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1920. James
Oliver Curwood Productions, Inc. Released by Associated First National
Pictures, Inc. 6 reels.
JAMES OLIVER CURWOOD Presents "NOMADS OF THE NORTH" From his book of the same name. A First National Attraction. With the following cast: Lewis S. Stone, Betty Blythe, Lon Chaney, Melbourne MacDowell, Francis McDonald, Spottiswood Aitken. Produced by The James Oliver Curwood Productions, Inc. Screen Version by James Oliver Curwood and David M. Hartford. Directed by David M. Hartford. Member M.P.D.A. Photographed by Walter L. Griffin. Member A.S.C.
God's great wilderness fifteen hundred miles North and West of Montreal. redits. |
It's my modest theory that lovers of
silent melodrama have a preference for one of two basic genres. Some go
soft at the homespun lyricism of pastoral poems like True Heart Susie
and Lucky Star. Others watch in morbid fascination at the blood-and-thunder
pulps perpetrated by Tod Browning and Lon Chaney. You can appreciate both,
but there's only one with a claim on your heart. So it's strange to see
one of their key personnel crossing over to the other side. Chaney never
throttled Lillian Gish, but he did get a rare chance at a romantic lead
in Nomads of the North, an independently-produced family adventure
film from 1920.
Chaney plays Raoul Challoner, a trapper who returns from two years in the Canadian northwoods. He finds his fiancée, Nanette (Betty Blythe) about to marry Bucky McDougall (Francis McDonald) whose father is a big wheel at their remote Quebec settlement. Raoul kills a crony of Bucky's in self-defense and escapes with Nanette back to the North Country. Long stretches of this film feels like an anthropomorphic Disney True-Life Adventure. Nanette is forever beaming at Mr. Squirrel and Mr. Nuthatch up in the tall pines. And Raoul is accompanied everywhere by his boon companions, Neewa the Bear and Brimstone the Dog. These two have considerable footage all to themselves where they get into scrapes with Mr. Cougar and Mr. Nest-of-Yellowjackets. The wee snookums even get their own dialogue cards! Like the animal shtick, Lon Chaney's acting seems pitched squarely at two-year-olds. He lays on hearty good nature with a trowel. It's pretty insufferable. Even the bear shows more restraint. Rustic wholesomeness doesn't really suit Chaney's gimlet-eyed intensity. We never expect him to shoot Bucky, rape Nanette and run off with the critters. But he doesn't look like the hero either, and he lacks the romantic stature necessary for making us care about Raoul. Nomads of the North would have been mediocre in any era. Aside from the animals, its sole attractions are the pristine mountain scenery and the exceptionally fine cinematography of Walter L. Griffin. It's a shame his abilities weren't enhancing a better film. The source material for Kino on Video's tape appears to be of the highest quality. (Review © 1998 Christopher Clotworthy) |
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© 1998 David Pierce