Rancher Bob “Utah” Neyes (Russell Hayden) heads into Canada to meet up with his business partner. Unfortunately, his partner has been murdered by outlaw Nails Nelson (Douglas Fowley). Mountie Jack Craig (Lyle Talbot) almost arrests Utah for the crime but he becomes convinced that Utah is innocent and Nails is guilty. Along with fur trader Ivy Jenkins (I. Stanford Jolley), Craig and Utah try to break up Nails’s fur-smuggling operation.
While I was watching it, I thought this movie seemed even more familiar than the usual Poverty Row western. I realized that’s because I had actually seen Russell Hayden and most of the rest of the cast in another movie that had a similar plot, right down taking place on the other side of the border. That other movie was called ‘Neath Canadian Skies. Both it and North of the Border are among the four Canadian western films that Robert Lippert produced in 1946, all of which starred Russell Hayden and were directed by B. Reeves Easton. Supposedly, it took 20 days to shoot all of them.
As for North of the Border, it’s only 42 minutes long and none of those minutes are wasted. There’s all of the usual horse chases and gunfights that fans want from these films. For me, the most interesting thing about the film was getting to see Lyle Talbot play something other than a boring authority figure. Also, this film features Inez Cooper, a pretty redhead who had a short career but whose beauty and personality as well-remembered by fans of Poverty Row westerns. She plays the love interest in this one and there’s no doubt that most men would give up living in Utah for her.
Through the Shattered Lens 