Il sentiero del Nord

This Bob Steele film is a bit unusual because it's filmed in color (using the Cinecolor system)--and most B-westerns were made in glorious black & white. What else is interesting is that the film in many ways is NOT a western--and the picture is a slight departure from the films Steele usually starred in during his career. The film is set in Canada and Steele plays a Mountie. However despite the change in locale and him not being a cowboy, the film is very much like a western. He and the rest of the folks ride horses, shoot guns and like a typical western, there is a gang of baddies.

When the film begins, Steele comes upon an annoying lady who is having car trouble. Despite his helping her and being very polite, this woman is grouchy and unappreciative. Later, not surprisingly, Steele is given an assignment to escort a woman into the wilderness...and the woman is the annoying lady. What he doesn't know and she didn't tell anyone is that she has $20,000 on her--and it's the payroll for her uncle's business. So, when the money is stolen, you can't exactly blame Bob. However, being a hero, he investigates and the trail takes him to the uncle's town--and soon it's obvious that something else is afoot. The local Mountie is oblivious or simply doesn't care about this or other crimes and orders Bob back to headquarters. However, with folks shooting at him right and left, he decides to disobey orders and investigate further. What's really going on here?

The change of pace for Steele is welcome here. However, what is not welcome is that occasionally the plot seems as if pieces were cut out of it--with Steele making some astounding leaps in logic when it comes to figuring out who is behind all this nonsense and why. Additionally, the direction was occasionally sloppy--with a scene or two which should have been re-shot but weren't (such as when the lady was talking over Steele because she missed her cue). Not great but watchable.