Frontier Rangers [1959] [DVD]

Frontier Rangers is a 1959 film composed of episodes of the TV series Northwest Passage (1959). Probably never released before because it is a little bit racist towards the "injuns".

Frontier Rangers doesn't usually show up in the feature-film credits of director Jacques Tourneur for a very good reason: It really isn't a feature film at all. Rather, it is a pastiche of three episodes from the 1958 TV series Northwest Passage, stitched together as a feature and released theatrically in Europe. Produced by Adrian Samish and largely written by Gerald Drayson Adams, the series was based on the 1940 film of the same name, which in turn was inspired by the best-selling book by Kenneth Roberts. Keith Larsen stars as Major Robert Rogers, whose "Rangers" search tirelessly for an inland route that will permit boat travel through 18th century North America. Foremost among the troops is Rogers' old pal, Indian fighter Hunk Marriner, played by Buddy Ebsen. Guest stars in Frontier Rangers include Lisa Gaye and Angie Dickinson. The patchwork plotline is secondary to the unusually high (for a TV series) violence content. MGM released two additional ersatz Northwest Passage features for European consumption in 1959: Fury River and Mission of Danger.