Northwest Trail

Bob Steele who occasionally diverted himself from westerns with some great character roles in A pictures, still stayed in the B slot with this Northern which is what you would call a Canadian based film. Northwest Trail had the benefit of some outdoor location scenery which put it a cut above the usual B films.

Bob's a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who gets to do escort duty of a woman who doesn't bother to tell him she's carrying a $20,000.00 payroll for her father John Hamilton. Steele and Joan Woodbury do kind of grate on each other's nerves, but of course there are sparks underneath.

If you think you've got the plot figured out than I can tell you you're wrong. There is skullduggery afoot here, but it's not anything you might initially suspect. Plus the fact the gang here commit a truly horrendous crime by RCMP standards. The real suspense in Northwest Trail is just figuring out who the good and bad guys are let alone what's afoot.

I would rate Northwest Trail higher, but the writers copped out in the end in dealing with Woodbury's character. She should have gotten the Mary Astor treatment as in The Maltese Falcon.

Silent star Madge Bellamy made her farewell appearance in a role as a battered wife. She's the one who eventually cooks the whole gang.

Northwest Trail a nice independent production with much better values and story than one might expect.