FIGHTING MAD (director: Sam Newfield; screenwriter: George Rosener/John Rathmell; cinematographer: Jack Greenhalgh; editor: Roy Luby; music: Jack Brooks; cast: Warner Richmond (Trigger), Milburn Stone (Cardigan), Ted Adams (Leon), James Newill (Sgt. Renfrew), Sally Blane (Ann Fenwick), Dave O’Brien (Constable Kelly), Benny Rubin (Benny), Walter Long (Frenchy), Chief Thunder Cloud (Wolf); Runtime: 54; MPAA Rating: NR; producer: Phil Krasne; Mill Creek Entertainment; 1939)
“The pic couldn’t be worse, even the singing should lead one to covering their ears.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Dreadful action pic with annoying comic overtones and an absurd story about the Royal Canadian Mounted Police hunting down American bank robbers in the woods. Hack director Sam Newfield(“I Accuse My Parents”/”Dead Men Walk”/”Terror in Tiny Town”) does his usual poor job. It’s written by George RosenerandJohn Rathmell, as if they were brain dead.
A trio of Americans cross by foot the Canadian border after robbing a bank in the States and carrying with them the stolen $100,000 in a suitcase. Trigger (Warner Richmond) and Leon (Ted Adams) have taken Ann Fenwick (Sally Blane) hostage, as she’s an eyewitness. The thugs carjack the car and trailer of Benny (Ben Rubin), a goofy guy who owns the nearby trading post, and lock Ann in the trailer with the money. When the trailer snaps off the car and plunges into a lake, Ann is rescued Sgt. Renfrew (James Newill) and Constable Kelly (Dave O’Brien) of the North West Mounted Police, who were just riding by on horseback while on patrol. When the two robbers report to Cardigan (Milburn Stone), their leader, holed up at Frenchy’s Lodge (Walter Long), he orders Trigger, Leon and Frenchy’s Indian guide, Wolf (Chief Thunder Cloud), to recover the stolen loot. It’s up to the bumbling Mounties to save the day.
The pic couldn’t be worse, even the singing should lead one to covering their ears.
REVIEWED ON 8/23/2013 GRADE: C-
Dennis Schwartz: “Ozus’ World Movie Reviews”
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