Du sang sur la neige

Errol Flynn was a fascinating screen presence. Just look at how many books have been written about him including a couple he wrote himself. I found a good dozen on Amazon before I stopped counting. Some well-known actors and filmmakers often have only one biography or even none at all.

"Northern Pursuit" isn't the best of his movies, but it is Flynn at his best. He looks in great shape despite the fact that he had a dicky ticker, a bad back, tuberculosis, a couple of exotic diseases picked up along the way and a liver that was in more danger of destruction than any target of the Nazis in the film.

Set in Canada during WW2, Errol plays Steve Wagner, a Royal Canadian Mountie of German Ancestry whose loyalty is questioned when he comes across Nazi secret agents who are planning to bomb a canal that is critical to the Allied war effort.

Although the story feels cobbled together, the film looks good. Most of it was shot on the sound stage and no doubt a great deal of talcum powder and papier mache was employed, but the sequence where a U-Boat breaks through the ice and scenes such as the avalanche are brilliantly staged.

However the stars make the film. Although Errol was rarely upstaged, Helmut Dantine was Warner's go-to Nazi guy during the war years. He plays Colonel Hugo von Keller in this film. The reason why Dantine was more effective than many screen Nazis at the time was the degree of intelligence with which he approached his roles. He was no off-the-rack, monocled Nazi stereotype, he came across as vigorous, smart and fanatical; a formidable enemy, he was also good looking and often got the best lines.

If you like the stars, and Flynn was absolutely unique, then there is much to enjoy here. In fact the film was a bit of a turning point for him- he even got a laugh with an in-joke at the end alluding to his recent acquittal on rape charges. From that point on he went along with the joke about his sexual prowess although those who knew him felt that it hurt his desire to be taken seriously as an actor.

Finally, for anyone with a sense of history, "Northern Pursuit" is a fascinating insight into what audiences were watching during the war even if they took it all with a generous pinch of salt.

NORTHERN PURSUIT has some well photographed chase scenes, supposedly through the snow of the Canadian wilderness, although many of the matching shots are clearly studio-bound. Nevertheless, the weak script and cardboard characters contribute toward reducing it to a standard and slick wartime adventure.

Flynn is a Mountie of German descent, pretending Nazi sympathies in order to spy against Nazis operating in Canada. Helmut Dantine is a force to be reckoned with as the head Nazi--but at times is reduced to a standard "dumb" Nazi who falls too easily for Flynn's deception.

It's all supposed to be taken seriously--unlike DESPERATE JOURNEY which injected a great deal of humor into the Flynn-against-Nazis theme. But with cardboard supporting characters adding nothing to the film's credibility--and a weak script--this is strictly for Flynn fans. Julie Bishop makes no impression whatsoever in the feminine lead.

This was hot stuff back in the 1940s, entertaining as a Saturday afternoon diversion. Now it's simply a non-involving Flynn adventure with some nicely photographed snow chase scenes and nothing else that really matters.

Reading the other IMDb reviews of Northern Pursuit, I began to wonder if the monkey-see-monkey-do reviewers trashing it watched the same movie I did! Or if they watched it at all. This Mounties versus Nazis picture bears little resemblance, as claimed, to The 49th Parallel and even less to Across The Pacific.

From the opening scene with a German submarine breaking through the ice in Hudson Bay to the climatic showdown in a bomber aloft, Northern Pursuit is high-powered excitement all the way. Not surprisingly, with all the high-powered talent Warner Brothers threw into this enjoyable World War II action picture. Top action director Raoul Walsh directs top action star Errol Flynn with a script by popular western writer Frank Gruber and high class novelist William Faulkner. Solid support is provided by Helmut Dantine, reprising his ruthless Nazi officer from Edge Of Darkness (see my review), perky Julie Bishop, Tom Tully, John Ridgely, and Gene Lockhart in another of what was becoming his stock sneaky, Nazi sympathizer role. First rate camera work by Sid Hickox and the smooth editing typical in movies of this era blends studio sets and Idaho ski resort locations with skillfully dovetailed backdrop matting to so successfully convince us we were above the Artic Circle, it gave me a chill at times. The action is propelled along by one Adolphe Deutsch's better scores, enlivened by some input by the great Max Steiner. The story of German descent Mountie Flynn penetrating a Nazi-sympathizing Canadian spy organization co-operating with escaped German prisoners of war maintains suspense and interest throughout. The sharply directed action includes an avalanche, a prison camp breakout, a hair-raising ski chase, and a shoot-out in a mine shaft. Characterization and acting are top notch. Dantine's Nazi Colonel is particularly well realized. This Austrian refugee actor no doubt knew what real-life Nazis were like. He had had to flee his home country because because of his anti-Nazi activities.

While not a classic of the genre like Edge Of Darkness, Nothern Pursuit is a top "A" production war/intrigue thriller, effective WWII propaganda yet enjoyable, exciting, smooth entertainment from Warner Brothers' and Old Hollywood's Golden years.

An Errol Flynn adventure from 1943 directed by Raoul Walsh. Flynn plays a Canadian Mountie who comes across a German air officer in the snowy hinterlands. Sending his partner ahead, Flynn's higher-ups fear his German lineage may compromise his standing w/his prisoner who may use undue influence to corrupt him. Seizing upon this notion, Flynn pretends to be a friend to Germany as he befriends the Nazi (who has broken out from an internment camp w/some other Hessians) so he can upset their plans to construct an airplane to make their escape from Canada. That's a lot of dunderheaded plotting for something that should be as light & airy as a paper plane but the crackerjack direction & the effortless charisma by Flynn is enough to keep even the most jaded viewer firmly planted in their seat for the duration.

Basically 'Errol Flynn vs. the Nazis, Round 3' Battleground: Canada

Being myself a Canadian, I was thrilled to find in my 'TCM Spotlight: Errol Flynn Adventures' (five films made during WWII in which Errol Flynn battles the Nazis) a film helmed by one of my favourite American directors of the period, in Raoul Walsh, with Flynn starring as a RCMP officer (typically called 'Mountie') making sure the Nazis can't succeed in their quest to sneak into Canada and, there, create another front in their quest to bring hell on Earth. As a child, I loved his rendition of one of my very favourite heroes (Robin Hood), and lately I quite enjoyed seeing the ill-starred (dying at 50--again in Canada--from a heart attack brought on by chronic alcoholism) native Australian who was perhaps the second-most alluring male thespian of all-time, behind the equally ill-fated Rudolph Valentino, in an audacious TCM 4-pack of outstanding adventure movies, such as 'Captain Blood' and 'The Sea Hawk', and an equally intriguing 4-pack of Westerns he made as his star began to wane.

This doesn't disappoint, as Walsh directs, just like he always does, with an appealing eye and a talent for setting up suspense and excitement. Highly recommended to either fans of Flynn, war films or of cinema from the period.