Had waited for some years to catch up with this oater. Never would have believed it could be so poor. Such a huge waste of money and talent. Wowful dialog with even worse dialects! Hard to believe any Director would put his name on this insufferable work (let alone De Mille) But then, he was a Hollywood consumer product (a bit like Hitchcock became)This director put 'Action' ahead of Story, People, or Animals. Horses, their stunt riders, Chickens, all sacrificed to get 'that shot'Terrible studio bound sets badly cut into shots of grand outdoor footage. A case of money over matter, in the end, nothing matters at all. Not even the usually great music man Victor Young provided anything above mediocre. It looked (and sounded) like he saw how bad the content was, took the money and ran. The undiscerning viewer may enjoy it, others should beware.....

NWMP has just had a rare outing on British TV and it's a Gary Cooper film I hadn't seen before. It wasn't bad by 1940s' standards for a Western. The scenic shots at the beginning were a bit garish but then the colour seemed to settle down. It's worth a look for:1. Gary Cooper, who's never looked better facially; 2. Paulette Goddard, who looked fantastic; 3. the unusual historical setting; 4. early, albeit minor, appearances of Robert Ryan and Rod Cameron.The police head-gear apart, some effort had been made to make the uniforms and civilian clothes look authentic.The tragi-comic "duel" that the Scotsman involved himself did jar a little.I'm not perceptive enough to read much "sub-text" in films, but I did wonder about the date of issue (1940) and the gallant, laid-back US coming to the aid of the stuffy but devoted-to-duty Brits.Not for the first time, I had a slight difficulty in distinguishing at first between the two Prestons on the small screen.I would be happy to watch NWMP again, recording it if necessary, if it's screened again in a year or so.

You first have to understand that DeMille has taken considerable poetic licence, while using the story of the return of Louis Riel to Canada, and the subsequent Duck Lake massacre of a large unit of Mounties. Even the pronunciation by DeMille of the word "Metis" at the introduction to the movie is quite incorrect.Fun to watch the fictional introduction of Gary Cooper as a Texas marshal travelling into Canada in pursuit of a Metis criminal.Some good aspects of the film include the historical accuracy of the uniforms at that time... no wide brimmed hats... and the correctness of the name of the Mounties at that time. The only item of historical inaccuracy is the fur hats that DeMille has the Mounties wear. During the warmer weather they wore either a pill box hat or a white helmet. They did wear fur hats during the winter with their Buffalo hide coats, but DeMille did not like the design of any of the head wear that was part of the actual uniform, so he had this design made for the picture.The two key bad guys are historical fact, although whether they acted as they are shown in the movie is another question. Whether there was a gatling gun at the Duck Lake massacre is another question the historians will have to answer.Generally, a good romp... a great movie to sit back and watch with popcorn and a soft drink.

Cecil B. DeMille, once again, brings a Technicolor epic to the screen. This time it concerns the Royal Canadian Mounties (Red Coats) a Texas Ranger, in search of a criminal dealing with the Indians in frontier Canada, during the eighteen-eighties, by selling them guns, and the half-breeds that are being controlled by the Mounties.Along the way the Texas Ranger(Gary Cooper)falls for a pretty Army nurse (Madelaine Carroll) who is also courted by a Mountie Officer (Preston Foster). The nurse's brother, also a Mountie (Robert Preston) is under the spell of a beautiful half-breed (Paulette Goddard) who's father is the criminal (George Bancroft) that is being sought.As in DeMille plots, the hero saves the day, but not without a sacrifice of some of the supporting players. Won't tell you who. See the picture.Coop and Carroll do a wonderful job, taking some pretty silly lines, even for the forties, and making them work. Both look their best at the peaks of their careers. Preston and Foster (Robert and Preston, that is) do admirable jobs. Robert Preston looking very young with a full head of blonde curly hair. Playing the tempestuous half-breed, Paulette Goddard got a big break in her career with this role. It is said she wanted the part so bad, she donned herself in dark skin make-up, put on an Indian get-up with feathers and walked into DeMille's office saying, "You teenk you wan beeg director, hah? Me, Louvette, show you!" She got the part and played it to the hilt with her dark skin and beautiful blue eyes, beating out Marlene Dietrich and Rita Hayworth also up for the role. Goddard went on to play in two more DeMille pictures, REAP THE WILD WIND and UNCONQUERED, this time performing leading roles.There is an excellent supporting cast of character actors, namely; Lynne Overman, Akim Tamiroff, Walter Hampden, Lon Chaney, Jr, Robert Ryan and Rod Cameron who went on to star in Republic Pictures westerns.POLICE is not yet on video, although most other DeMille films are, but it can be seen once in a while on AMC Classic Movies on TV.Great DeMille entertainment.