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Warner Bros., 1943. Directed by
Raoul Walsh. Camera: Sid Hickox. With
Errol Flynn,
Julie Bishop, Helmut Dantine, John Ridgely, Gene Lockhart, Tom Tully,
Bernard Nedell, Warren Douglas,
Monte Blue, Alec Craig, Tom Fadden, Carl Harbaugh, Glen Cavender, Fred Kelsey, Herbert Heywood, Ben Erway, Robert
Ashley, Robert Dayne, John Lannon, Jr., Cliff Storey, Eddie Searles, Arno
Frey, J. Pat Moriarty, John Alvin, Martin Noble, John Forsythe, Robert Kent,
Sam Waagenaar, William Osten, Bob Hutton. |
In 1941, a German submarine drops off
some aviators near Hudson Bay in Canada. They meet two other
men with dog teams and sleds and travel north. One day, an
avalanche buries everyone except for Hugo von Keller. Nearly
dead with exhaustion, Hugo is found by two members of the North West
Mounted Police, Steve Wagner and Jim Austin. When Hugo learns
that Steve is of German descent, he questions him closely about his
feelings for Germany. Steve says only that now he is a
Canadian, but arranges matters so that Jim goes for the authorities,
leaving him alone with Hugo in the Mounties' isolated cabin.
In town, before he reports to the
commander, Jim tells Laura McBain, Steve's fiancée, about their
prisoner, and she assumes that Steve will earn a promotion that will
allow them to be married. Inspector Barnett, Steve and Jim's
superior officer, on the other hand, professes to be worried about
Steve's loyalty and orders the prisoner to be brought in.
While alone with Hugo, Steve has made an attempt to discover why the
German is in Canada, but his questioning ends when the other
Mounties arrive.
Hugo is sent to an internment camp, but
he soon escapes with several other men. Steve is called back
for questioning and, as part of a plot to discover the Nazi
objective, is discharged from the force. As he leaves his
hearing, Steve angrily curses Canada and is taken to jail.
Later, he is bailed out by a man named Ernst Willis, who offers him
a job guiding him to the north country.
On the train north, Steve secretly meets
a Mountie and reveals his itinerary. Willis is unsure where
Steve's loyalties really lie, however, and, despite Steve's attempts
to cover for the man, shoots him. Steve and Willis then jump
off the train and rendezvous with the escaped Germans at an Indian
cabin. At first Hugo pretends to believe that Steve is no
longer loyal to his country, because Steve is the only one who can
guide him through the Canadian wilderness.
To make sure that Steve will not betray
him, however, Hugo abducts Laura, and holds her hostage. Steve
is required to help three more German POW's escape and takes the
opportunity to send an encoded message to headquarters. Jim
then follows their trail, but is spotted by Hugo and killed.
After Willis falls ill, Hugo kills him as well. Steve then
convinces their Indian guide to go for help, but he, too, is killed.
The men finally reach their destination—a mine shaft where bomber
parts have been secreted. When the plane is assembled, Hugo
plans to use it to bomb the Panama Canal. Steve is forced to
help with the assembly, but at the last minute, he overcomes his
guards and boards the plane. There, he shoots the entire crew
and parachutes out before the plane crashes. Later, he and
Laura marry.
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Additional photos courtesy of Gary and poster
artwork courtesy of Joe |
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Click thumbnails for larger images |
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