''Saskatchewan'' (titled ''O'Rourke of the Royal Mounted'' in the UK) is a 1954 American

Northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a r ...

adventure film An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, ani ...

directed by

Raoul Walsh Raoul Walsh (born Albert Edward Walsh; March 11, 1887December 31, 1980) was an American film director, actor, founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), and the brother of silent screen actor George Walsh. He wa ...

and starring

Alan Ladd Alan Walbridge Ladd (September 3, 1913 – January 29, 1964) was an American actor and film producer. Ladd found success in film in the 1940s and early 1950s, particularly in films noir and Westerns. He was often paired with Veronica Lake ...

Shelley Winters Shelley Winters (born Shirley Schrift; August 18, 1920 – January 14, 2006) was an American actress whose career spanned seven decades. She appeared in numerous films. She won Academy Awards for ''The Diary of Anne Frank'' (1959) and ''A Patch o ...

and J. Carrol Naish. It was produced and distributed by

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

. The title refers to

Fort Saskatchewan Fort Saskatchewan is a city along the North Saskatchewan River in Alberta, Canada. It is northeast of Edmonton, the provincial capital. It is part of the Edmonton census metropolitan area and one of 24 municipalities that constitute the Edmo ...

in present-day

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest T ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

. Shooting took place in

Banff National Park Banff National Park is Canada's oldest national park, established in 1885 as Rocky Mountains Park. Located in Alberta's Rocky Mountains, west of Calgary, Banff encompasses of mountainous terrain, with many glaciers and ice fields, dense co ...

not far from the headwaters of the

Saskatchewan River The Saskatchewan River (Cree: ''kisiskāciwani-sīpiy'', "swift flowing river") is a major river in Canada. It stretches about from where it is formed by the joining together of the North Saskatchewan and South Saskatchewan Rivers to Lake Winn ...

Plot

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 Territo ...

Sub-Inspector Sub-inspector (SI), or sub-inspector of police, is a rank used extensively in South Asia: in the police forces of Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka, which is primarily based on the British model. It was formerly used in most British col ...

O'Rourke and his

Cree The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations. In Canada, over 350,000 people are Cree o ...

brother Cajou are returning from a trapping trip in northern Canada when they encounter a burned wagon train and sole survivor Grace Markey. They brought Miss Markey with them to their fort in Saskatchewan. At their fort, O'Rourke meets for the first time the new post commander

Inspector Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it. Australia In Australian police forces, the rank of inspector is generally the ne ...

Benton (recently arrived from England) who gave an order to confiscate all the rifles of the Crees. O'Rourke was unaware of this order since it was given when he was away on his trapping trip. When

Benton saw Cajou carrying a rifle, he orders O'Rourke to confiscate the rifle of Cajou. O'Rourke initially refused to follow the order of his superior explaining that he personally gave the rifle to Cajou. When O'Rourke eventually followed the order and took the rifle from Cajou, he lost his friendship with Cajou. Meanwhile, the

Sioux The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin (; Dakota: /otʃʰeːtʰi ʃakoːwĩ/) are groups of Native American tribes and First Nations peoples in North America. The modern Sioux consist of two major divisions based on language divisions: the Dakota and ...

from across the border are trying to convince the Cree into being allies so together they can fight the Red Coats of Canada. The

promised the Crees to replace the rifles confiscated by the Mounties as they have extra rifles taken from the dead of the 7th US Cavalry which they massacred at the Battle of the Little Bighorn The Mounties at

were ordered by higher authorities to go to

Fort Walsh Fort Walsh is a National Historic Site of Canada that was a North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) fort and the site of the Cypress Hills Massacre. Administered by Parks Canada, it forms a constituent part of Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park. The fo ...

