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| Betty Blythe and Lon Chaney |
Directed with economy and some flair by David Hartford, Nomads of the North was based on the
popular novel by James Oliver Curwood – a purveyor of dramatic “pot-boilers”
featuring similar themes of love, betrayal and decency in the end. Things
change but maybe not that much… popular entertainment still requires skill and
they can’t all be middle-brow Euro art films.
The film is set in the wilds of Canada, “God's great
wilderness” (not a million miles from Nell Shipman’s latest adventure no
doubt…) in a small community thriving on timber and trapping.
But Nanette is pledged to Raoul Challoner (Lon Chaney: all
limbs still attached, his real face uncovered… playing the romantic lead…), a
fur trapper who has long been missing. She dotes on her gravely ill father (Spottiswoode
Aitken) who is too infirm to work leaving his family in debt to the McDougalls.
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| Lon Chaney and friend |
One of Buck’s men reports that Raoul has been killed and,
following the death of old man Roland, Nanette is forced into marriage with
Buck. But…! Just as she’s about to pledge herself, Raoul arrives to save the
day.
The couple only gain brief respite as Buck continues to try
and remove Raoul, attacking him with his side-kick. Raoul is too strong and
fights them off but in doing so accidentally kills the other man. Accused of
murder, he is chained in the room below the McDougalls’ house awaiting the
sheriff and a host of phoney testimonies from the family’s hired hands.
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| Betty Blythe is armed |
Nanette will not accept this fate and bravely rescues her
man and the two head off into the wilderness with his adopted pets a Grizzly
Bear called Neewa and a dog called Brimstone. These two get quite a lot of
airtime but were still able to impress my youngsters…
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| Melbourne MacDowell and Francis McDonald |
Time passes and Nanette and Raoul are seen in domestic bliss
with their two animals and their new child.
It’s been over three years but sadly they get recognised by
Buck. He waits for his chance and tries to blackmail Nanette into leaving Raoul
for him but she fends him off with the aid of the pets. Then Buck tells Corporal O'Connor who sets off to arrest
Raoul...
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| Lon Chaney, Betty Blythe and Louis Stone |
The climax of the film is pretty impressive, as a forest
fire ranges all around and we’re not sure which way the protagonists will fall
right to the close. Apparently both Blythe and Chaney were injured during this
fire which was actually set up on the back lot using fake trees. It served the
drama very well.
No spoilers, you really should watch this as it was
intended: a wholesome drama about love and steadfast morality.
This is melodrama and that can be problematic for the modern
sophisticate… but both the leads do well. The style is pantomime and whilst not
as subtle as the likes of Pickford, Gish and Talmadge, Blythe does a decent job.
Chaney has the most expressive face but he seems to be holding back in this
role… was that script or direction?
Maybe I’m too aware of the range he was to demonstrate in later roles.
Francis McDonald makes a good baddy as Buck but Lewis Stone
almost steals the show as the decent Corporal O'Connor… the Mounties may always
get their man but perhaps not always their woman… Stone had a long career and
was one of the Stars of Grand Hotel, Queen Christina and other successful
talkies.
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| Louis Stone |
I watched the Image Entertainment DVD which is produced from
a pretty good 35mm print – no restoration just good preservation. It features a
fascinating score performed by Robert Israel on a vintage Fotoplayer – a
multi-roll piano/organ equipped with sound effects, which was used to accompany
silent films at the time.
The second film on the DVD is The Shock, which is more typical Chaney fare and again features an
Israel score, this time played by an orchestra.
Both films from when cinema was fun, cast aside your
preconceptions and just enjoy…
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