A pair of brothers named Ross who are probably no better than they ought to be flee the USA and cross into Canada. As brother James Craig points out to brother Keith Larsen they left in rather a hurry and haven't got all that much liquid capital and at least Craig would prefer to make an honest living. When the opportunity presents itself to join the Northwest Mounted Police they join with Larsen a bit reluctant.Their presence is welcome especially since they confirm that Sitting Bull has crossed into Canada after the Little Big Horn and is making for the Cree camp and Chief Morris Ankrum. He's looking for allies and the Cree are far more numerous than Mounties. But in Canada because there were so many fewer white settlers the Mounties become protectors of the Indians.As for the brothers Craig gets into the Mountie spirit and starts taking up with the trading post owner's daughter Rita Moreno. But Larsen reverts to his old ways and the Cree are ready to join the Sioux because of it.Fort Vengeance is nicely photographed with the players settling into familiar type roles for them. Before Rita Moreno won her Oscar playing someone of her heritage in West Side Story she was cast in a ton of films as exotic native types wherever the location of the film story was. Her she played a mixed race person known in Canada as a Meti.Lesley Selander directed Fort Vengeance and he has a couple of hundred films and television shows under his belt. The man did know what to do with his players on a western set, albeit this one being a Northwestern.Western and northwestern fans should be pleased.

James Craig, long past his Hollywood heyday, and Keith Larsen, a bland, rugged youth, are brothers on the run from the law. They decide to seek refuge in the Great White North. Luckily for them, the recruiting standards for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police seem to be low. They don't run any background checks, taking them at their word that they are honest types who would love to take the Queen's shilling. Benign, old duffer Reginald Denny is soon kitting them out with Mountie outfits. Squaw woman Rita Moreno tries to catch the eyes of the brothers. The future EGOT winner did a lot of these "exotic" roles at this stage of her career, and is unconvincing here. There is a stab at historical accuracy with the introduction of Sitting Bull and his tribe, fleeing Little Big Horn. They are given an eccentric speech pattern and a yearning to recover their old hunting grounds. Clearly, they are doomed. The setting is a bit different to the majority of Westerns and most of it is shot outdoors. However, dramatically it is uninvolving and lacks credibility

FORT VENGEANCE – 1953Allied Artists hits a real low with this stinker of a western production. Two brothers, James Craig and Keith Larsen, are on the run with the law in pursuit. They head up into Canada to escape. They have a minor dust up with some Sioux warriors who are likewise heading for Canada. The Sioux under Sitting Bull have hot footed it north after doing in Custer at Little Big Horn. The brothers end up joining the North West Mounted Police (R.C.M.P.) It seems like a good place to hide out. The Sioux try to stir up the local native tribe to join them in a return invasion of the Dakotas. Craig takes to being a lawman and quickly becomes popular among the Police as well as the local natives. Larsen on the other hand cannot give up his outlaw ways and is soon involved in murder and robbery. Stirring the pot is Sitting Bull, Michael Granger, who has his warrior's burn down several settler cabins as well as attack a wagon train. He hopes to force the local Indians to join in his cause. Chief Crowfoot, Morris Ankrum, does not buy it for an instant and tells Sitting Bull to behave or there will be war. War between the tribes is what he means. Needless to say Craig has to confront his brother, Larsen, about his evil ways. Duty turns out to be stronger than blood with Larsen eating more lead than is healthy. All the action takes place in the rocky hills and valleys of Saskatchewan. Of course the film producers overlook the fact there are no mountains etc in Saskatchewan. The place is so flat, that the standing joke is that one can watch ones dog run away for days. The director, Lesley Selander, normally a steady hand with low budget films, is defeated by the extremely poor story. One of the few bright moments is seeing a young Rita Moreno in an early role.

This is pretty much a routine 50s Oater, set in the Northwest. The story concerns two brothers working for the RCMP, one good, one bad. It gets a boost from a better than average cast, nice color cinematography, and a fine score by Sawtell.