Trail of the Yukon

After a bank robbery to avenge a previous land swindle, father and son duo Jim and Matt Blaine (Bill Edwards, Guy Beach) find themselves on the run from their fellow gang members Muskeg Joe (Anthony Warde) and his henchmen after an attempted double-cross. Soon both groups paths intersect with Mountie Bob McDonald (Kirby Grant) who has been tracking them since the robbery. Wounded after a gun battle in which the elder Blaine is killed, McDonald is assisted by saloon owner Tom Laroux and his daughter (Dan Seymour, Suzanne Dalbert) as well as the repentant younger Blaine. He soon comes to believe there be more behind the heist than meets the eye.

This is the first in the Monogram Pictures Kirby Grant Mountie series with super dog Chinook. (This dog can seemingly do anything short of filling out a long form tax return) Filmed in 1949 the quality of the Monogram movies had improved considerably since adding the Allied Artists unit in 1946. The content, style and quality is similar to the RKO pictures of the same time period. As a matter of fact there is a striking resemblance to RKO's Tim Holt series down to the superfluous dance hall musical numbers. Which is all to say a well produced B+ programmer.

Even though Trail of the Yukon is pretty much standard fare in the Mountie genre, the overall quality, Big Bear Valley exterior locations and the affable Kirby Grant make this a good watch.