''The Canadians'' is a 1961 Anglo–Canadian

CinemaScope CinemaScope is an anamorphic lens series used, from 1953 to 1967, and less often later, for shooting widescreen films that, crucially, could be screened in theatres using existing equipment, albeit with a lens adapter. Its creation in 1953 by ...

Western film The Western is a genre set in the American frontier and commonly associated with folk tales of the Western United States, particularly the Southwestern United States, as well as Northern Mexico and Western Canada. It is commonly referred ...

written and directed by

Burt Kennedy Burton Raphael Kennedy (September 3, 1922 – February 15, 2001) was an American screenwriter and director known mainly for directing Westerns. Budd Boetticher called him "the best Western writer ever." Biography Kennedy was born in 1922 i ...

. It starred

Robert Ryan Robert Bushnell Ryan (November 11, 1909 – July 11, 1973) was an American actor and activist. Known for his portrayals of hardened cops and ruthless villains, Ryan performed for over three decades. He was nominated for the Academy Award for ...

John Dehner John Dehner (DAY-ner) (born John Dehner Forkum, also credited Dehner Forkum; November 23, 1915February 4, 1992) was an American stage, radio, film, and television actor. From the late 1930s to the late 1980s, he amassed a long list of performan ...

and

Torin Thatcher Torin Herbert Erskine Thatcher (15 January 1905 – 4 March 1981) was a British actor who was noted for his flashy portrayals of screen villains. Personal life Thatcher was born in Bombay, British India, to British parents, Torin James Blair T ...

. It was Kennedy's directorial debut.

Plot

A group of

Sioux The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin (; Dakota language, Dakota: Help:IPA, /otʃʰeːtʰi ʃakoːwĩ/) are groups of Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribes and First Nations in Canada, First Nations peoples in North America. The ...

come to shelter in Canada from the

Indian wars The American Indian Wars, also known as the American Frontier Wars, and the Indian Wars, were fought by European governments and colonists in North America, and later by the United States and Canadian governments and American and Canadian settle ...

in the United States following

Custer George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Custer graduated from West Point in 1861 at the bottom of his class, b ...

's last stand at the

Battle of the Little Bighorn The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota and other Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, and also commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota Sioux, Nor ...

. They are given permission to remain by the Canadian government represented by three

Mounties 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 ...

. Indian-fighters from Montana searching for 40 stolen horses discover the Sioux settlement and mistakenly assume their horses are theirs. In the white men's surprise attack they murder many Indians, steal many horses, and kidnap an integrated white young woman recognized as having been kidnapped in a raid years earlier. The Mounties promise justice, track, capture, and begin the week-long ride to a trial at court. During the week tables turn back and forth, backstories shared, some discussion about American gun culture and violence, and the woman is killed. Eventually the men are lured to what may be their lost horses but a stampede erupts and the Sioux manage to drive the white men over the cliff like buffaloes to their death. Without a shot fired and the deal maintained the Sioux remain in Canada while the Mounties return to their fort where the senior will finally retire. In response the

North-West Mounted Police The North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) was a Canadian para-military police force, established in 1873, to maintain order in the new Canadian North-West Territories (NWT) following the 1870 transfer of Rupert’s Land and North-Western Territory ...

are formed, the forerunner to the

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 ...

Cast

... Inspector William Gannon *

... Frank Boone *

... Sgt. McGregor *

Burt Metcalfe Burton Denis Metcalfe (March 19, 1935 – July 27, 2022) was a Canadian-American film and television producer, director, screenwriter, and actor. Biography Burton Denis Metcalfe was born in Saskatoon, but grew up in Montreal and latterly in Lo ...

... Constable Springer * John Sutton ... Superintendent Walker *

Jack Creley Jack Creley (March 6, 1926 – March 10, 2004) was an American-born Canadian actor."A 'great man of words and theatre'". ''The Globe and Mail'', March 19, 2004. Although most prominently a stage actor, he also had film and television roles. Backg ...

... Greer * Scott Peters ... Ben * Richard Alden ... Billy *

Teresa Stratas Teresa Stratas (born May 26, 1938) is a retired operatic soprano from Canada of Greek descent. She is especially well known for her award-winning recording of Alban Berg's ''Lulu''. Early life and career Stratas was born Anastasia Stratakis to ...

... White woman *

Michael Pate Michael Pate OAM (born Edward John Pate; 26 February 1920 – 1 September 2008) was an Australian actor, writer, director, and producer, who also worked in Hollywood in the 1950s and 1960s. Biography Early life Pate was born in Drum ...

... Chief Four Horns

Production

The film was the directorial debut of Burt Kennedy, who had established himself by the late 1950s as one of the leading writers of Westerns. It was originally called ''Royal Canadian Mounted''. Kennedy later recalled, "I didn't know what I was doing. I remember the first shot had like 400 horses in it, and I got the shot and the cameraman said, 'What do we do now?' And I thought, 'You mean I gotta do more?' So that's the reason I went into television fter ''The Canadians''to find out how you shoot pictures." He also said "I had a wonderful cameraman... it was beautiful country... the story was pretty good actually, because it was based on an actual event, but – I was so used to playing scenes in Randy andolph Scottpictures, I thought I could get away with them. But I couldn't. You can play good scenes with bad actors and (they're going to be) bad scenes. So I trapped myself...

obert Ryan looked Obert may refer to the following people: ;Given name *Obert Bika (born 1993), Papua New Guinean football midfielder *Obert Logan (1941–2003), American football safety *Obert Mpofu, Zimbabwean politician *Obert Nyampipira (born 1966), Zimbabwean ...

like he didn't know what he was doing. It wasn't his fault. He was so grim in it. And the picture was so grim."

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Canadians, The 1961 films 1961 Western (genre) films 1960s historical drama films 1961 directorial debut films 20th Century Fox films CinemaScope films British Western (genre) films British historical drama films Canadian Western (genre) films Canadian historical drama films English-language Canadian films 1960s English-language films Films directed by Burt Kennedy Films scored by Douglas Gamley Films set in the 19th century Films set in the Canadian Prairies Royal Canadian Mounted Police in fiction 1960s Canadian films 1960s British films