Une femme dans le grand Nord

"Mrs. Mike" is a better than average early Hollywood depiction of life in Canada's far north. Life in the North-West Territories in the early 1900's had moments of great beauty but was for the most part, harsh and cruel. The film captured the essence of this without resorting to standard stereotypes. There isn't a single manhunt of the "a Mountie always gets his man" variety in the whole plot. Most of the characters managed to portray depth and an insight into their difficult lives.

Evelyn Keyes shines as the Boston-born wife of a Mountie in Canada's remote North-West Territories. While trying to live as a loving, dedicated wife, she struggles with the lack of comforts and the dangers in a frontier existence, and ultimately, her own self-doubts.

Dick Powell's manner would suit him more easily in the big city, but he passes as a stoic never-say-die Mountie. He provides a stable base in the film, and is the narrator of the story, but his performance has to take second place to Miss Keyes as "Mrs. Mike".

By present day standards, the native characters are not politically correct with their broken English and simplistic presentations. For 1940's Hollywood, they are given a bit more opportunity to show some humor and dignity, and that they are human beings as well. The gentle performance by Ro Mere Darling as Mrs. Henderson, the native wife of Trader Henderson, attempts to break through the pre-conceived ideas of most of the movie audience, both in the 1940's and sadly, of many today.

This movie is definitely worth watching for simple good entertainment, and a glimpse at a lost way of life.

First of all, Sgt. Mike Flannagan was a Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman who was over 6' tall and when I saw the movie, with Dick Powell playing the role....well, he just didn't fill the boots! As has been said before by others, the movie glosses over the hardships Kathy Flannagan went through and the true pioneer spirit of a woman who grew up in Boston and was not prepared for the rigors of living in the Canadian wilderness. I would not give this movie more than a 2. Lois Z. a.k.a Rusty T. clown.

Other than the fact that Dick Powell sometimes wears the drill sergeant hat that we expect from Royal Canadian Mounted Police and that wasn't adapted into well in the last century, Mrs. Mike is an engrossing drama of the real life work of a member of that acclaimed force. American audiences expect Mounties to have that hat and this was an American made film.

It's a good story, possibly a Canadian production would do it better justice and they sure would get the details right. Still I don't think there's too much cause for complaint.

Powell narrates and stars in this story about a Mountie and his marriage serving in the Northwest Territories at the turn of the last century. Powell is not a relentless pursuer of fugitives nor is he fighting gangs of outlaws or Indians. In fact his main job is looking for people who get lost up in the frozen north. Sometimes he finds them alive and sometimes he doesn't.

To the wilderness Powell has brought Evelyn Keyes who's an American girl from Boston who thinks she's dealt with snow before. The film covers the first years of their marriage as much from her point of view as his. When he's at his headquarters, she's as much a member of the RCMP as he is for all she does.

I guess to make sure people didn't forget he was a singer Powell sang The Rose Of Tralee, the first time he sang on the screen in five years. He's not the piping tenor of his younger days, he's dropped into a semi-baritone in his range.

The climax of the film is a diphtheria epidemic where Powell and Keyes help doctor Will Wright fight the epidemic and it costs them dear.

Mrs. Mike, other than Powell's hat, is a good engrossing drama of the real life of a Mountie and his Missus shot quite realistically at Big Bear Lake in California looking very much like the frozen Northwest Territory. Perhaps a Canadian producer might consider this film as a good candidate for remake.

Mrs. Mike is a lovely and enjoyable movie which is well worth the hour and a half or so to watch. It is a magnificent portrayal of life and the struggles that come along with it in northern Canada about the turn of the twentieth century. The standards of 1949 special effects and the 1940's less-than-accurate portrayal of the natives are a setback, but, like all great movies, it is the story that is the treasure and wins the audience's heart.

Evelyn Keyes gives a stunning performance as the often rash but lovable Katherine O'Fallon Flannigan, better known to her friends and neighbors as Mrs. Mike, and Dick Powell gives an admirable portrayal of the resourceful Mountie and family man, Sgt. Mike Flannigan.

The story is both heart-warming and heart-breaking, although it does not closely adhere to the original story so delightfully recounted in the novel with the same name written by Benedict and Nancy Freedman, and thus, if you have read the book, some of the magic is lost. I suggest the novel above the movie, but the movie is very good and is both entertaining and sweet. A stunning performance!

I love the book and have read it probably 50 times. Kathy and Mike Flannigan's life in the far north of Canada - dealing with the indiginous peoples and interesting people of all ilks, plus the sisterhood of the strong women who faced so many hardships, are fascinating story-telling. And the Sargeant, trained but still having to do things like dentistry by reading books, is a wonderful testimony to the RCMP dedication to the country. This movie has none of the depth or pathos of the book; and it's actually seriously missing much of the romance as well. They made it a vehicle for Powell (who was too old and heavy for this role) without any regard for the actual story of real people facing real hardships and finding unexpected joy in harsh conditions. If you don't know that Kathy and Mike lost BOTH their children to diptheria, then you have no real understanding of their lives.