bit of Basil Rathbone, both in his looks and his debonair attitude.)

Kermit Maynard had a brief fling as a star but was soon relegated to "with" parts in bigger-budget movies, but here he is a very pleasant and believable Mountie.

Script writer Joseph O'Donnell, who here is called by the same name as one of the two characters played by Harry Worth, Stephen Norris, has created dialog that is at times amusing, with some nice interplay between and among the other characters.

There is an especially good line when the girl tells the Mountie he's dirty and he replies he got that way dodging bullets. Her response is classic, very, very clever.

The girl, by the way, is played by the lovely Joan Barclay, who sometimes is reminiscent of Myrna Loy, but feistier.

The inimitable Paul Fix is the chief villain's associate and dog's-body and is, as usual, believable and even likable, despite being a bad guy.

The rest of the cast are just so much icing on this delicious cake, and the only complaint I can make is of the quality of the print at YouTube. It's broken and choppy and those flaws can be distracting.

But it's worth putting up with that for the joy of the movie. I highly recommend "Phantom Patrol" for many reasons, and hope you like it too.