This superbly conditioned "other ranks" tunic was produced by Western Costume Company of Hollywood, California and used in the filming of the 1940 Paramount Pictures/Cecil B. DeMille production of North West Mounted Police which starred Gary Cooper, Preston Foster, Paulette Goddard, Robert Preston and Madeleine Carroll. This specific tunic was worn by actor Jack Luden who played Constable Douglas.
Several styles of tunic were worn by the actors who portrayed members of Canada's storied North West Mounted police in the film. Senior NCOs such as Sergeant Jim Brett portrayed by Preston Foster wore similar tunics but which featured twisted gold shoulder cords instead of the narrow shoulder straps as in the example.
As was the case with most costumes produced by Western Costume Company, these tunics were reused in many other films including the 1961Twentieth Century Fox production of The Canadians.
Left: Jack Luden (1902-1951) had a career as an up-and-coming leading man in the 1930s having been classmates at the Paramount Studios acting school with Thelma Todd and Charles 'Buddy' Rogers. Impulsive to a fault his promising careers was cut short after he became addicted to heroin. He found himself relegated to supporting roles and low budget productions (his portrayal of Constable Douglas in North West Mounted Police went uncredited in the film). His star continued to fade as he turned to petty crime and drug dealing to support his habit. He died in 1951 at the age of 49 of a
heart attack while serving a sentence for check forgery at California's notorious San Quentin State Penitentiary. Interestingly his portrayal of Constable Douglas in North West Mounted Police was not his first as a 'Mountie'. He also played the part in a small role in the classic 1939 Shirley Temple film Susannah of the Mounties.
Above: As was typical in Western Costume Company's products of the time, real Canadian General Service buttons were used on these tunics. Even though details such as this would probably never be seen by the
viewing public, their inclusion illustrates that no expense was sparred during the filming of
A-List productions.
Above: Once again illustrating the extremely high quality of these film tunics, the inside features a full quilted linen lining of the tunic's body and sleeves fully lined in satin. The tunic itself is made from military uniform quality wool fabric.
Above: The Western Costume Company label named to actor Jack Luden who portrayed Constable Douglas in North West Mounted Police.
Above: A screen cap from North West Mounted Police showing men wearing tunics identical to the featured example.
Above: Detail from a production still from the 1961 film The Canadians showing the reuse of the North West Mounted Police costumes.