bsmith5552 "The Cariboo Trail" is a trail through the "wilds" of British Columbia in Canada where cattleman Jim Redfern (Randolph Scott), Mike Evans (Bill Williams) and Ling (Lee Tung Foo) are driving a small herd of cattle from Montana with the hope of reaching a so-called promised land on which to establish a cattle ranch. Along the way, they meet up with grizzled old prospector Grizzly (Gabby Hayes - in his final film).On the trail, they are confronted by a toll bridge manned by Murphy (Douglas Kennedy) and Miller (Jim Davis). Redfern and company refuse to pay the toll and stampede the cattle across. Town boss Frank Walsh (Victor Jory) owns the bridge. Walsh sends his men to rustle the cattle but during the stampede, Evans is injured and Redfern is forced to amputate his left arm. Evans becomes bitter to the point of hiring out his gun to Walsh.Redfern meanwhile, is befriended by independent saloon owner Francie Harris (Karin Booth) who grub stakes him for a go in the gold fields. Refern, Grizzly and Ling venture onto Indian lands and are captured. With the help of Grizzly's mule, the trio escape in different directions.Redfern discovers a hidden valley suitable for cattle while panning for gold. He discover gold and returns to town where Walsh cheats him and incites the towns people to drive him out of town. By chance Redfern meets up with Grizzly who has returned to Montana and hooked up with his brother's family. Headed by the feisty Martha Winters (Mary Kent), they are driving their herd north. Along with Martha's daughter Jane (Mary Stuart) and foreman Will Gray (Dale Robertson), Redfern is offered a partnership in the venture.Back in town, Walsh plots to steal the cattle. Mike Evans has a change of heart as Redfern returns to town to confront the Walsh gang and.....................................................Randolph Scott could sleep walk through most of his westerns playing variations of the same character. But he did so in a most entertaining way. Gabby Hayes, who was anything but the be-whiskered old side kick he portrayed, goes out on a high note. Bill Williams never got to the big time but had a successful marriage to Barbara Hale and became the parents of actor William Katt. Victor Jory, always at his best when playing the villain, turns in another great show as the sneaky be-speckled, oily Walsh. Dale Robertson was just starting out at this time. Douglas Kennedy, Jim Davis and James Griffith also stood out as members of Walsh's gang.Just a note. Since the story takes place in a lawless part of British Columbia with crime abounding, one has to wonder "Where were the Mounties"?

classicsoncall Turner Classics offered up this Randolph Scott Western a few nights ago and it opened with a fairly extensive explanation on how the picture was restored from it's original Cinecolor filming process. I'd never seen that before, as it looked almost like it was part of the picture appearing right after the opening title. I don't know if it had anything to do with the restoration, but a cattle stampede instigated by Walsh's (Victor Jory) henchmen a little into the movie appeared to take place during night and day both! The story takes place in British Columbia, with displaced Montana cattle man Jim Redfern (Scott) heading out along the Cariboo Trail to find a nice place to settle down and take up ranching. His partner Mike Evans (Bill Williams) would rather prospect for gold, and when he loses an arm in the stampede ambush mentioned earlier, he has a falling out with Redfern. I think the picture could have explained Redfern's action in amputating Evans' arm, say along the lines of it being horribly mangled or prone to gangrene, but the story offered no explanation. Failing that, there was an opportunity for Dr. Rhodes (Charles Hughes) to offer a medical opinion along the same lines, but again, nothing to be said about it.I didn't realize this was George 'Gabby' Hayes' last film role, but I did look it up to see how old he was when he made the movie knowing that most of his work took place in the Thirties and Forties. Turns out he was sixty five, but not looking much older than any of his earlier screen appearances. Still feisty as ever and pretty nimble, I had to wonder why his movie career just stopped right there, though he did host a mid-Fifties TV Western show bearing his name. Gabby had a pretty good line in the story when he described how hungry he was - "My stomach's crowdin' my backbone". I'll have to remember that one.If you're watching this film with a critical eye, there's a good chance you'll be disappointed because some of the elements just don't come together too believably. Captured at one point by Blackfeet Indians, Redfern and his crew are saved by Grizzly's mule Hannibal! There's also the improbable rescue by the town folk of Carson Creek at the finale, engineered by Mike Evans when he has the sudden change of heart regarding his former partner. Still, it's not a terrible send off for one of movie Western's iconic character actors, and another nifty notch in Randolph Scott's belt in mid-career.

