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Show Technicolor Movie "Saskatchewan" Now Playing At Grove Theatre Bigness is the keynote of "Saskatchewan," "Sas-katchewan," the spectacular Universal-International Technicolor adventure which opened yesterday at the Grove Theatre with Alan Ladd and Shelley Winters in co-starring co-starring roles. There is bigness in scope the historic campaign by the Royal Canadian Northwest Mounted Police to prevent the American Sioux and the Canadian Cree Indian nations from over running the Dominion; bigness in action it has been many a season since such vast hordes of Indians were massed for battle sequences; and above all, bigness in the colorful color-ful grandeur of the Canadian Roc- kies against which the adventure ! is set and where the filming of I "Saskatchewan" was done in its entirety. Woven against the sweep of events, ev-ents, which start when Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, triumphant from their conquest of Custer, lead their hordes into Canada, is the conflict involving Alan Ladd, a Mountie who was raised among the Indians, Shelley Winters, a fugitive fu-gitive from the long arm of the American law, Robert Douglas, the martinet commandant of the Northwest Mounted Police post, J. Carrol Naish, a French-Canadian guide, and Hugh O'Brian, a sadistic sadis-tic American marshal. . The action is massed and moves at a clip amazing for scenes of such size as the Mounties' abandonment aband-onment of their fort, the great war-or-peace powwow between the Sioux and Gees, the ambush of the Mounties and the wild wind-up when the routed Sioux are chased back across the border. Alan Ladd is at his reckless best in "Saskatchewan," with especially especial-ly high points coming in the scenes where he defies Douglas and rebels re-bels against the latter's bad military mil-itary judgment and when he forces for-ces a showdown with O'Brian over the safety and affection of Miss Winters. Shelley Winters, as hoydenish as audiences have ever seen her, manages to give her role welcome touches of humor when she is not busy fending off unwanted admirers. ad-mirers. The excellence of the supporting cast has resulted in several fine performances by Douglas, Naish, O'Brian, and by Jay Silverheels, as Laddls Indian chum from childhood. child-hood. The constant action and overall size of the movement are the touches of that outdoor-action master, Raoul Walsh, who directed this Aaron Rosenburg production. Adventure-lovers of all ages will find "Saskatchewan" exceptionally entertaining. |