La Loi du Nord

026437 / 16 / FR / 1939 / Feyder, Jacques / drama

Loi du Nord, La / La Piste du Nord / The Law of the North / Pako pohjoiseen. PC: Filmos / Ciné Alliance. P: Gregor Rabinovitch, Roland Tual, Adolphe Osso. D: Jacques Feyder. CAST: Michèle Morgan, Pierre Richard-Willm, Charles Vanel, Jacques Terrane. 101’. B&w. Safety print from La Cinémathèque Francaise with a mostly brilliant image and a damaged soundtrack. Fine earphone translation by Leena Talvio. Viewed at SEA, Cinema Orion, Helsinki, Thursday, 19 September 1997. *** An American millionaire (Richard-Willm) kills his wife’s lover and flees to the Frozen North with his secretary (Morgan). They are chased by a Canadian Mountie (Vanel). The exposition is boring, but the Jack London style adventure in the snowy wilderness is effective. It is also fun to see Morgan visit an Indian sauna. The scenes with Morgan are shot with reverence worthy of Garbo, whose director Feyder had been. Also Vanel is excellent. Swedish Lapland passes for Canada in the production. The film is little known. Its release was delayed by the Occupation; the producer was non-Aryan, and there was the problem of deference towards the ”Northern Law” embodied in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. While no masterpiece, the film is different and memorable.