which is located near the border. During the trip to

Benton ordered the sergeant to arrest O'Rourke for refusing to carry out his order. But the sergeant refused to follow his arrest order. This angered Benton who told the men he will have all of them court-martialed when they reach Fort Walsh. When they were nearing Fort Walsh, O'Rourke separated himself from the force to go to the Cree camp to convince the Cree chief not to have an alliance with the Sioux. The Cree chief agrees not to go into an alliance with Sioux on condition they are given rifles to protect themselves from the Sioux since the Sioux told them they will become their enemies if they refuse an alliance. O'Rourke proceeded to Fort Walsh to inform the superintendent commanding the post of the Cree chief's word of not joining the Sioux in an alliance if their rifles are returned. The superintendent did not agree to the conditions of the Cree chief. Instead he orders the arrest of O'Rourke and his detention. The whole force of Fort Saskatchewan are also held in detention since all of the men of Fort Saskatchewan were arrested and detained when they arrived in Fort Walsh earlier. The superintendent commanding Fort Walsh received an order from higher authorities to meet and talk to the Sioux to tell them that if they want to live in Canada they must live peacefully. O'Rourke told the superintendent that the Sioux will not talk to him. The superintendent brushes this comment of O'Rourke and orders the post sergeant to prepare the force for a trip to meet the Sioux. O'Rourke was proven right in his statement that the Sioux will not talk to the Mounties when the Sioux attacked the Mounties who were outnumbered. The situation of the Mounties is critical as they are trapped and surrounded by the Sioux. When the Mounties were feeling desperate because many of their comrades were dead or wounded, O'Rourke and the Cree came charging to the rescue of the trapped Mounties.

Cast

Thomas O'Rourke *

as Grace Markey * J. Carrol Naish as Batouche *

Hugh O'Brian Hugh O'Brian (born Hugh Charles Krampe; April 19, 1925 – September 5, 2016) was an American actor and humanitarian, best known for his starring roles in the ABC Western television series ''The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp'' (1955–1 ...

as US Marshall Carl Smith * Robert Douglas as

Benton * George J. Lewis as Lawson * Richard Long as Patrick J. Scanlon *

Jay Silverheels Jay Silverheels (born Harold Jay Smith; May 26, 1912 – March 5, 1980) was an Indigenous Canadian actor and athlete. He was well known for his role as Tonto, the Native American companion of the Lone Ranger in the American Western television s ...

as Cajou *Anton Moreno as Chief Dark Cloud * Frank Chase as Keller *

Lowell Gilmore Lowell Gilmore (20 December 1906 – 31 January 1960) was an American stage, film and television actor. Life and career Lowell Gilmore first worked as a stage manager on the 1929 Broadway play ''The First Mrs. Fraser'', but got his chance as a ...

as Superintendent Banks * Anthony Caruso as Spotted Eagle *Henry Wills as Merrill *Bob Herron as Brill

Production

Alan Ladd with his dachshund Red Beret, 1953

The film was based on an original story by Gil Doud. Universal announced it in 1952, with

Glenn Ford Gwyllyn Samuel Newton "Glenn" Ford (May 1, 1916 – August 30, 2006) was a Canadian-American actor who often portrayed ordinary men in unusual circumstances. Ford was most prominent during Hollywood's Golden Age as one of the biggest box-offi ...

the first star mentioned. It was Alan Ladd's second starring vehicle for Universal, for whom he had made ''

Desert Legion ''Desert Legion'' is a 1953 American adventure film directed by Joseph Pevney and starring Alan Ladd. Plot Ladd stars as a soldier in the French Foreign Legion who stumbles across a lost city in the desert mountains of Algeria in North Africa. C ...

''. The arrangement was made in England, where Ladd was shooting '' Hell Below Zero''. The film was to be shot on location in Canada, enabling Ladd to get a tax exemption from the US government. "I see absolutely no reason why I should not avail myself of the exemption because it is a law", said Ladd.

was his co-star in June. She contracted an eye infection when she arrived on location at Lake Louise, but was able to make the film. Filming started August 1953."STEINER TO LEAVE POST AT WARNERS: Three-Time Academy Award Winner for Musical Scores Plans Publishing Business" Special to THE NEW YORK TIMES.. ''New York Times'' 15 July 1953: 22.

References

External links

*
''Saskatchewan''
at

TCMDB Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of A ...

York Times film review
{{Raoul Walsh 1954 films Universal Pictures films Films directed by Raoul Walsh Films scored by William Lava Films scored by Henry Mancini Films scored by Hans J. Salter Films scored by Frank Skinner Films scored by Herman Stein 1954 Western (genre) films Films set in the Canadian Prairies Films shot in Alberta Royal Canadian Mounted Police in fiction 1950s historical films American historical films Films set in the 1870s Northern (genre) films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films