zardoz-13 Although "Tall in the Saddle" director Edwin L. Marin's "Caribou Trail" was filmed in color, the print that I saw on Turner Classic Movies is the black & white version. Western novelist Frank Gruber penned this oater from a story by John Rhodes Sturdy who had written the 1943 World War II naval epic "Corvette K-225." Altogether, "Caribou Trail" qualifies as a low-budget empire building western where the hero must triumph over a corrupt city slicker who owns an entire town, except for the saloon, before he can establish his ranch. By and large, this Scott western is fairly predictable stuff. The departure that sets "Caribou Trail" apart from most westerns is its treatment of a character that loses his arm during a cattle stampede.Jim Redfern (Randolph Scott of "Jesse James"), Redfern's partner Mike Evans (Bill Williams of "Rio Lobo") and their cook Ling (Lee Tung Foo of "Mission to Moscow") are driving 36 head of cattle north from Montana into Canada to build a ranch. Mike doesn't want to raise cattle; he came to prospect for gold. Redfern believes that cattle will flourish long after the gold has been depleted. After they cross the national boundary, our heroes find themselves at a toll bridge owned by the chief villain, Frank Walsh (Victor Jory of "The Capture"), whose henchmen want more money for their passage than Redfern is willing to pay. Mind you, Frank Walsh isn't around in this early scene, but his second-in-command Bill Murphy (Douglas Kennedy of "Dark Passage") is there. Anyway, Redfern refuses to pay the toll so Mike and he stampede their cattle and wreck Walsh's bridge. Once they are across, they encounter an old, bearded prospector Oscar 'Grizzly' Winters (George 'Gabby' Hayes of "Colorado") on the trail who catches a ride on Ling's wagon and cooks up some tasty grub for their first night under Canadian stars. Not long after they eat, they hear gunshots and unidentified rustlers stampede Redfern's own cattle. During stampede, Mike is injured and the town doctor must amputate his left arm. Mike didn't want to go to Canada in the first place and he blames the loss of his arm on Redfern. Meanwhile, after he exits the doctor's office, Redfern meets Walsh. Initially, he passed him on the way for a snort at the Gold Palace, the local bar run by a woman, Francis Harrison (Karin Booth of "Cripple Creek"), who has steadfastly refused to sell out to Walsh. Walsh, it seems, has his name on every business in Carson Creek. Eventually, Redfern and Grizzly have to sell their saddles for more grub and Redfern talks about getting a job. One of Walsh's former gunhands Bill Miller (Jim Davis of "Big Jake") shows up in town conveniently selling beef with Redfern's brand on it. They slug it out in Francis' bar and then Redfern guns down Miller outside in a fair fight. Redfern believes Walsh has been the source of his misfortunes since he refused to pay up at the toll bridge. Grizzly suggests that they prospect and Ling provides $300 of his hard-earned dollars. Our heroes head off to prospect in a mini-version of "Treasure of the Sierra Madre" with Gabby playing the Walter Huston role. By this time, Mike has recovered sufficiently to tangle with both Walsh and Murphy in Francis' bar, while Redfern discovers a cattlemen's paradise in the faraway mountains during his prospecting. A tribe of Blackfoot Indians appear and Redfern and company shoot it out with them, killing two of them before they capture them and take them back to their camp. During a pow-wow, Grizzly's mule Hannibal wanders into camp and Redfern uses Hannibal's kicking powers so our heroes can break out of the camp. Redfern snatches a rifle and a horse and then rides out. When he stops for water, he discovers gold in a stream. Redfern dishes out $900 worth of glitter, but there is only one person who can buy his gold. Walsh refuses to pay the full amount and charges Redfern $300 plus for cost of his damaged toll bridge. Murphy incites the citizens of Carson Creek against Redfern when he refuses to divulge the whereabouts of his strike. Redfern escapes just ahead of a mob and hits the frontier where he reunites with Grizzly. Grizzly has tied in with a group of Americans that are herding cattle. Redfern buys a 25 per cent interest in the herd. The cattle foreman is Will Gray (Dale Robertson of "The Silver Whip") Ling shows up at Francis' saloon and she hires him as a cook.Despite the loss of his left arm, Mike Evans has grown to be a threat to Walsh; he goads Walsh's henchman Murphy repeatedly to draw on him, and Murphy backs down. In one scene near the end of "The Caribou Trail," Evans shoots it out with two gunmen and sends the third running. Walsh forges a quick alliance with Blackfoot Chief White Buffalo (Fred Libby of "Three Godfathers") to stampede Winters' cattle, but Evans shows up like the cavalry to kill Murphy and Walsh before the mustached villain drills him. Redfern's escape from the Blackfoot camp seems more hilarious than dramatic despite the number of shots of a mule kicking Indians. Presumably, Marin and Gruber must have felt it wouldn't be fair for the Indians to shoot the mule. Meanwhile, the evolution of Mike Evans from a one-armed man to a one-armed army with his handy six-gun predated the likes of Joe Don Baker's one-armed gunman in "Guns of the Magnificent Seven.""Caribou Trail" is one of those oddball westerns set in Canada where—as one commentator—has observed doesn't have any Royal Mounted Policemen intervening between the hero and the villains. Although it isn't especially memorable as many of Scott's later westerns, "Caribou Trail" clocks in at a trim 81 minutes and Marin neither wears out his welcome nor does he let the narrative drag.

bkoganbing Randolph Scott is leaving the USA for the greener pastures of Canada's British Columbia. He wants to start a cattle ranch there with partner Bill Williams and cook Lee Tung Foo. They stampede their small herd over a toll bridge erected by Victor Jory. Later Jory rustles their cattle and Williams loses his left arm during the fracas.From 1945 until 1962 when he retired, Randolph Scott made a series of good adult themed westerns, some of them considered real classics. Unfortunately the Cariboo Trail will never be listed among his best westerns. It's more like the material that Roy Rogers or Gene Autry might use. The story is downright silly at times. Williams who was along for the ride with Scott, he wanted to go prospect for gold as there was a big strike at the time. He doesn't blame the rustlers, he blames Scott for convincing him to make the trip for the loss of his arm. Also there's a scene in the film when Scott, Lee Tung Foo, and Gabby Hayes are captured by Indians. They escape because Gabby's mule has been taught to kick on command and he kicks away at the Indians allowing our heroes to escape. I'm not sure that would have played in a Rogers film.Furthermore the story actually wants you to believe that tyro prospector Randolph Scott accidentally stumbles on a gold strike after just a few lessons from prospector Gabby Hayes on how to find gold. This was Gabby Hayes's farewell feature film part. It would have been better had he gone out in a good western and in fact he had done a couple of better ones with Randolph Scott before this.I will say this, though no Caribou made any appearance in the film, this is one of the few Canadian locale films from the past that did NOT have any Mounties. But if I were you unless you are a big fan of Randolph Scott or Gabby Hayes, take the next detour off The Cariboo Trail.