MartinHafer "Susannah of the Mounties" begins with a group of Canadian Mounted Police (the 'Mounties') coming upon some wagons that were attacked by the Natives. All the settlers, aside from a child (Shirley Temple as the title character), have been killed and the girl is taken back to the fort to live. She is taken in by a handsome young officer (Randolph Scott) and she soon adjusts to camp life.Because of this and other attacks, the leader of the Mounties calls a meeting with the local Chief. The two swear to end the violence and as a sign of his integrity, the Chief sends his young son to live with the white folks. Soon, he and Susannah are at odds with each other. BUT, because she is so gosh-darn spunky and sweet, soon she and the boy become best friends. However, a small group of evil renegade natives are bent on stoking the fires of war. Can resourceful little Susannah bring everyone together? Considering how many times she hit the peace pipe with her new friend, it's a good bet she can.The film gets some credit for having a tribe of actual Indians play the natives....with a few obvious exceptions. The chief and the leader of the renegades are BOTH played by white guys painted up to look like natives. Why did Hollywood always insist in this era in giving all the major roles for most every ethnic group to white folks?! This is especially silly with the chief-- a guy by the name of Maurice Moscovitch! However, Shirley's acting is great (as usual) and the film is never boring. Overall, a pretty good family film--even if it isn't 100% politically correct!

lynn-pickell As always with any movie Shirley was in, she did a brilliant job.Her lines were good, not missing any, and her dance routines were excellent as always. I have seen her perform with the best of the best, and she stands right out as being very professional. She is a child actress that never let success go to her head. She always comes off as being sweet and caring and in my opinion never once got arrogant even though she made it big. you can see the sincereness that she had when portraying Susannah and in every other roll she portrayed. There will never be another actress who will even come close to her talents and spirit. She is a once in a lifetime person.

ccthemovieman-1 Well, "all good things come to an end," or "nothing lasts forever." One of those clichés can pertain to this film which, sadly,signaled the end of Shirley Temple's career as the cute kid America and the world fell in love with during the 1930s. Her films that were so successful during this decade that she was number one at the box office for several years. This movie did not do well at the box office and certainly is not a memorable film.One reason it wasn't appealing was that Shirley only sang one quick number (a waltz). That's it - one song! There was no dancing, nothing up-tempo to perk up the audience.....zilch!The story is a Canadian Mounted Police/railroad one with good and bad Indians thrown in. The two main bad men, a railroad guy and an Indian, don't have big roles so most of the people in the film are good guys. Randolph Scott and Margaret Lockwood are appealing leads.I just found the story too bland, too flat....just nothing to get excited about or warrant giving a second look. Most people who saw it at the theater seemed to agree. Her "era" had come to an end.

Neil Doyle Shirley's box-office appeal was on the wane by the time Fox put her in SUSANNAH OF THE MOUNTIES and obviously they were aware of this when they decided not to shoot this one in technicolor. Not sure, but I recall seeing a sepia tone version of this at a kiddie matinée revival years ago. However, all TV showings are in standard B&W.Once again, Shirley starts the story as an orphan when Indians kill her parents and she's rescued by none other than Randolph Scott, a handsome mountie who, with his sweetheart (Margaret Lockwood), takes Shirley under his wing. What happens next is a predictable yarn that doesn't require much from any of the participants, especially Shirley, who neither sings nor dances, except for a brief (and charming) moment when she teaches a dance step to the mountie. And naturally, when the plot calls for her to rescue Scott (captured by nasty Indians), she becomes the little diplomat who saves the day.Shirley and Scott worked together before in REBECCA OF SUNNYBROOK FARM and it's nice to see them paired again.But the story is strictly formula for the "little orphan girl" theme that writers always came up with for Temple, and the feeble attempts at comedy relief are so obvious as to be unfunny. The script is a tedious thing and thankfully the weak romantic angle between Scott and Lockwood is kept to a minimum to let Temple have the spotlight.At eleven or so, and just a bit chubby, she still has the dimpled charm that made her famous but has no opportunity to shine the way she did in her earlier films. Victor Jory shows some menace as an Indian, but none of the skirmishes seem very authentic. The humorous moments are no more than sad attempts at humor at the expense of native American Indians.Summing up: One of Shirley's weaker vehicles, enjoyable only for die-hard Temple fans. Fortunately for Shirley, she still had THE LITTLE PRINCESS in release that same year.