Saskatchewan (1954)

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

This movie begins with two men by the names of "Thomas O'Rourke" (Alan Ladd) and his Cree half-brother "Cajou" (Jay Silverheels) trapping along the banks of the Saskatchewan River in Canada. As they begin to head back home they come across a couple of wagons that had recently been attacked by hostile Indians and discover one female survivor named "Grace Markey" (Shelley Winters) within the ruins. They then decide to take her to a nearby fort. However, she has other plans and tries to steal one of the horses when they aren't paying attention. Unfortunately, as she is making her escape she comes upon a small band of Sioux Indians and has to retreat back to where she started before being rescued again by Thomas and Cajou. Once they get to the fort it is soon disclosed that Thomas is a Royal Canadian Mountie and that the Sioux have just won a decisive engagement with the U.S. 7th Cavalry at the Battle of the Little Big Horn and have advanced north into Canada hoping to enlist the local Cree Indian tribe as allies. Also of interest is the fact that a U.S. Marshall by the name of "Carl Smith" (Hugh O'Brien) has arrived and has an arrest warrant on Grace for the murder of a man in Montana. If that wasn't bad enough, the new Mountie commanding officer named "Inspector Benton" (Robert Douglas) has recently made one bad decision after another which has seriously damaged the peaceful relations the Mounties had with the Cree and given them even more reason into considering an alliance with the Sioux. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this started out as a decent Western movie which subsequently developed a severe case of historical inaccuracy the further on it went. For starters, although Chief Crazy Horse was shown in the film trying to recruit the local Cree Indians, the fact is that after the Little Big Horn he never ventured that far north. Neither was Chief Sitting Bull an adversary of the Canadians. As a matter of fact, the Canadian government and Chief Sitting Bull had a healthy respect for one another and he was allowed to stay there in peace. It was only after the decline of the buffalo in the area that he and some fellow Sioux agreed to return to the United States and settle down in a reservation. But historical flaws aside, the film itself was pretty standard for a Western and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

I had the opportunity to see "Saskatchewan" lately, and viewing it brought back memories of my parents telling me about the film. When they saw it in a Calgary theatre in 1954, the audience didn't stop laughing from beginning to end. Mounties -- in 1950s DRESS UNIFORMS -- travelling through the mountains of Saskatchewan on horses! While singing! Short, skinny little Alan Ladd (with the strongest American accent on file) as a NWMP officer! Protecting his pure, innocent white girl from the evil Indians! While the towering Rockies surround FORT WALSH! Even now, knowing that the old Saskatchewan Territory took in much of Southern Alberta (but not the mountains), it's a very, very funny movie. Imagine Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas in character as Bob and Doug MacKenzie playing New Jersey State Police officers and riding around Arizona on horseback - and it's not a comedy - and you get the idea.I'm sure that people who have never seen a mountain would love "Saskatchewan" for the scenery, but by God this was funnier than the mountains of New York City in "Rumble in the Bronx". If you live here, it'll make tears fall down your face.Incidentally, my dad actually turned to my mom after the movie and asked her why the RCMP, who function in the west as the equivalent of US state troopers, had never been riding horses when they pulled him over for speeding. Her answer: "You drive faster than a horse."

In 1955 (almost sure) I was stuck with my parents in a line of more than one hour to see this film. Later, when we left the theater we were all satisfied. We had seen a beautiful scenery, Mounties and Indians, on rivers and mountains, plus an entertaining film. Seeing this film yesterday I was happy to realize that after so many years my opinion about it is just the same. Raoul Walsh has to his credit great classic westerns like "Colorado Territory", "Pursued" and "They Died With Their Boots On". "Saskatchewan" is not on their level but is better than many other westerns directed by Walsh. My impression is that the film was shot mostly in Lake Louise and the mountains surrounding it. The scenery is breathtaking and considering Walsh's expertise on grandiose scenes combining the outdoors with hundreds of people on horses you can be sure you are seeing something unique. Ladd is O'Rourke a man that was raised among the Cree and later became a Mountie. Shelley Winters, in one of her best roles is a woman pursued by the law. The Sioux, after Little Big Horn flee to Canada and try to make the Cree join them. Ladd, who knows the Cree better than his superior, does not agree with him, and is on a way to a court martial. The only way he can redeem himself is by proving that his decision was correct. Fom reading other comments I gathered many people were shocked by this film not being accurate neither by the locations where it was filmed, nor by the story. I can understand their point of view, but I still think it is a good film.

Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse vacationed in Banff. There are snow capped mountains surrounding Fort Walsh in SW Saskatchewan. The Mounties had a gun battle with the Sioux, leaving many dead on both sides. You can travel by canoe from the Rockies to Fort Walsh in a day (quite a feat considering it's hundreds of miles, and there's no river).It's all good. Indian scouts making jungle calls to each other at night. Mighty Alan Ladd slaying men left and right, winning the heart of the beautiful woman, and never having to raise his voice or change it from a flat, dull monotone. That's the kind of men the Mounties were made of.Best of all, Shelley Winters in a low cut dress, six gun in hand explaining "I was on my way to Battleford!"10/10