Mason of the Mounted

Bill Cody's series for Trem Carr occupies a spot between the silent era and the world of sound westerns, having characteristics of each. Screenplays at that time were often credited separately to "authors," "scenarists," and "dialoguers." Harry Fraser was hired to both write and direct the "Bill and Andy series," in which Cody co-starred with juvenile player Andy Shuford. Often participating in the writing was George Arthur Durlam, enterprising producer/director/author who worked at Monogram, and independently, during that period. This one, however, is credited to Fraser alone.

"Mason of the Mounted," this observer's pick as the best of the series, is a feather in the cap of Mr. Fraser, who did a good job in devising a screenplay which played well, moved swiftly, and enabled a straightforward story to unfold without extraneous footage and non-essential ramifications of the basic plot. Archie Stout's photography is characteristically excellent, the editing is splendid, and Fraser's direction is on-target.

Cody's role as a Mountie suits him well, and young Shuford turns in his best performance, in a believable role. Leroy Mason is fine, as usual, as the lead heavy, well supported by prolific character actor José Dominguez as a crafty accomplice. Very pretty Nancy Drexel, who appeared in few talkies, is the leading lady, and Jack Carlyle is fine as the no-nonsense rancher whose stock is rustled by the outlaws pursued across the border by Cody (without his Mountie uniform).

The film, which received favorable trade reviews at the time of its release, was produced with some care, the vigorous scenes in the saloon featuring a fair number of extras and a couple of nice stunts. The opening sequence was filmed in the high country, with snow being tossed about by the hooves of galloping horses. It is among the best sound features starring the amiable Cody.

It has a reasonably good story, but "Mason of the Mounted" moves very slowly, at times excruciatingly so. The setting is interesting enough, but the characters at times take forever to say their lines, and there are some long takes without much to look at. That sometimes happens with films in the early sound era, and in this case there is not a lot else in the movie to make up for the slow pace.

It starts off fairly well - the murdered body of a trapper is lying in the snow along the US/Canada border, and then a heavily coated figure takes a rifle shot at a Canadian Mountie. But then very little happens for at least 20 minutes or so. Eventually it becomes clear that there is a gang of horse thieves operating near the border, and the Mountie, Mason, is sent to the US side to investigate, with the help of a friendly family. The story is alright, though routine, but the pace never really picks up. Even at the climax, a little excitement is mixed in with some slow, talky portions.

The crawling pace keeps this from being really worthwhile, although the rather different setting might make it of some interest to fans of old Westerns.