Mrs. Mike (1949) User Reviews

A stunning portrayal of the lives of Sgt. and Mrs. Mike

[krfwoof92 · 8/10 · 4 January 2008]

Mrs. Mike is a lovely and enjoyable movie which is well worth the hour and a half or so to watch. It is a magnificent portrayal of life and the struggles that come along with it in northern Canada about the turn of the twentieth century. The standards of 1949 special effects and the 1940's less-than-accurate portrayal of the natives are a setback, but, like all great movies, it is the story that is the treasure and wins the audience's heart.

Evelyn Keyes gives a stunning performance as the often rash but lovable Katherine O'Fallon Flannigan, better known to her friends and neighbors as Mrs. Mike, and Dick Powell gives an admirable portrayal of the resourceful Mountie and family man, Sgt. Mike Flannigan.

The story is both heart-warming and heart-breaking, although it does not closely adhere to the original story so delightfully recounted in the novel with the same name written by Benedict and Nancy Freedman, and thus, if you have read the book, some of the magic is lost. I suggest the novel above the movie, but the movie is very good and is both entertaining and sweet. A stunning performance!

How the Mountie got his woman!

[mark.waltz · 8/10 · 21 June 2012]

In this outdoor love story, similar to "Penny Serenade" in its narrative, tough Canadian Mountie Dick Powell (who doesn't break into a Nelson Eddy/Howard Keel "Rose Marie" type song here) falls in love with Bostonian Evelyn Keyes (in a marvelous performance, her best) and introduces her to the Canadian wilderness. She valiantly faces each challenge ahead of her, but when it comes time to start a family, she has a difficult time accepting this snowy climate for bringing up a child. There are moments of humor and tragedy, just like Cary Grant and Irene Dunne faced in "Penny Serenade", and ultimately triumph.

A cast of unknowns support the two (ironically cast together three years after Keyes played a fictionalized version of Powell's old musical partner Ruby Keeler in "Jolson Sings Again"), and it is the fact that they are all obscure character performers that make their performances all the more natural, particularly Frances Morris and John Miljan as the Howards, the couple who host Powell and Keyes after their first long journey together into the Canadian outback. Jean Inness is also memorable as the female hermit who takes Keyes in to have her baby. Breathtaking outdoor scenery doesn't hurt as well as a pretty musical score. There's a very funny scene where Keyes must show a group of Native Americans that its OK to get a small pox vaccination, as well as the touching interaction between Mrs. Mike and Mrs. Howard.

I saw this movie first as a naive college student back on the late show in Los Angeles before the explosion of cable television, and some 20 years later, I am still touched by it, particularly by the aspect of city slicker Keyes finding a greater wisdom in God's big universe.

The Sergeant And His Wife

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 8 November 2008]

Other than the fact that Dick Powell sometimes wears the drill sergeant hat that we expect from Royal Canadian Mounted Police and that wasn't adapted into well in the last century, Mrs. Mike is an engrossing drama of the real life work of a member of that acclaimed force. American audiences expect Mounties to have that hat and this was an American made film.

It's a good story, possibly a Canadian production would do it better justice and they sure would get the details right. Still I don't think there's too much cause for complaint.

Powell narrates and stars in this story about a Mountie and his marriage serving in the Northwest Territories at the turn of the last century. Powell is not a relentless pursuer of fugitives nor is he fighting gangs of outlaws or Indians. In fact his main job is looking for people who get lost up in the frozen north. Sometimes he finds them alive and sometimes he doesn't.

To the wilderness Powell has brought Evelyn Keyes who's an American girl from Boston who thinks she's dealt with snow before. The film covers the first years of their marriage as much from her point of view as his. When he's at his headquarters, she's as much a member of the RCMP as he is for all she does.

I guess to make sure people didn't forget he was a singer Powell sang The Rose Of Tralee, the first time he sang on the screen in five years. He's not the piping tenor of his younger days, he's dropped into a semi-baritone in his range.

The climax of the film is a diphtheria epidemic where Powell and Keyes help doctor Will Wright fight the epidemic and it costs them dear.

Mrs. Mike, other than Powell's hat, is a good engrossing drama of the real life of a Mountie and his Missus shot quite realistically at Big Bear Lake in California looking very much like the frozen Northwest Territory. Perhaps a Canadian producer might consider this film as a good candidate for remake.

An engrossing depiction of life in the NWT in the early 1900's

[gord26 · 9/10 · 13 January 2003]

"Mrs. Mike" is a better than average early Hollywood depiction of life in Canada's far north. Life in the North-West Territories in the early 1900's had moments of great beauty but was for the most part, harsh and cruel. The film captured the essence of this without resorting to standard stereotypes. There isn't a single manhunt of the "a Mountie always gets his man" variety in the whole plot. Most of the characters managed to portray depth and an insight into their difficult lives.

Evelyn Keyes shines as the Boston-born wife of a Mountie in Canada's remote North-West Territories. While trying to live as a loving, dedicated wife, she struggles with the lack of comforts and the dangers in a frontier existence, and ultimately, her own self-doubts.

