Northern Patrol (1953) User Reviews

A more complex plot the norm above-average entry in the Rod Kirby saga.

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 3 June 2019]

An Indian legend off-limits to even the native Americans who say farewell to their loved ones and bury them with what they consider treasures. When members of a gang show up determined to find the Valley of the Dead at all cost, this leads to murder and some pretty impressive action and performances in an entry of the Monogram series that is very well written and extremely complex. Kirby Grant gets three women to deal with in this low budget B "northern", and there are some surprisingly violent scenes against them. But these women are as tough as the men, and they include gang member Marianne Carr, native girl Claudia Drake (obviously not a native!) and Gloria Talbott as the sister of a man murdered by Talbott's gang.

There's an old native wise man, a Walter Brennan like sidekick, and of course Chinook, proving his loyalty and bravery and acting skills as he acts wounded in an effort to fool the bad guys. This leads to a great finale that is filled with tension, showing Carr and Drake going up against each other and a moral lesson that sticking your nose in where it doesn't belong can indeed get you into all sorts of trouble, especially when a supposed native curse is on. The fast pacing is aided by great photography and editing, and of the four films that I have seen in the series, this is definitely the best.

Murder in the Great White North

[Henchman_Number1 · 6/10 · 28 March 2020]

Northern Patrol is the ninth of the Kirby Grant Mountie series with canine hero Chinook. In this installment Mountie Corporal Rod Webb (Grant) on his way home for a month of rest and relaxation, stumbles upon a man found hanged in his cabin. Even though there is a penned suicide note, the evidence leads Webb to believe that it was murder. After reporting the crime to the local outpost commander Constable Ralph Gregg (Richard Walsh) he sets out to solve the crime which soon leads him in the direction of town thugs (William Phipps, Dale Van Sickel) and a pistol toting Nordic gun moll (Marian Carr).

Spearheaded by scarcely used director Rex Bailey, Northern Patrol turns out to be one of the better entries into the series. Even though the Mountie films are usually clumped into the Western genre, the plot, pacing and dialogue might be more aptly described as an Arctic crime programmer. An enhanced plot line that includes a love triangle and hidden tribal treasure gives off more of an adult theme than usual for this brand of film. Released about the same time that Poverty Row studio Monogram Pictures was making the final transition to the more high-reaching Allied Artists Pictures, the budget doesn't seem quite as pinched and provides for a bit more ambitious film, including some nice exterior locations instead of the usual stock footage.

Solid B-Mountie flick.