''Northwest Trail'' is a 1945 American contemporary

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film directed by

Derwin Abrahams Derwin Abrahams (1903–1974) was an American film director. He directed four serials in the 1940s for Columbia Pictures, including ''Hop Harrigan'', ''Chick Carter, Detective'', ''Tex Granger'', and ''Son of the Guardsman'', followed by ''The Gr ...

shot in Cinecolor at

Lake Hemet Lake Hemet is a water storage reservoir located in the San Jacinto Mountains in Mountain Center, Riverside County, California,"Lake Hemet". The California Parks Company. Retrieved October 15, 2017. http://lakehemetrecreation.com/ with a capacity ...

, California. It stars Bob Steele,

Joan Woodbury Joan Elmer Woodbury (December 17, 1915 – February 22, 1989) was an American actress beginning in the 1930s and continuing well into the 1960s. Early life Woodbury was born in Los Angeles, California on December 17, 1915. Her father was Elmer ...

, and

Madge Bellamy Madge Bellamy (born Margaret Derden Philpott; June 30, 1899 – January 24, 1990) was an American stage and film actress. She was a popular leading lady in the 1920s and early 1930s. Her career declined in the sound era and ended following a rom ...

making a comeback appearance in her final film.

Plot

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...

(RCMP) Trooper O'Brien assists Kate Owens when her car breaks down. Upon arrival at headquarters, his Inspector-in-charge assigns him to escort Kate to visit her Uncle in Morgan's Post located in the backwoods. As there are no roads to the area the two must travel by horse. O'Brien has two other tasks when he arrives; to discover why RCMP Sergeant Means has not filed a report in months and to investigate the complaint of Poodles Hanneford who alleges that the river going through his property has been blocked off and he has been fired upon when investigating. What begins as a

screwball comedy film Screwball comedy is a subgenre of the romantic comedy genre that became popular during the Great Depression, beginning in the early 1930s and thriving until the early 1940s, that satirizes the traditional love story. It has secondary characteristi ...

between the witty Kate and strait-laced Mountie takes many unexpected turns when a rider steals Kate's suitcase that contains $20,000 but the rider is found shot to death with the money missing. Upon arrival in Morgan's Post Sgt Means chastises O'Brien for his incompetence and orders him back to headquarters.

Cast

* Bob Steele as RCMP Matt O'Brien *

as Kate Owens *

John Litel John Beach Litel (December 30, 1892 – February 3, 1972) was an American film and television actor. Early life Litel was born in Albany, Wisconsin. During World War I, he enlisted in the French Army and was twice decorated for bravery. Ba ...

as Sergeant Means *

Raymond Hatton Raymond William Hatton (July 7, 1887 – October 21, 1971) was an American film actor who appeared in almost 500 motion pictures. Biography Hatton was born in Red Oak, Iowa. His physician father steered him toward a career in medicine. Howev ...

as Morgan *

as Mrs. Yeager *

Ian Keith Ian Keith (born Keith Ross; February 27, 1899 – March 26, 1960) was an American actor. Early years Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Keith grew up in Chicago. He was educated at the Francis Parker School there and played Hamlet in a school p ...

as Inspector McGrath *

George Meeker George Meeker (March 5, 1904 – August 19, 1984) was an American character film and Broadway actor. A graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Meeker made several films such as ''Crime, Inc.'' (1945) and ''A Thief in the Dark'' (1 ...

as Whitey Yeager * Charles B. Middleton as Pierre * John Hamilton as John Owens *

Poodles Hanneford The Royal Hanneford Circus is an American-based touring family circus. With origins dating back to 1690, it has been called the oldest circus in the world. The family first performed as a traveling troupe in 1807. In 1903, the family began its own ...

as Poodles Hanneford * Gracie Hanneford as Jill Hanneford

References

External links

* * * 1945 films 1945 Western (genre) films Films based on short fiction Royal Canadian Mounted Police in fiction Cinecolor films American Western (genre) films Lippert Pictures films American black-and-white films Northern (genre) films Films based on works by James Oliver Curwood Films directed by Derwin Abrahams 1940s English-language films 1940s American films {{1940s-Western-film-stub