Saskatchewan (titled O'Rourke of the Royal Mounted in the UK) is a 1954 American Northern adventure film directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Alan Ladd, Shelley Winters and J Carrol Naish.
Thomas O'Rourke was orphaned as a child and raised by the peaceful Cree tribe. Now a member of the Mounted Police, he is a blood brother of Cajou. Together they stumble across Grace Markey, the only survivor of an attack on a wagon convoy by the aggressive American Sioux tribe. Empowered by their recent stunning victory over General Custer, the Sioux are planning to expand their influence northwards.
O'Rourke clashes with his new stuffy commander Benton, whose hard-nosed approach to the Cree creates an opening for the Sioux to bait the Cree into a warmongering alliance. Meanwhile U.S. Marshal Carl Smith arrives to arrest Grace, who is accused of killing her lover, who happened to be Smith's brother. With help from good-natured scout Batouche, O'Rourke has to figure out a way to avoid a bloodbath and broker peace when all around him are agitating for a fight.
Tropes:
- And Now You Must Marry Me: Stalker with a Crush Carl Smith offers Grace Markey a choice: wither run off with him and get married, or be returned to Montana to be hanged.
- Army Scout: O'Rourke's strongest ally is Batouche, the good-nature French-Canadian scout who is married to a Cree woman and has an ever increasing tribe of children.
- Bait-and-Switch Gunshot: Smith draws a gun and is about to shoot O'Rourke. There is a gunshot and Smith falls over, having been shot by Benton.
- Canadian Western
- The Cavalry: The situation of the Mounties is critical as they are trapped and surrounded by the Sioux. When the Mounties are feeling desperate because many of their comrades are dead or wounded, O'Rourke and the Cree come charging to the rescue of the trapped Mounties.
- Clothing Combat: O'Rourke uses his hat to swat aside Grace's gun before disarming her.
- Detective Mole: U.S. Marshal Carl Smith travels to Canada to arrest Grace Markey for the murder of his brother. Smith later confesses that he was actually the one who killed his brother.
- It Works Better with Bullets: When O'Rourke leads the mutiny against Benson, Benson pulls his revolver on him. O'Rourke walks steadily towards Benson, who pulls the trigger only for the hammer to fall on an empty chamber. After he has taken the gun off Benson, O'Rourke tells Batouche that he knew Benson had fired all six shots during the Sioux attack and was gambling he hadn't had time to reload.
- The Mutiny: The Mounties at Fort Saskatchewan are ordered by higher authorities to go to Fort Walsh which is located near the border. During the trip to Fort Walsh, Inspector Benton orders the sergeant to arrest O'Rourke for refusing to carry out his order. The sergeant refused to follow his arrest order and the rest of the men follow suit, choosing to side with O'Rourke. This angers Benton who tells the men he will have all of them court-martialed when they reach Fort Walsh.
- The Neidermeyer: Inspector Benton, who is nicknamed 'Spit and Polish' by his subordinates. His insistence on doing things by the book and following orders exactly threatens to get all the men killed on the march to Fort Walsh and forces O'Rourke to stage The Mutiny.
- One-Word Title
- The Place
- Powder Trail: While being pursued by the Sioux, O'Rourke stacks up the powder barrels the regiment were carrying and runs a powder trail to them. He ignites the powder trail with a pistol shot and the barrels explode just as the first Sioux reach them, deterring pursuit.
- Raised by Natives: Thomas O'Rourke was orphaned as a child and raised by the peaceful Cree tribe.
- Scenery Porn: Shooting took place in Banff National Park in Alberta not far from the headwaters of the Saskatchewan River and makes good use of the spectacular scenery of the Rockies.
- Stalker with a Crush: U.S. Marshal Carl Smith pursues Grace Markey to Canada to arrest her and bring her back to Montana to be hanged. It is later revealed that he committed the murder Grace is accused of; murdering his own brother in order to have her for himself. He offers her the alternative of running away with him and marrying him or being returned to Montana to hang.
- U.S. Marshal: US Marshal Carl Smith arrives at Fort Saskatchewan to arrest Grace for the murder of his brother and immediately forms an enmity with O'Rourke.