Northern Pursuit
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Northern Pursuit
Plot
The fact that star Errol Flynn had been recently embroiled in a real-life rape trial only served to increase the box-office "pull" of Warner Bros. Northern Pursuit. Flynn is cast as Canadian mountie Steve Wagner, assigned to track down and capture downed Nazi pilot Hugo von Keller (Helmut Dantine) in the snowier Hudson Bay regions. Once Wagner and fellow mountie Jim Austin (John Ridgely) catch up with Von Keller, they pretend to be on his side, hoping that he'll reveal his espionage plans. Taken in, Von Keller leads the mounties towards a secret Nazi hideaway, where the Germans have hidden a huge bombing plane, to be used against North America. The fact that Wagner is posing as a Nazi sympathizer hardly endears him to Von Keller's hostage Laura McBain (Julie Bishop), but when the truth is revealed she professes her love for him. In the light of Flynn's recent legal problems, one line in Northern Pursuit invariably brought down the house in 1943: After assuring Laura that she's the only woman he's ever loved, Wagner/Flynn turns to the camera and quips "What am I saying?" ~ Hal Erickson, RoviReview
Northern Pursuit is an okay adventure yarn/spy thriller -- nothing great, made up mostly of bits and pieces we've all seen before, but put together professionally and with just enough spirit to make it entertaining. With Errol Flynn on hand, you know that the lead character will evince sufficient charm and sufficient derring-do, but at the same time there's simply something disconcerting about seeing Flynn as a Mountie. It just doesn't seem natural, and that impression dogs the whole film. Very much a product of its day, modern viewers may find its heavyhanded depictions of the Nazis a bit much to swallow; they're drawn too much as stock screen villains, evil personified, and it's difficult to view them without thinking they could have been shown to be just as evil in a less stereotypical manner. That said, Helmut Dantine's performance as the particularly nasty Nazi is exactly what the screenplay calls for; he delivers a performance that's memorably vile. Less memorable is Julie Bishop, who as the love interest looks attractive but adds little in the way of a dramatic performance. Raoul Walsh directs with an eye toward the adventure elements and provides enough tension and suspense to help one leap over some of the holes in the screenplay. ~ Craig Butler, RoviCast
- Errol Flynn - Steve Wagner
- Julie Bishop - Laura McBain
- Helmut Dantine - Col. Hugo von Keller
- John Ridgely - Jim Austen
- Gene Lockhart - Ernst
Credit
Leo K. Kuter - Art Director, Leah Rhoads - Costume Designer, Raoul Walsh - Director, Jack Killifer - Editor, Jack L. Warner - Executive Producer, Adolph Deutsch - Composer (Music Score), Leo F. Forbstein - Musical Direction/Supervision, Perc Westmore - Makeup, Sidney Hickox - Cinematographer, Jack Chertok - Producer, Casey Roberts - Set Designer, Roy Davidson - Special Effects, James Leicester - Special Effects, Don Siegel - Special Effects, Stan Jones - Sound/Sound Designer, Frank Gruber - Screenwriter, Alvah Bessie - Screenwriter, Leslie T. White - Short Story Author| Northern Patrol (1953 Film), Northern Passage (1995 Film) | |
| Northern Renaissance (1987 Film), Northern Safari (1968 Film) |
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Northern Pursuit
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Northern Pursuit
| Northern Pursuit | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Raoul Walsh |
| Produced by | Jack Chertok |
| Written by | Leslie T. White (story) Frank Gruber Alvah Bessie William Faulkner (uncredited) |
| Starring | Errol Flynn Julie Bishop Helmut Dantine |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
| Release date(s) | November 13, 1943 |
| Running time | 93 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English German |
Northern Pursuit is a 1943 World War II film starring Errol Flynn as a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who tries to uncover a Nazi plot against the Allied war effort. The movie was set in Canada and directed by Raoul Walsh.
