Northwest Trail | |
---|---|
![]() Original film poster | |
Directed by | Derwin Abrahams |
Written by | William Beaudine (adaptation) Harvey Gates (screenplay) L. J. Swabacher |
Based on | story by James Oliver Curwood |
Produced by | William B. David Max King presented by Robert L. Lippert |
Starring | Bob Steele |
Cinematography | Marcel Le Picard |
Edited by | Thomas Neff |
Music by | Frank Sanucci |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Screen Guild Productions (US) Exclusive (UK) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 66 minutes 61 minutes (American DVD) |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Northwest Trail is a 1945 American contemporary Western film directed by Derwin Abrahams shot in Cinecolor at Lake Hemet, California. It stars Bob Steele, Joan Woodbury, and Madge Bellamy making a comeback appearance in her final film. [1] [2]
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Trooper O'Brien assists Kate Owens when her car breaks down. Upon arrival at headquarters, his Inspector-in-charge assigns him to escort Kate to visit her Uncle in Morgan's Post located in the backwoods. As there are no roads to the area the two must travel by horse. O'Brien has two other tasks when he arrives; to discover why RCMP Sergeant Means has not filed a report in months and to investigate the complaint of Poodles Hanneford who alleges that the river going through his property has been blocked off and he has been fired upon when investigating.
What begins as a screwball comedy film between the witty Kate and strait-laced Mountie takes many unexpected turns when a rider steals Kate's suitcase that contains $20,000 but the rider is found shot to death with the money missing. Upon arrival in Morgan's Post Sgt Means chastises O'Brien for his incompetence and orders him back to headquarters.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is the national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 provinces and territories, over 150 municipalities, and 600 Indigenous communities. The RCMP is commonly known as the Mounties in English.
Madge Bellamy was an American stage and film actress. She was a popular leading lady in the 1920s and early 1930s. Bellamy's career declined in the sound era and ended following a romantic scandal in the 1940s.
James Oliver Curwood was an American action-adventure writer and conservationist. His books were often based on adventures set in the Hudson Bay area, the Yukon or Alaska and ranked among the top-ten best sellers in the United States in the early and mid 1920s, according to Publishers Weekly. At least one hundred and eighty motion pictures have been based on or directly inspired by his novels and short stories; one was produced in three versions from 1919 to 1953. At the time of his death, Curwood was the highest paid author in the world.
Tom Tyler was an American actor known for his leading roles in low-budget Western films in the silent and sound eras, and for his portrayal of superhero Captain Marvel in the 1941 serial film The Adventures of Captain Marvel. Tyler also played Kharis in 1940's The Mummy's Hand, a popular Universal Studios monster film.
Marin Sais was an American actress whose career was most prolific during the silent film era of the 1910s and 1920s. Sais' acting career spanned over four decades and she is possibly best recalled for appearing in Western themed films.
Marguerite Churchill was an American stage and film actress whose career lasted 30 years, from 1922 to 1952. She was John Wayne's first leading lady, in The Big Trail (1930).
The Newfoundland Ranger Force was the police force of the Dominion of Newfoundland. It provided law enforcement and other government services to outports for 15 years. It existed from 1935 to 1949, at which point it was merged into the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). 204 men served as Rangers during its existence, though at any given time the force did not exceed 72 members.
Alfred Morton Bridge was an American character actor who played mostly small roles in over 270 films between 1931 and 1954. Bridge's persona was an unpleasant, gravel-voiced man with an untidy moustache. Sometimes credited as Alan Bridge, and frequently not credited onscreen at all, he appeared in many Westerns, especially in the Hopalong Cassidy series, where he played crooked sheriffs and henchmen.
The Northern or Northwestern is a genre in various arts that tell stories set primarily in the late 19th or early 20th century in the north of North America, primarily in western Canada but also in Alaska. It is similar to the Western genre, but many elements are different, as appropriate to its setting. It is common for the central character to be a Mountie instead of a cowboy or sheriff. Other common characters include fur trappers and traders, lumberjacks, prospectors, First Nations people, outlaws, settlers, and townsfolk.
Dave O'Brien was an American film actor, director, and screenwriter.
Renfrew of the Royal Mounted was a popular series of boy's adventure books written by Laurie York Erskine that were later filmed and became a series on both radio and television.
DeWitt Clarke Jennings was an American film and stage actor. He appeared in 17 Broadway plays between 1906 and 1920, and in more than 150 films between 1915 and 1937.
Gertrude Dolores Messinger was an American film actress known for her B-movie roles from the 1930s through the 1950s. She began as a child actor in silent films, but found her greatest fame in talkies of the 1930s. During her career she appeared in more than 50 motion pictures, with particular success in westerns.
Joan Elmer Woodbury was an American actress beginning in the 1930s and continuing well into the 1960s.
Upstairs and Downstairs is a 1959 British comedy film directed by Ralph Thomas and starring Michael Craig, Anne Heywood, Mylène Demongeot, Claudia Cardinale, James Robertson Justice, Joan Sims, Joan Hickson and Sid James. It features the first English-language performance of Claudia Cardinale.
Payroll is a 1961 British neo-noir crime thriller film directed by Sidney Hayers and starring Michael Craig, Françoise Prévost, and Billie Whitelaw. The screenplay by George Baxt was adapted from Derek Bickerton's 1959 novel of the same name. The film revolves around a group of criminals who plan and execute a wages robbery, which ultimately ends in disaster.
Kill Me Tomorrow is a 1957 British crime film directed by Terence Fisher starring Pat O'Brien and Lois Maxwell. It was made by Tempean Films at Southall Studios in West London.
Sky Bandits, also known as Renfrew of the Royal Mounted in Sky Bandits, is a 1940 American action film directed by Ralph Staub and released by Monogram Pictures, starring James Newill, Louise Stanley, Dewey Robinson and William Pawley. The film is a remake of the film Ghost Patrol (1936) with a musical/action formula, similar to the format of the "singing cowboy" films of the era.
Vernon Steele was a Chilean-born British actor known for his appearances on the Broadway stage and in American films. He often played patrician young men in silent films. Steele was born in Santiago, Chile, the son of Daniel Antonietti, a professor of music, and his English wife, the former Grace Emma Bolton. Vernon Steele was christened Arturo Romeo Antonietti and his family eventually settled in London, England. His sister was the actress Hilda Anthony.
Suspects is a British police procedural television series that aired on Channel 5 from 12 February 2014 to 31 August 2016. The series follows members of the Metropolitan Police as they investigate murders, assaults, and other crimes across London.