Michael Curtiz directs Charles Bickford in a story of rugged adventure in the Frozen North piney woods - sounds great.
Well, for the first ten minutes, with mountie Bickford getting his man, unshaven fugitive Bickford, and the dialogue in Eskimo (I kid you not) this one does intrigue, even if Ben Carré's painted on canvas cabin walls aren't going to fool anyone. The effects work with the doubled-up character is really ingenious and the confrontation has a harshness that we're not used to.
Unfortunately, as with so many early sound films, all the good stuff is in the opening and then the movie gets on with what people have paid good money to watch - actors talking.
The leads aren't at all bad but the dumb plot lets them down.I wonder who thought it was worth another go round in 1940?
Well, for the first ten minutes, with mountie Bickford getting his man, unshaven fugitive Bickford, and the dialogue in Eskimo (I kid you not) this one does intrigue, even if Ben Carré's painted on canvas cabin walls aren't going to fool anyone. The effects work with the doubled-up character is really ingenious and the confrontation has a harshness that we're not used to.
Unfortunately, as with so many early sound films, all the good stuff is in the opening and then the movie gets on with what people have paid good money to watch - actors talking.
The leads aren't at all bad but the dumb plot lets them down.I wonder who thought it was worth another go round in 1940?