The Wild North

The Wild North was shot in the Boulder Mts of central Idaho, near Sun Valley Resort. My father, Clayton Stewart, was the resort's contact with MGM and for years helped directors find the right settings for movies. I can take you to the exact locations of the outdoor scenes, some of which were: along upper Big Wood River not far from Russian John Forest Service Ranger Station; along Big Wood near where the North Fork comes into the main channel; along the front of the Boulder Mountains near where Baker Creek comes in, and near Boulder Creek; up Trail Creek above Trail Creek Cabin; and on Galena Summit. Sun Valley resort supplied the trained dog teams and sleds. I was a girl when the movie was shot, and when the Sun Valley portion of the film was finished, Stewart Granger gave me the snowshoes he had used in the film, which I still have. I also have a set of black and white photos taken by Dad during the filming. This is an exciting adventure movie with a breathtaking setting and some great wilderness action.

An adventures movie which predates some aspects of "river of no return" (Mitchum rebuilding a family with Monroe and a young son) by three years; the underlying subjects is the necessity for man to find himself a family : that's the trapper realizes when the film begins; a thing that the duty-above -all Javert-like longs for all along the story (he admits he's got nobody ,and he envies his prisoner who's got somebody waiting for him,were she a half-breed in a shack )

This adventures movie is at least as much a psychological drama : the events (the wolves,the meeting with two lost men) take a back seat to Granger/Corey relationship , a strange love /hate relationship ,a mutual admiration and a cat and mouse play:but who's the cat ? The pictures on location are splendid indeed and this odyssey looks like an initiatory journey ,mainly for the mountie.

Like Marilyn Monroe in "river of no return ", Cyd Charisse is a chanteuse in the first sequence ;and there's also a brat ,who,although no part of the family ,sides with the trapper who urges the shopkeeper to give him chocolate.

What awesome scenary provides the setting for this classic 1950's formulated drama! Solid performances by all actors.

It does seem like a scene vanished from the Turner classic version that I was watching. The jump in the film between scenes early in the movie seemed out of place. And, once you discovered a certain event had occured it seemed unlikely that this important scene was on the cutting room floor.

Stewart Granger is a woods wise French Canadian trapper who's killed a man and Wendell Corey is the rookie Mountie sent to bring him back for trial.

Problem is that this is Granger's ballpark they're playing in and it's one long journey back to some semblance of civilization. But strange as it may seem, Corey proves his mettle and a strange respect grows between both men.

Granger and Corey have good chemistry between them, they'd have to or the film would be unwatchable. MGM put in some good action sequences involving wolves attacking their camp and a breathtaking whitewater canoeing challenge.

The Wild North also features good location photography in some rugged regions of Idaho serving as the Canadian northwest. Oh, and there's Cyd Charisse who dances not a step as a beautiful Indian woman with a thing for Granger. Reason enough right there to watch the Wild North.

I am surprised that no videos or DVDs have been made of this movie. Certainly one of the best Stewart Granger movies I have ever seen (second only to Scaramouche).