NORTH WEST MOUNTED POLICE (1940)

Diminished during the silent-to-sound transition, Cecil B. DeMille repaired his rep back at Paramount after brief runs as independent and as M-G-M vassal.  But after the propulsively entertaining dross of 1932 to ‘39, the ‘40s saw DeMille become a top-grossing joke.  As a filmmaking pioneer, DeMille’s achievements in style & technique peaked late ‘teens/early ‘20s (not that the hoi polloi noticed), but grosses remained huge as artistic atrophy set in.  And now, collateral damage as soundstage exteriors he got away with in monochrome became stiff dioramas in 3-strip TechniColor; ‘colorful’ characters turned downright corny; catchphrases rang hollow.  DeMille survived, even thrived, amid the crudity as he never lost the story instinct to know what to show next.  But to a modern audience, his ‘40s films progressively become ever more ridiculous bores till he pulled himself out of his downward spiral with THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH (which is his Bible) and THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (which is his Greatest Show).  If nothing else, those two give good weight.  This one, about a real 19th century rebellion in Canada, sees a small group of Mounties fight off ’Half-Breeds’ while trying to keep Indigenous Peoples ‘Loyal to the Queen’ as Mountie Preston Foster and Texas Ranger Gary Cooper vie to capture the same half-breed villain (George Bancroft) and the heart of the same beautiful blonde nurse (Madeleine Carroll).  Not really as bad as people make out, tons of goofy supporting turns to spot, and all those spiffy red uniforms.

DOUBLE-BILL/LINK:  DeMille films feel like Double-Bills all on their own.  But if you insist, for my money, SAMSON AND DELILAH/’49 is even worse, while the much dissed GREATEST SHOW/’52 is pretty irresistible.  https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2013/11/samson-and-delilah-1949.html    https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2018/01/the-greatest-show-on-earth-1952.html