First of all, it should have been against the law to ever film a Mountie picture in black and white. With those dynamic red uniforms against the backdrop of gorgeous Northwest scenery (actually California's Big Bear Valley), a flick like this just begs for the full color treatment. Granted, this was 1939, but hey, "The Adventures of Robin Hood" came out the year before, and that was quite the spectacle.
"Crashing Thru" was the fourth in a series of James Newill films in which he portrayed Renfrew of the Royal Mounted, the first of which went by that same name. You really have to catch that flick for the story line, it's unbelievable. A counterfeiting ring goes to the trouble of smuggling forged bills inside the body cavities of rainbow trout that are frozen in blocks of ice! This one's not as over the top, but it still has it's moments, particularly when the picture earns it's title in a scene at the finale. You'll just have to see it for yourself.
I don't want to give away too much of the story, but suffice it to say that the good guys (Newill and Warren Hull as Constable Kelly) solve a gold heist aboard a riverboat after the villains have a falling out with each other. The theft was masterminded by a brother and sister team (Jean Carmen and Dave O'Brien), who felt they had a duty to recoup the investment of their father's partners who believed they bought a mine from Delos Herrington.
Long time Western fans just may recognize a young Milburn Stone as the owner of the Herrington Mining Company, but for this viewer, the real treat was catching my favorite Native American actor in an uncredited role as Indian Joe. That would be Iron Eyes Cody, you know, the Indian that shed a tear for the environment in those ubiquitous TV commercials of the Seventies. You'll probably hate me for this, but I was just as shocked to learn that Cody was the son of first generation Italian immigrants, but I'll keep it under my hat if you will.
Anyway, whenever you need a break from your typical B Western, a good alternative is one of these Mountie pictures. Beside Newill in his series for Criterion, you had Charles Starrett in 1934's "Undercover Men", and Gene Autry in 1951's appropriately titled "Gene Autry and The Mounties". Keep your expectations in check though, those were done in glorious black and white as well.
"Crashing Thru" was the fourth in a series of James Newill films in which he portrayed Renfrew of the Royal Mounted, the first of which went by that same name. You really have to catch that flick for the story line, it's unbelievable. A counterfeiting ring goes to the trouble of smuggling forged bills inside the body cavities of rainbow trout that are frozen in blocks of ice! This one's not as over the top, but it still has it's moments, particularly when the picture earns it's title in a scene at the finale. You'll just have to see it for yourself.
I don't want to give away too much of the story, but suffice it to say that the good guys (Newill and Warren Hull as Constable Kelly) solve a gold heist aboard a riverboat after the villains have a falling out with each other. The theft was masterminded by a brother and sister team (Jean Carmen and Dave O'Brien), who felt they had a duty to recoup the investment of their father's partners who believed they bought a mine from Delos Herrington.
Long time Western fans just may recognize a young Milburn Stone as the owner of the Herrington Mining Company, but for this viewer, the real treat was catching my favorite Native American actor in an uncredited role as Indian Joe. That would be Iron Eyes Cody, you know, the Indian that shed a tear for the environment in those ubiquitous TV commercials of the Seventies. You'll probably hate me for this, but I was just as shocked to learn that Cody was the son of first generation Italian immigrants, but I'll keep it under my hat if you will.
Anyway, whenever you need a break from your typical B Western, a good alternative is one of these Mountie pictures. Beside Newill in his series for Criterion, you had Charles Starrett in 1934's "Undercover Men", and Gene Autry in 1951's appropriately titled "Gene Autry and The Mounties". Keep your expectations in check though, those were done in glorious black and white as well.