Dick Powell's manner would suit him more easily in the big city, but he passes as a stoic never-say-die Mountie. He provides a stable base in the film, and is the narrator of the story, but his performance has to take second place to Miss Keyes as "Mrs. Mike".

By present day standards, the native characters are not politically correct with their broken English and simplistic presentations. For 1940's Hollywood, they are given a bit more opportunity to show some humor and dignity, and that they are human beings as well. The gentle performance by Ro Mere Darling as Mrs. Henderson, the native wife of Trader Henderson, attempts to break through the pre-conceived ideas of most of the movie audience, both in the 1940's and sadly, of many today.

This movie is definitely worth watching for simple good entertainment, and a glimpse at a lost way of life.

If you have the choice read the book it is far superior to the movie.

[AliceW47 · 15 August 2005]

If this movie was to stand alone in it's on right it could be consider at least good. However seeing as it is based on a book it is hard to judge without comparing them to each other. The book created strong relationship and bond between the people and the land. It did not clean relationships and problem up simply to please the reader that is one of the book's most endearing qualities. The movie however simplifies the complexity of the emotions, characters, and story line that the book so richly builds. The other point I think they lost sight of was this wasn't just a love story it was a story of truth, human kindness, growing up, and survival. I also believe the movie down play Kathy incredible strength and stubbornness. By the end of the book you understand that Kathy has matured and that the decision she made is final and purposeful. The movie however lacks in the sense you know she made said decision, but there is no substantial evidence that make you believe she will not change her mind. If you have the choice read the book it is far superior to the movie.

Dick Powell was no Sgt. Mike

[chows-55430 · 3/10 · 25 October 2021]

I love the book and have read it probably 50 times. Kathy and Mike Flannigan's life in the far north of Canada - dealing with the indiginous peoples and interesting people of all ilks, plus the sisterhood of the strong women who faced so many hardships, are fascinating story-telling. And the Sargeant, trained but still having to do things like dentistry by reading books, is a wonderful testimony to the RCMP dedication to the country. This movie has none of the depth or pathos of the book; and it's actually seriously missing much of the romance as well. They made it a vehicle for Powell (who was too old and heavy for this role) without any regard for the actual story of real people facing real hardships and finding unexpected joy in harsh conditions. If you don't know that Kathy and Mike lost BOTH their children to diptheria, then you have no real understanding of their lives.

Falls short of the book

[jaxonian · 5/10 · 8 September 2001]

This film is based on the novel, Mrs. Mike, which is based on the real life woman, Kathy O'Fallon Flannigan. While it is an adequate film by itself, it sells the story short. It panders to romance and drama, when the book is quite dramatic in its own right. A Boston teenager is sent to live with her uncle in frontier Canada because of her fragile health. She eventually falls in love with own of the few-if only-young, white males in the region. They marry and depart for the northern wilderness to set up house and home. The rest of the movie is about her struggles and joys of living and travelling in this rugged country. Sadly, the movie ends where the book took off on a whole new, inspiring tangent. We are left with the typical "happy ending". I gave this a 5.

Fairytale

[stephen-711 · 3/10 · 7 December 2022]

This movie was written by someone who has never been to the locations depicted. It's not credible from the gitgo. For starters, who would send their sickly daughter to frozen wasteland from Boston? What daughter would marry a foreign national in a foreign country without getting her parents consent. No one in their right mind would travel alone in the barren lands for weeks with no backup in case of problems wearing lipstick. What need is there for law enforcement where there are few people? How does the hero navigate where there are no markers and he never refers to a map? Wading through all this silly tosh in the first few minutes destroys the credibility of the rest of the film.

Loved it-- good story, very natural performances

[jarrodmcdonald-1 · 31 May 2016]

Evelyn Keyes and Dick Powell are excellent together on screen, so relaxed and in sync-- I totally believe they are a married couple as the story plays. As others have indicated, the picture is based on a bestselling novel, MRS. MIKE. It is a romance drama that places them in the northern Canadian wilderness, where they experience more than their share of hardships. The situations are not at all contrived; in fact, some things are left unresolved, and a few of the people they meet are not exactly wholesome (which is how life and people sometimes are).

In case it gets too serious, there are light moments. At one point, Powell has a scene where he sings, which he stopped doing when he made all those crime films. Another good thing is that a lot of unknowns are in the cast, so they kind of seem like real people instead of stars-- which makes Keyes and Powell deliver a much more natural performance in their presence.

The movie is a huge disappointment compared to the book!

[rustytclwn · 30 August 2002]

First of all, Sgt. Mike Flannagan was a Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman who was over 6' tall and when I saw the movie, with Dick Powell playing the role....well, he just didn't fill the boots! As has been said before by others, the movie glosses over the hardships Kathy Flannagan went through and the true pioneer spirit of a woman who grew up in Boston and was not prepared for the rigors of living in the Canadian wilderness. I would not give this movie more than a 2. Lois Z. a.k.a Rusty T. clown.