But does Johnny Canuck compare to Rick Moranis and Dave
Thomas as Bog and Doug Mackenzie in SCTV's "Great White
North?"
>From: Kevin Burton Smith <
kvnsmith@thrillingdetective.com>
>Reply-To:
rara-avis@icomm.ca
>To:
rara-avis@icomm.ca
>Subject: RARA-AVIS: Re: The OTHER Indian Cops (B.H. -
Before Hillerman)
>Date: Sat, 17 Apr 2004 11:10:11 -0700
>
>Jim wrote:
>
>>In keeping with this months's theme, it's worth
noting
>>that the two things Tony Hillerman is most noted
for
>>are his very effective use of Navajo culture
and
>>traditions in his police procedurals, AND
the
>>extraordinarily effective use of his
rural
>>Southwestern settings....
>>
>> Hillerman, however, was not the first to use
American
>>Indian cops in a Southwestern setting. Here are a
few
>>of the others.
>
>And don't forget the notorious Johnny Canuck, the
"well-known private
>investigator." His turf seems to be the Midwest, not
the Southwest, but
>this turkey's too bad to let pass
unnoticed.
>
>Over the years, Canadians have in turn been greatly
bemused and painfully
>embarrassed at the American media's distorted and
generally cock-eyed view
>of our country (Hell,comedian Rick Mercer's made a
whole career out of it),
>but this one's so bad it's painful, or at least
painfully funny.
>
>The JOHNNY CANUCK series by James Moffat makes those
sappy Nelson
>Eddy/Jeanette MacDonald/Renfrew of the Northwest
Mounted movies look like
>hard-hitting CBC documentaries. The only solace we
poor misunderstood
>Canadians have here is that that , despite the
finger-pointing monicker,
>this dick is apparently all-American.
>
>Get this:
>
>"JOHNNY CANUCK's hot blood is one quarter Sioux
Indian, going back to his
>grandfather, who had fought with Sitting Bull at the
Big Horn. Because he
>liked the white Canadians, he changed his name to
John Canuck -- the usual
>name for a Canadian. His son kept the name, and so
did Johnny...a tough
>resourceful private eye who gets results where others
have failed...
>especially with women."
>
>That's just from the preface. And it only gets better
(or worse, depending
>on your point of view.) In Blue Line Murder, for
example, Johnny is hired
>by the Lakeview Otters, a professional hockey team
(granted, the name's no
>more ridiculous than The Mighty Ducks), to
investigate the murder of their
>star defenseman, Tex "Cowboy" Brandt (Tex is
evidently his real name, but
>"Cowboy" is a nickname). But wouldn't you know it?
Soon Johnny's up to his
>one quarter Sioux Indian neck in neo-Fascists from
the American Freedom
>Front Party.
>
>Johnny appeared in eight paperback originals for
Compact in the
>mid-sixties, and each one's an alternative classic,
100 per cent American
>cheese.
>
>Which, of course, begs the question: who was this guy
Moffat?
>evidently wrote under a slew of pseudonyms (including
Hank Janson), but
>what planet was he from?
>
>--
>
>Kevin Burton Smith
>The Thrilling Detective Web Site/CrimeSeen TV/Movie
Poll
>http://www.thrillingdetective.com
>
>For fun only. Please, no wagering.
>--
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