Dick Foran

(On Cable TV, August 2022) I just can’t help myself—As soon as TCM schedules a Mounties-related “Northern,” I have to see it. Despite the cheap clichés, despite the wacky portrayal of Canadians (or even worse; French Canadians), despite the dubious imposition of American values to a Canadian context, I have to watch it and complain about everything I don’t like. In the land of the Northerns, however, Heart of the North is a landmark. Produced by Warner Brothers, it’s a relatively rare Technicolor picture from the 1930s, showcasing natural backdrops (not Canada’s, but California’s) in gorgeous blue and green. Based on a novel, the plot has some substance to it as RCMP officers pursue robbers who attacked a steamship gold shipment, heading deep in the wilderness to catch their men. In parallel, we have some disagreements between a wilderness-loving Mountie and his urbane girlfriend stopping them from getting engaged; an adorable (yet slightly creepy) moppet cranking up the aaaw-factor in generally disconnected interventions, one RCMP officer with a bad case of PTSD, arguments between merchants and the RCMP, and a few other things that somehow manage to fit within a mere 83 minutes. There’s an awkward action sequence featuring a plane diving down so that the Mounties can shoot at canoes, a little girl with (somehow!) a red serge Mountie uniform, and an ending that pivots on a Mountie with mental health issues gunning down the main antagonist (and getting awarded a medal for his actions!)  It’s wildly over-the-top and yet not that awful to watch, thanks to cinematography that takes as much advantage of natural surroundings (and a fair bit of “special effects”) as Technicolour could in the 1930s. Dick Foran stars, but the young Janet Chapman is the most memorable performer as a plucky orphan cosplaying being a Mountie. Heart of the North is an affront to everything the Mounties were doing in the 1930s, but I still found it weirdly compelling—easily entertaining, even as it’s completely ludicrous.