Northwest Stampede
Cast & Crew
Albert S. Rogell
Joan Leslie
James Craig
Jack Oakie
Chill Wills
Victor Kilian
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
When rodeo performer Dan Bennett receives a letter from Chris Johnson, the new foreman of his father's Bar-B ranch, informing him that his father has died, he decides to cancel his bookings and go home to rural Alberta. Accompanied by his pal, Mike Kirby, Dan returns to the ranch for the first time in several years and discovers that "Chris" is a woman. Because he wants to sell the ranch and is curious about Chris, whom he is certain he has seen before, Dan decides to keep his identity a secret and pose as a ranchhand seeking work. Although his dog "Flame" and long-time hand Mileaway recognize Dan, they keep his secret, and Chris hires Dan, who says that his name is "Clarence." Soon Dan learns about a magnificent white stallion who comes to the ranch looking for his captive palomino mare. After the stallion succeeds in freeing the mare and other formerly wild horses kept at the Bar-B, Dan learns that the stallion is actually "Blizzard," a young colt Dan once brought in out of the snow. Impressed with Blizzard's spirit and beauty, Dan decides to try to capture him and use the horse in his rodeo appearances. While Chris and the others attempt to round up the herd, Dan spots Blizzard and, with Flame's help, manages to rope the stallion. When Dan tries to break Blizzard, the horse stomps him. Then Chris comes to his rescue and turns the horse loose. She then reveals that she knew all along who he was and did not want him to sell the ranch. The two argue when Dan insists that he will go through with the sale, prompting Chris to file a labor lien on the ranch for back wages which she used to buy new stock. Chris is herself a former championship rodeo performer, and when Dan enters several events at the Calgary Stampede, she decides to compete against him. By the final day of competition, Dan and Chris are tied for first place. During the final event, the chuck wagon race, a wheel comes off Chris's wagon and Dan wins. When Dan looks for Chris to pay her back wages, though, he discovers that she has bought four horses in his name at an auction, thereby committing all his prize money. Later, Chris decides to leave the ranch as Dan has not changed his mind about selling, but the men do not want her to leave and encourage her to make one last attempt to convince Dan to keep the ranch. When Dan goes off on another search for Blizzard, she rides along and causes him to lose his blanket and food supplies, thus obligating him to ask her for help. They eventually find the stallion and the mare and almost corner Blizzard but he dives into a river and swims away. Dan swims after him and manages to put a rope round his neck. Blizzard finally remembers Dan and calms down. Dan, however, realizes that the horse belongs in the wild and turns him loose. When Dan returns to the ranch, he finds both Blizzard and the mare in the corral. Chris has caught the mare and Blizzard willingly followed her into the corral. Chris tells Dan that the horse is settling down at last and will stop its wandering. Thinking that she still has not convinced Dan to stay, she starts to leave, but is lassoed by Dan.
Director
Albert S. Rogell
Cast
Joan Leslie
James Craig
Jack Oakie
Chill Wills
Victor Kilian
Stanley Andrews
Ray Bennett
Lane Chandler
Flame--the Dog
Lane Bradford
Harry Cheshire
Eddie Acuff
Lee Roberts
Crew
Del Armstrong
Art Arthur
Leon Becker
R. O. Binger
John W. Boyle
Emil Cadkin
Philip Cahn
Ridgeway Callow
Leland Davis
B. Reeves Eason
France Ehren
Emmett Emerson
Lee Frederic
Irving Friedman
Robert Gough
Lillie Hayward
David Hersh
Wilton Holm
George Hommel
Edward L. Ilou
Truman Joiner
Bert Lynch
William Margulies
Armor Marlowe
Harry C. Neumann
Jack R. Rabin
Albert S. Rogell
Paul Sawtell
Ernest Smith
Joan St. Oegger
Perc J. Townsend
James T. Vaughn
Ern Westmore
Dorothy Wilson
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The film's working title was Wild Conquest. A written prologue states: "The picture you are about to see was photographed in the Canadian Rockies. Eagle-Lion Films is deeply grateful to the Government of Canada and the people of Lake Louise, Banff and Calgary, for their cooperation in making this picture against the background of this glorious vacation land." A spoken narration, describing the wild horses of the Canadian Rockies, opens the film and is heard briefly at various intervals in the early part of the picture. A written epilogue at the end of the story states, "This picture was photographed in the Province of Alberta, Dominion of Canada. We gratefully acknowledge the cooperation of the Burns Foundation and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of Calgary."
Hollywood Reporter news items in August 1947 reported that Northwest Stampede completed filming in Calgary on 15 Aug, and that on 18 August a 159-person troupe had returned to Los Angeles after seven weeks of location filming in Canada and would resume production at the Eagle-Lion Studios on 19 Aug. The Call Bureau Cast Service lists Harry Shannon as "Sam Bennett," "Dan's" father, but that character is already dead when the film's story begins and there are no flashbacks. Contemporary reviews commented favorably on the wild horse action sequences. Modern sources add Kermit Maynard as a stunt double for James Craig.
