SPOILERS OF THE NORTH
US, 1947, 64 minutes, Black-and-white.
Paul Kelly, Adrian Booth, Evelyn Ankers, James Millican, Roy Barcroft, Louis Jean Heydt, Ted Hecht.
Directed by Richard Sale.
After World War II and into the 1950s, supporting features became somewhat more elaborate, more exotic settings, characters in conflict. This film has an Alaskan setting, focusing on salmon fishers, the role of Indians and their rights for fishing, exploitation by business people from the south. This is the kind of story that was told, in colour, in the 1950s with such films as Alaska Sees.
This is a film of two brothers. Paul Kelly plays the wheeler-dealer, Matt, getting a loan in Seattle and playing up to the attractive woman who organised the loan, Laura, Evelyn Ankers. He does a deal with importers to bring back large loads of salmon – which, he will fish illegally under cover of a deal with the Native Americans. When he returns to Alaska, he clashes with his brother who wants to leave and go south. One of the Indian girls has been his girlfriend and expects to marry him. To facilitate his plan, he invites the girl from Seattle to come north, insinuating that she is to be the bride of his brother, something she is not aware of.
There are scenes of fishing, processing, anning. To cover his tracks, Matt pretends to have been severely wounded and takes to his bed, needing Laura to look after him. In the meantime, undercover, he is using his own crew. However, they are discovered and a Native American is shot dead. The police begin to investigate.
Ultimately, the truth comes to the surface. The Native American girlfriend discovers the truth, goes on a trip with Matt and harpoons him when he goes into the water. In the meantime, Laura and Matt’s brother have been attracted to one another so there is some compensation at the end. And, as with the movie code, the crooked Matt dies at the end.
The film was directed by Richard sale, his first feature film, make a number of films for the next 10 years, often light comedies, then moving to television.
