The Wild North—Stewart Granger, Wendell Corey, Cyd Charisse, Ray Teal (1952; Dir: Andrew Marton)
Swashbuckling Englishman Stewart Granger (real name: James Leblanche Stewart) at the height of his American film career made this movie, the same year as The Prisoner of Zenda and Scaramouche.
Here he is French-Canadian trapper and outdoorsman Jules Vincent; Wendell Corey is Constable Pedley, the Mountie sent to bring him in for killing another trapper. Cyd Charisse has a non-dancing role as Vincent’s Chippewa romantic interest, with not a lot to do. Basically, this is a tale of wilderness survival. Pedley goes after Vincent in the wilderness and captures him, but getting him back to civilization is another matter. Vincent is much better in the frozen wilderness than Pedley is. Ultimately Pedley gets lost and loses his mind, and Vincent rescues him both physically and mentally. In the end, of course, Vincent gets off, since he’s good-hearted and didn’t mean to kill the guy anyway. The movie depends on Granger, and he’s reasonably charming here.
Granger as Vincent.
Pedley: “You’re not a bad guy…for a murderer. Why’d you kill the man?
Vincent: “I shot at his shoulder. The canoe swayed.” (Shrugs.)
Pedley: “You fought with him the night before, over the girl.”
Vincent: “That was no fight. It was nothing.”
Pedley: “Is that why you ran away?”
Vincent: “You don’t believe me, do you?”
Pedley: “I don’t know.”
Vincent: “That’s it, Pedley. See? You’re a man who should understand–and you don’t believe me. What chance would I have in front of a jury of ribbon clerks?”
Corey as Mountie Pedley.
Ray Teal is part of another trapper pair that has lost its own outfit, and he offers to help Vincent escape or kill the Mountie. The Boulder Mountains of Idaho (not far from Sun Valley), the filming location, pass convincingly for the rugged Canadian northwest, apparently.
For other westerns involving survival in frozen conditions, see Day of the Outlaw (1959), Jeremiah Johnson (1972), Seraphim Falls (2006) and Wind River (2017). For stories of lawmen bringing in sympathetic outlaws and developing relationships, see The Ride Back (1957), 3:10 to Yuma (1957) and The Comancheros (1962). For other westerns with Mounties, see North West Mounted Police (1940), Saskatchewan (1954) and Gunless (2010).
The antagonists face off, with an Indian princess between them.
