Nomads of the North

A film that is similar to "Valley of the Giants"(1919) and Universal's later "The Ice Flood"(1926). Lon Chaney doesn't appear in this movie until almost a quarter way in. This is one of the more pleasant silent 'north-country' films that has come down through the years from the silent era. The photographpy is absolutely sharp(in the print I viewed!) and the wonderful score Milestone put on the video is in tune with the action on the screen. these are how silent films are supposed to be presented. The animal sequences with the dog & bear cub are cute & winsome. There are several animals to be seen in this film ie a dog, a bear, puma-w/cubs, foxes, bees. The outdoor scenes are so well captured on film that you hardly remember the story comes from a written source, a novel by James Oliver Curwood. In addition to the scenery another pleasantry to the eye is Betty Blythe, one of the most beautiful women in silent pictures. She is eye candy extraordinaire and not afraid to get her hands dirty in the story. Chaney's French-Canadian trapper makeup is convincing though at times he looks like a Pony Express rider. Two Chaney film regulars appear in this film, Melbourne Macdowell(Outside the Law) and Spottiswood Aitken(The Wicked Darling). Lewis Stone shows up as a Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman and has nothing really to do but ogle beautiful Betty. Handsome Francis McDonald is the villain/foe of Chaney's character Raoul. A crony of McDonald's called "Marat" is played by one Gordon Mullen, an actor who bears a dead ringer resemblance to today's Jake Gyllenhaal. Enjoy this picture, a wonderful pleasing silent movie experience. Directed by David Hartford , released by First National Pictures.

This is definitely not one of his better films.

He is cast as the "hero", and a rather bland hero at that. It simply did not offer the incredibly talented Mr. Chaney enough "to do", so he chews the scenery through most of his scenes.

Point to note in this film, the stars were nearly killed in the big fire scene when their escape route was cut off. All three wound up in the hospital.

If you are a Chaney fan you will watch this and enjoy it regardless, but it will not be anyone's favorite Chaney film.

Lon Chaney stars as the handsome hero in this one (was The Penalty the film that started him down the path of playing villains and monsters?). A fur trapper who was stuck up in northern Canada for a year longer than he had planned, he returns home, some 300 miles south, to find his fiancée (Betty Blythe) about to marry the villainous son (Melbourne MacDowell) of the man who runs the town. Chaney gets into a fight and kills a man, but escapes with the girl. A while later, MacDowell finds the couple settled in the wilderness and enlists an honorable Mountie (Lewis Stone, who would go on to co-star in Grand Hotel) to bring Chaney to justice. It's a pretty standard melodrama from this period, but it's entertaining. The forest fire climax is quite well done. There's a lot of emphasis on Chaney's pets, a dog and a bear. Near the beginning, they get separated from their master (tethered together - you expect them to die horribly), and even have dialogue with each other. It almost turns into a silent Homeward Bound for a while!

This movie shouldn't be looked at for any redeeming social value or higher meaning. It's a rip-roaring melodrama that makes you cheer the good guys and boo the bad guys. Chaney overacts horribly (but deliciously) as Challoner and Stone is suitably stoic as the Mountie forced to track Chaney down. Macdonald is the man who tries to steal Blythe's virtue. It looks like they had a lot of fun making this one. They just don't make movies like this anymore: they either make the lampoon too obvious or take themselves too damned seriously.

If it weren't Lewis Stone week at Hot Toasty Rag, and if I didn't have my heart set on reviewing the oldest movie of his I could get my hands on, I would not have sat through Nomads of the North. Now I finally understand why people today don't like silent movies. It's nearly two hours, extremely boring, predictable, and very overacted.

Betty Blythe stars as the woman on the mountaintop that every man in the movie wants. She's also the only woman in the movie, so they don't appear to have much choice. Ranger Lewis Stone is in love with her and hikes miles out of his way just to call on her at home. The wealthy, and evil, log baron Francis McDonald is also in love with her, but Betty refuses his offer of marriage because she's waiting for her old boyfriend, Lon Chaney, to come back to her. Francis pays a stranger to tell Betty that he witnessed Lon's death, but Lon comes back to town just in time to object at their wedding ceremony. Betty and Lon are married, but when he accidentally kills a man, they go on the run in the wilderness.

Folks, you don't have to rent this movie. I watched it for you, so you can just pretend you've seen it. I've never seen a Lon Chaney movie, but it's clear I picked the wrong one to start with. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and not hold Nomads of the North against him during the next movie I see. He has a pet bear cub he cuddles and plays with as well as kisses, but that's not worth sitting through nearly two hours. This is one of those silent movies that give the others a bad reputation.