FRONTIER RANGERS (1959)

If this smells to you like an early television series, your sensory perception is above average. Not much to add here. Directed by Jacques Tourneur with a screenplay by Gerald Adams, it was compiled from three edited episodes of the series “Northwest Passage” distributed by MGM, not Disney. These compilations make the “movie” highly episodic finding yourself off-subject at least three times. Much of Raoul Kraushaar's background music is hacked together with some unusual results. A child-like opening theme song sets the stage for kids in boomer land. As a television series, however, I can imagine a twelve-year-old looking forward to the next week's episode. Assuming your parents approved. Yet some of the action can be a bloody affair as Indians succumb to a well-placed hatchet in the chest or head. A definitive effect that is well done...or well-placed. The television series was broadcast in black and white but the film was shown in Metrocolor. For this and perhaps other reasons, MGM elected to place a "Not Suitable for Children" warning on some posters. Then again, this may have been added simply to increase ticket sales.

Mostly shot under studio lights on a sound stage, it is made more obvious by studio-enhanced vocals and obvious stuntmen stepping in for Keith Larson (handsome hero hatchet king) or sidekick Buddy Ebsen (above) for some levity. Don Burnett comes in a distant third to comprise the trio. On the positive side, the actors do their best to sell the story. There are some distant outdoor scenes, more than likely reused from a feature film, making it all look rather authentic.