Crashing Thru

In the last of the Renfrew Of The Royal Mounted series, Jim Newill is taking a steamship with new Mountie trainee Warren Hull. Both are captivated by pretty Jean Carmen the only female passenger on the ship. So much so that they are tricked into being locked in the boiler room while a gang of thieves robs a gold shipment.

But then the thieves fall out with each other and after Hull is wounded Newill has to go after all of them. There's a bit more plot than normal in one of these poverty row films.

Dave O'Brien who partnered with Newill in the Texas Ranger series plays Carmen's airplane pilot brother. Milburn Stone and Roy Barcroft are a pair of the heavies. Not bad a series finale.

Shows even cowboy heroes occasionally think with the male member.

This entry, the fourth of eight in the Renfrew series (all starring the personable James Newill as the singing Mountie), marks a stunning return to form for director Elmer Clifton whose spectacular "Down to the Sea in Ships" (1922) rates as one of the highlights of silent movie-making. True, the budget here is not a twentieth as extensive, but nonetheless the script is packed with virtually non-stop action and Clifton handles it masterfully. Our only complaint is that the film moves so fast, there's time for only ten or twelve great close-ups of super-attractive Jean Carmen who has a decent role for once. Mind you, even hero Newill has to share his screen time with partner Warren Hull and a first-rate gallery of villains. But Newill is also indulged with a couple of songs; yet, with his voice, who's complaining?

Another welcome aspect of this entry centers on the humor front. Although there's a fair amount of agreeably friendly, comic by-play between Renfrew and Kelly, there's no tedious "comedy" relief at all like the exasperating Benny Rubin in the third Renfrew entry, "Fighting Mad". As said, this one concentrates on action. There's more than enough for six cliffhangers.

Renfrew of the Mounties and Constable Kelly are on a riverboat in the Canadian wilderness. As they attempt to woo a young lady they meet they are unaware of plans to rob the boat of a shipment of gold secreted below deck. Worse the young lady they are attempting to make time with is involved with the plot. The Mounties are tricked into being locked in the hold of the ship and the gold is stolen. Renfrew and Kelly then have to race to recover the gold before they appear to be too big a pair of idiots.

This is a damn fine B-movie. It moves like the wind and has more than its share of double and triple crosses, not to mention plot lines. Frankly many bigger budgeted films don't have this much action and detailed plotting. This is a movie that never stops from the minute it starts until the very end. Its a nifty little action adventure film. I really like this movie a great deal. Amazingly I even like the songs in this movie. Songs you say? Yes songs, for what ever reason Renfrew is a singing Mountie so in all of his films there are times when our hero will burst into song. Most times they are annoying but harmless, here however they actually work well being integrated into the plot.

This is one of those movies you'll want to make an effort to keep an eye out for, since its a great way to spend an hour of your time.