Queen of the Yukon

The plot to "Queen of the Yukon" is rather familiar stuff, though its location, in the Canadian Yukon* is unusual. In many ways, it's like a lot of B-westerns....and is pretty enjoyable despite being from tiny Monogram Pictures.

When the story begins, Sadie (Irene Rich) is the owner of a marvelous** riverboat plying its gambling trade up and down the rivers during the gold rush of the late 1890s. However, despite Sadie being good at her business and an astute business woman, she has a secret....a daughter who has been going to school back east. Unexpectedly, the daughter arrives around the same time a crooked outfit, the Yukon Mining Company offers to buy Sadie's business. Not wanting her daughter to grow up like her, she impulsively sells to the corrupt John Thorne....and soon she comes to regret it when the villainy of him and his mining company become obvious. Not surprisingly, this leads to a showdown between the miners and Thorne.

In many ways, Thorne is the stereotypical baddie who is trying to take folks' land...possibly the most common B-western theme. But placing the story in Canada did give it a bit of fresh air. Plus, the film is surprisingly big in scope for a Monogram film. Not exactly brilliant, but very enjoyable.

*The Yukon Territory is and has been part of Canada. Inexplicably, they refer to it as part of the United States in the story!

**The ship is like a tardis! It's the tiniest riverboat I've ever seen in a film....yet interior shots make the place look positively huge!