Corporal Rod Webb and his faithful dog Chinook were the major characters in a film series made by the American studio Monogram Pictures between 1949 and 1954. Webb was played by the actor Kirby Grant in eight films, while in two others Grant played the almost identical characters Bob McDonald (in Trail of the Yukon) and Rod McDonald (in Snow Dog), accompanied as usual by Chinook.
Synopsis Corporal Webb of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police enjoyed a series of adventures tracking down criminals in the Yukon and the Northwest Territories. Chinook was his white German Shepherd companion who, in spite of his name, was not the Chinook breed of sled dog.Coda, W. Lee, More Magnificent Mountain Movies, pages 172-173, Sunstroke Media, 2006
It was claimed that the series was based on the Northlands novels of James Oliver Curwood,Drew, Bernard. Motion Picture Series and Sequels: A Reference Guide, page 225, Routledge, 2013 but little more than the names of Curwood's stories were used.Brooker, John, The Happiest Trails, page 413, Lulu, 2017
The movie series is part of the Northern genre of popular culture, and is similar to the radio series Challenge of the Yukon, and to the later television series Sergeant Preston of the Yukon.Harmon, Jim, Radio Mystery and Adventure, page 192, McFarland, Inc., 2011
Films Trail of the Yukon (1949) (Mountie's name is Bob McDonaldMountie Rob Webb Films 1 - 5) The Wolf Hunters (1949) Snow Dog (1950) (Mountie's name is Rod McDonald) Call of the Klondike (1950) Northwest Territory (1951) Yukon Manhunt (1951) Yukon Gold (1952) Fangs of the Arctic (1953) Northern Patrol (1953) Yukon Vengeance (1954)
Further reading Hollywood's Canada: The Americanization of Our National Image by Pierre Berton, McClelland and Stewart (1975) The Reel Cowboy: Essays on the Myth in Movies and Literature by Buck Rainey, McFarland & Co (1996) Canada and Canadians in Feature Films: A Filmography, 1928-1990 by Canadian Film Project (1996) Western Film Series of the Sound Era by Michael R. Pitts, McFarland & Co (2009) The Happiest Trails by John Brooker, Lulu (2017)
References
Bibliography Drew, Bernard. Motion Picture Series and Sequels: A Reference Guide. Routledge, 2013.