Evengyny Thanks for the memories!

Tedfoldol everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Numerootno A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

tomsview Errol Flynn was a fascinating screen presence. Just look at how many books have been written about him including a couple he wrote himself. I found a good dozen on Amazon before I stopped counting. Some well-known actors and filmmakers often have only one biography or even none at all."Northern Pursuit" isn't the best of his movies, but it is Flynn at his best. He looks in great shape despite the fact that he had a dicky ticker, a bad back, tuberculosis, a couple of exotic diseases picked up along the way and a liver that was in more danger of destruction than any target of the Nazis in the film.Set in Canada during WW2, Errol plays Steve Wagner, a Royal Canadian Mountie of German Ancestry whose loyalty is questioned when he comes across Nazi secret agents who are planning to bomb a canal that is critical to the Allied war effort.Although the story feels cobbled together, the film looks good. Most of it was shot on the sound stage and no doubt a great deal of talcum powder and papier mache was employed, but the sequence where a U-Boat breaks through the ice and scenes such as the avalanche are brilliantly staged.However the stars make the film. Although Errol was rarely upstaged, Helmut Dantine was Warner's go-to Nazi guy during the war years. He plays Colonel Hugo von Keller in this film. The reason why Dantine was more effective than many screen Nazis at the time was the degree of intelligence with which he approached his roles. He was no off-the-rack, monocled Nazi stereotype, he came across as vigorous, smart and fanatical; a formidable enemy, he was also good looking and often got the best lines.If you like the stars, and Flynn was absolutely unique, then there is much to enjoy here. In fact the film was a bit of a turning point for him- he even got a laugh with an in-joke at the end alluding to his recent acquittal on rape charges. From that point on he went along with the joke about his sexual prowess although those who knew him felt that it hurt his desire to be taken seriously as an actor.Finally, for anyone with a sense of history, "Northern Pursuit" is a fascinating insight into what audiences were watching during the war even if they took it all with a generous pinch of salt.

nomoons11 Nobody ever accused Errol Flynn of being an Oscar caliber actor but...if you see the roles he was offered...like this one, you can see why. This film is so heavy on propaganda it permeates you pretty quickly.The plot outline is a group of Nazi soldiers are infiltrating the Northern Canadian wilderness to make their way to a secret abandoned mine where they have secretly throughout the years been hoarding airplane and bomb parts. Their mission? To rebuild this plane and drop the bombs on the main shipping route from North America to the UK. Their problem? They get caught, then escape and have to use Errol Flynn to get to where they wanna go. They don't have the skills to get there. They need a guide basically.Most of this film is just full of "yeah right" moments. First off, the Nazi soldiers they choose in this one all happen to be expert skiers and expert plane builders and expert bomb builders all-in-one? Gimme a break. Of course they don't say that in the film but when you see all these soldiers can accomplish you'd think..."wow...these guys were prepared". Nobody is that prepared. If they were that prepared why did they need the Errol Flynn character to get them to the hideout? They should have known how to get there.The main issue in this film is the absolute nastiness of the main Nazi character. He's just vicious. Everything he says is a lie yet everyone trusts him or believes him. Every Nazi character in this is beyond reproach. Not a single one has any redeeming qualities. In all the scenes of killing, not a single one needed to be killed but for high propaganda factor, they kill every one. Needless and senseless. Why in the world would these soldiers do this if they knew they were being chased/followed by the law? Why draw attention to yourself? Every Canadian Law Enforcement/Mountie is looking around for them and they just kill whoever. It's just stupid.By the end of this film, if you just disliked Nazi's only a little, you'll absolutely hate them with a passion. I mean the propaganda is so heavy you'll wanna take a shower to wash it offa you. Obviously this film was made to boost American morale and help the war effort and to let the masses know, we were fighting for the right cause. There are far better films to give you a better viewing experience. If you wanna see an obvious one, try The 49th Parallel. It was made 2 years before this. See it then see this and you'll say.."hmmm...seems very similar". A pretty obvious takeoff yet it has a few different twists to it. For others try Battleground or Passage to Marseille or Night Train to Munich. An even better example would be Edge of Darkness. Errol Flynn was also in this one but the story and characters are far more believable.Not a bad film, just not a very good one.

tmpj Some might dismiss this film as typical Hollywood propaganda...and they may be right, to a certain extent. But I dig old movies because they do not often cloud the issues, and the good guys and bad guys are not hard to pinpoint, unless you are watching a real mystery of some sort. There is some mystery here, though not the type Ellery Queen would flaunt. Nazis came through to the American continent during WWII in numbers that would make us all more uncomfortable than we would admit. Canada had its share, for sure, and the RCMP had its work cut out for it. People often forget that prior to the hostilities of that war, there existed something called the "German/American" Bund, and that the majority of immigrants to this nation are of Germanic descent. To the Germans, this made the pickings good if they could get a smooth talking German to make the point and gain converts. That is the premise here, with Flynn and his Mountie buddy making a bust of these interlopers. But Flynn blows it, does not make an arrest, and things start to look as if he is a traitor to the Crown. Turns out, it is an orchestration to merely find out what these Nazi chumps are up to...but the price is an horrific one. Lives are lost along the way, some needlessly and even a few Nazis are thrown to the wolves by their own kith and kin. Flynn's WWII efforts are particularly appealing because of his suavete, his accent, and his general bearing. These may seem un-American to some, but he was, actually, quite Patriotic for the times. WWII movies are very entertaining because WWII can be viewed as more if a "just war", if anything can be imagined...and a lot of heart and passion went into many of the films, which were manned by the best directors and crews, and populated by some of the greatest of actors. This one does not approach the thresh-hold of 'great' by any means, but it is very entertaining. A worthy watch if you care to view it.

jotix100 Raoul Walsh, the director of "Northern Pursuit", was a man with impressive credentials during his days in Hollywood. Unfortunately, this film, which kept reminding this viewer of Michael Powell's "49th Parallel", has its moments and will reward the viewer that sticks with it, in some ways.The plot was typical of the films turned by the big studios during the days of WWII. Although the propaganda in "Northern Pursuit" doesn't strike the viewer as too obvious, it's there all along. The idea of a Royal Mountie, in this case, the dashing Errol Flynn, going after the bad guys have all the elements for a good adventure.The screen play is ultimately the downfall of the film, although there are hints of greatness, especially on the last part of the film which involves a daring attempt from the head Nazi infiltrator to fly an aircraft with a bomb on board. The locations appear to be real, but we can see the scenes shot in the studio.Errol Flynn does his job well. Helmut Dantine, playing Keller, the Nazi bad guy, is even better. Gene Lockhart has a pivotal role in the film. Julie Bishop is Errol Flynn's love interest, although there's no obvious chemistry between them.Raoul Walsh's fans will probably enjoy this film a lot more than the casual viewer.