Northern Pursuit

Corporal Steve Wagner of the RCMP faces a dangerous and personal chess game after a German U-boat lands Nazi saboteurs. He defeats the group’s leader, Colonel Hugo von Keller, who survives only because an avalanche wipes out the rest. Wagner then persuades a fellow officer to report the incident and permits von Keller to recover, triggering a wary, high-stakes tense stand-off between duty and doubt.

Von Keller quickly senses a vulnerability in Wagner: the Canadian officer can speak German and is of German ancestry. He probes Wagner’s views on the war, and for a moment it seems Wagner might be sympathetic to the German cause. Yet the RCMP remain convinced that Wagner could be disloyal, and they dispatch a patrol to bring the two men in. Under the cloud of suspicion, Wagner asks to be discharged from the force, and after his request is granted he is sent to a prisoner-of-war camp. Von Keller, meanwhile, orchestrates an escape for other German soldiers in captivity.

Wagner’s path takes a sharp turn when he is recruited by Ernst Willis, an enemy agent who hires him to act as a wilderness guide. The alliance sets off toward the north by train, with a tense cat-and-mouse dynamic simmering beneath the surface. A pursuing Mountie who closes in on Wagner is killed by Willis, underscoring the mortal stakes of the deception. Wagner is brought to von Keller and is made to convince his captor that he is loyal to Germany and capable of guiding von Keller and his companions through the harsh Canadian wilderness toward a supposed destination that remains shrouded in mystery. Meanwhile, Wagner’s fiancée, Laura McBain, is held as a hostage to secure his loyalty, but the double agent within him begins to work in earnest, sending a message to police headquarters to alert them to the saboteurs’ plans.

As the pursuit tightens, fellow Mountie Jim Austin follows the trail. He is spotted and killed, along with Willis and a native Porter, before the group reaches a mine shaft where bomber components have been secreted. The bomber is assembled with these parts and readied for a mission that would cripple the critical waterway linking the United States and Canada, aiming to disrupt wartime shipping across the Atlantic.

In a dramatic turn, Wagner manages to escape, boards the bomber to shoot the crew, and parachutes to safety as the aircraft crashes beyond reach. Back on solid ground, he carries the burden of a wound sustained during the on-board clash but finds a path to reconciliation. In the end, Wagner and Laura marry, their bond sealed by the peril and paradox of his double life throughout the perilous mission.

Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 11:04