When Nelson Eddy sang Rudolf Friml songs to win the heart of Jeanette MacDonald in Rose Marie he forever got his signature role as the singing Mountie. In his nightclub act toward the end of his life Eddy would come out in tuxedo and Mountie hat.
Grand National Pictures decided a singing Mountie series was apparently what they needed and they hired James Newill, a good operatic baritone, but a guy whose acting skills made Nelson look like Spencer Tracy. But he looked good in a Mountie uniform and sat the saddle well.
In the first film of the series Renfrew Of The Royal Mounted, there are certain elements similar to Rose Marie. There's an American counterfeiting outfit operating in the Canadian woods and they have a really ingenious way of smuggling their bogus currency into the USA. Won't reveal it, but the title gives some clues.
Anyway a Mountie is murdered and that makes it personal for the RCMP and Renfrew. Also an American engraver just released from prison is forced to work with the gang under threats of killing his daughter who is played by Carol Hughes.
Newill and Hughes aren't exactly MacDonald and Eddy mainly because she sings not a note. And the songs Newill sings aren't top drawer material like the score from Rose Marie.
But the series was shot on location at Big Bear Lake so that makes it a cut above most B studio series of the time. And the story isn't a bad one.
Grand National Pictures decided a singing Mountie series was apparently what they needed and they hired James Newill, a good operatic baritone, but a guy whose acting skills made Nelson look like Spencer Tracy. But he looked good in a Mountie uniform and sat the saddle well.
In the first film of the series Renfrew Of The Royal Mounted, there are certain elements similar to Rose Marie. There's an American counterfeiting outfit operating in the Canadian woods and they have a really ingenious way of smuggling their bogus currency into the USA. Won't reveal it, but the title gives some clues.
Anyway a Mountie is murdered and that makes it personal for the RCMP and Renfrew. Also an American engraver just released from prison is forced to work with the gang under threats of killing his daughter who is played by Carol Hughes.
Newill and Hughes aren't exactly MacDonald and Eddy mainly because she sings not a note. And the songs Newill sings aren't top drawer material like the score from Rose Marie.
But the series was shot on location at Big Bear Lake so that makes it a cut above most B studio series of the time. And the story isn't a bad one.