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Contents
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Plot
After a German U-boat drops off Nazi saboteurs, RCMP Corporal Wagner (Flynn) captures the leader, Colonel Hugo von Keller (Helmut Dantine), the only survivor after an avalanche wipes out the rest of the group. When left alone with the Canadian Mountie, von Keller discovers that Wagner speaks German and is of German ancestry, and tries to persuade his captor to help him. After being taken into custody, von Keller leads a jailbreak from a prisoner of war camp, enlisting other German soldiers in his escape. Wagner, seemingly under suspicion by the RCMP of being a Nazi sympathizer, is court martialed and contacted by Ernst Willis (Gene Lockhart), a real enemy agent, who hires him as a wilderness guide.
Wagner and his new confederate set out for the north by train, while a pursuing Mountie who makes contact with Wagner is killed by the agent. Wagner is taken to von Keller and convinces him that he is loyal to Germany and can guide him and his companions through the Canadian wilderness to a mysterious destination. His fiancee Laura McBain (Julie Bishop) is held as a hostage to ensure his loyalty but Wagner, acting as a double agent, manages to send a message to headquarters to alert them of the Nazi saboteurs' plans.
Fellow Mountie, Jim Austin (John Ridgely) follows their trail, but is spotted and killed, along with Willis and an Indian porter, before the group reaches a mine shaft where bomber components have been secreted before the war. The bomber is assembled and takes off for its mission: to bomb the main arterial waterway between the United States and Canada to disrupt transatlantic shipping of war materials. Wagner manages to escape, climb aboard the aircraft to shoot the crew, and parachute to safety before the bomber crashes. After recovering from a wound he received during the skirmish on board the aircraft, he and Laura marry.
Cast
- Errol Flynn as RCMP Corporal Steve Wagner
- Julie Bishop as Laura McBain
- Helmut Dantine as Colonel Hugo von Keller
- John Ridgely as Jim Austin
- Gene Lockhart as Ernst Willis
- Tom Tully as Inspector Barnett
- Bernard Nedell as Tom Dagor
- Monte Blue as Jean
- Alec Craig as Angus McBain
- Rose Higgins as Rose Dagor
Production
The film was intended to be a propaganda film following the general storyline of other contemporary films including 49th Parallel (1942) and Flynn's earlier Desperate Journey (1942). Warner Bros was aware that their star had recently been embroiled in a real-life scandal, with his acquittal in a rape trial only serving to increase the box-office "draw" of the 1943 feature. Flynn is cast as the faithful lover and invariably brought down the house in 1943, after assuring his fiancee, Laura that she's the only woman he's ever loved, he turns away and quips, "What am I saying?"[1]
During the production, Flynn took ill in May 1943, collapsing on the set and being hospitalized for a week. The studio released information indicating he had a "upper respiratory ailment," but he was battling tuberculosis.[1]
The aircraft in Northern Pursuit is the ubiquitous Lockheed Hudson bomber, a type that appeared frequently in Warner Bros films as the Lockheed Aircraft production plant was located near the studio and photography was often arranged when the bomber delivery schedule allowed. A combination of model and live-action footage was used in the aircraft sequences.[2] Interiors and exteriors shot at the Burbank studios alternated with location shooting at Sun Valley, Idaho to replicate the Canadian north. Stock footage of Winnipeg also was used in the court martial sequence. No location photography took place in Canada.[3]
Reception
Although similar to other Flynn "swashbucklers", the public and critical reaction was mixed. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times considered it "old business" for the star, and the production "came huffing and puffing" to the Strand Theatre in New York for its premiere.[4]
References
- Notes
- ^ a b Thomas et al. 1969, p. 133.
- ^ Orriss 1984, p. 44.
- ^ "Location shooting." IMDb. Retrieved: June 5, 2011.
- ^ Crowther, Bosley. "Northern Pursuit (1943):'Northern Pursuit' Starring Errol Flynn, at the Strand."The New York Times, November 26, 1943.
- Bibliography
- Orriss, Bruce. When Hollywood Ruled the Skies: The Aviation Film Classics of World War II. Hawthorne, California: Aero Associates Inc., 1984. ISBN 0-9613088-0-X.
- Thomas, Tony, Rudy Behlmer and Clifford McCarty. The Films of Errol Flynn. New York: Citadel Press, 1969.
External links
- Northern Pursuit at the Internet Movie Database
- Northern Pursuit at the TCM Movie Database
- Northern Pursuit at AllRovi
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