Monday, July 1, 2013

Canadian Steele

2013 is the 140th anniversary of Canada's national police force - The Royal Canadian Mounted Police.  Canada Day seems to me a fitting time to pay tribute to one of Canada's most well known symbols.

 Is there any more iconic figure of a Canadian than a mountie? Dressed in bright red, mounted on a horse, upholding  justice in the wild frontier.... it's enough to make a fan girl's heart go aflutter!

"When I'm calling you-oo-hoo-hoo-oo-oo-oo!"
Nelson Eddy and Jeannette MacDonald in Rose-Marie (1936)
Listen to Jeannette MacDonald sing!
An even more over-the-top version of this movie was made in 1954 
starring Howard Keel as Sgt. Bruce of the Mounties and Ann Blythe as Rose Marie.

I think that lady is laying across his big brass bed!

Who can forget Paul Gross as a Mountie in the television show Due South (1994-99)?

The Mountie Song /by the Arrogant Worms
has been nicely illustrated by clips from Due South
video created by Leony331


And a sillier mountie was never born than Duddly Do-Right!
Shown here with his commanding officer Inspector Fenwick


The problem with all these versions of Mounties is that they are all extreme caricatures of what a real mountie is supposed to be.

For a true-life example there is none better than Sam Steele, the unsung hero of the Klondike!
Here he is at Fort MacLeod, Alberta with his wife Marie Elizabeth Harwood.
Bruce Peel Special Collections Library, University of Alberta (2008.1.1.5.1.1)
A series of  commercials to honour special moments in Canadian history, called Heritage Minutes were broadcast on CBC several years ago.  Here is the one about Sam Steele.


A simple commercial is not enough to tell how special this man truly was.
Apparently there is a movie in the works, but not much has been heard about it for several years.

Might I suggest a certain actor for the main role?

He is extremely heroic


 and looks great on a horse.


But perhaps we need to see him with a moustache?

This graphic is my very untalented contribution.

 Also I have dressed him as a mountie once or twice before.
This graphic was shared with me awhile ago by a very talented friend!


7 comments:

Kathie said...

Loved Due South! Let's have the mountie movie with Richard Armitage and Paul Gross. And it was 1994 to 1997, I was concerned for a minute that maybe you got a couple of extra years in Canada that we did not get to see here. Thanks for the mountie lesson.

Phylly3 said...

Maybe we did! The show was cancelled once or twice and switched networks too. I didn't watch it faithfully so I can only rely on the information I gleaned from Wikipedia and IMDb which both agree that it lasted until 1999.

Servetus said...

Thanks for the face in hole LOL! Hope you had a Happy Canada Day!

Phylly3 said...

Thanks Servetus. I certainly did have a lot of fun all weekend with friends and family - plus the weather was wonderful!

Traxy said...

Oh nooo, not with a moustache! Although he would look great in a Mountie uniform ... :)

"Due South" was a good show, but I never saw that much of it, unfortunately.

Phylly3 said...

@Traxy - Awww! You really don't like the 'stache? I've gotta admit I like a nice moustache (on a man). :)
My husband has one and I won't let me get rid of it.

Phylly3 said...

Him! I meant I won't let HIM get rid of it! Sheesh... someone could probably analyse that little slip of the finger.