Policing the Plains

The film depicted episodes from the first fifty years of the force's existence, including: the Cypress Hills Massacre; the force's creation and March West; its relations with First Nations peoples on the prairies; the founding of Fort Macleod; the pursuit of whisky traders; the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway; the Canadian sojourn of Sitting Bull and his followers; the Klondike Gold Rush; and modern police methods in the 1920s.[3][4]

The cast members were almost all non-professionals; many were recruited more for their ability to ride and handle horses convincingly, rather than for any noteworthy acting ability. Leading parts were played by Alfred Crump, Jack Downing [a.k.a. Jack Boyd], Joe Fleiger, Dorothy Fowler, James G. Harrison, Donald Hayes, Senior Heaton, Margaret Lougheed, Norman Randall, and Col. T. A. Wroughton.[3] In addition, many members of the Blood First Nation appeared in crowd and camp scenes, wearing traditional dress and riding their own horses.[5]

In 1924, Arthur D. Kean purchased the rights to R. G. MacBeth's Policing the Plains for $5,000 (equivalent to $78,667 in 2021). He planned for a six-reel film with a budget of $40,000, but production difficulties increased the budget to over $125,000 as an eight-reel film.[6] Kean was the screenwriter, producer, director, and cinematographer, and also handled publicity and some of the fund-raising. The film was in production for a prolonged period—nearly three and half years—and ran into a host of financial, logistical, and technical difficulties.[7]

The film was shot almost entirely on location, at Green Lake, Vancouver and Victoria (British Columbia); Macleod, Standoff, Banff, and Buffalo National Park, near Wainwright (Alberta); Amulet (Saskatchewan); Lower Fort Garry (Manitoba); and Toronto (Ontario). Much of the outdoor action was filmed on the Blood Indian Reserve near Macleod. Interior scenes were later shot in Trenton, Ontario, at the studios of the Ontario Motion Picture Bureau.[7]

The film was shown at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto, Ontario, from December 19 to 24, 1927. Kean was unable to secure further exhibition and distribution for the picture, and eventually it was lost. Leaving the film industry after the film's failure, Kean moved to the Toronto area, where he became a well-known journalist, broadcaster, photographer, and horse trainer.[8][9] The film received mixed reviews. The Toronto Globe reviewer was enthusiastic, calling the film "a triumph for Canadian enterprise." The Daily Star praised its authenticity, but criticized its lack of "dramatic technique."[10]

Policing the Plains is considered to be a lost film. In 1937, the negative was in an Ontario government film vault, but there is no evidence of its whereabouts since then.[10] The A. D. Kean fonds (PR- 0755) at the BC Archives/Royal BC Museum includes more than a hundred production stills from the film, as well as some of the production paperwork.

• Gasher, Mike (2002). Hollywood North: The Feature Film Industry in British Columbia. University of British Columbia Press.