During the 1940s the Hal Roach Studios more or less invented
the “streamliners,” as special class of theatrical film releases. They were longer than shorts (either
animated or live-action), but not exactly feature-length … usually running
three or four reels.
In the immediate aftermath of World War II, Robert Lippert
formed Screen Guild Productions and churned out his own line of “streamliners”
… action films that ran about 40 minutes each and proved to be nice fillers for
an evening at the movies in the late 1940s (pre-television).
VCI Entertainment announced this past week that they have
restored four these “streamliners” for release on DVD this coming Aug. 4 as the
James
Oliver Curwood’s Royal Canadian Mounted Police: 4 Movie Collection.
Based on the short stories and novels of early 20th
Century best-selling writer and outdoorsman, James Oliver Curwood, the four
“steamliners” that VCI Entertainment has assembled for this collection all star
Russell Hayden in various roles as a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted
Police.
Included in the mix are 'Neath Canadian Skies (1946, with
Inez Cooper and Douglas Fowley), North of the Border (also 1946, Lyle
Talbot joins Inez Cooper and Douglas Fowley, who co-star as different
characters but in the same basic roles), Trail of the Mounties (1947, with
Jennifer Holt) and Where the North Begins (1947, Jennifer Holt is joined by Tristram
Coffin).
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