Singing Mountie

Very, very pretty.

On thru' the hail
Like a pack of angry wolves on the trail,
(We are after you) dead or alive
We are out to get you dead or alive
(And we'll get you soon.)

If you're the one
Better run, better run away
Son you are done
Throw your gun, throw your gun away
Here come the Mounties to get the man they're after now.

— Rose Marie, "The Mounties"

The scene is somewhere in the Canadian North. With a backdrop of tall pine trees and majestic mountains, a dashing officer of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, resplendent in his Stetson and Scarlet Serge, is sharing a private moment in the great outdoors with his lady love. Giving each other lovebird looks, they croon a sentimental duet about their affection for each other. Alternatively, the Mountie, or a group of them, will randomly break into a rousing chorus, extolling in song the grandeur of their nation or the exploits of their outfit.

This trope traces its origins to the 1924 Broadway operetta Rose Marie, set in the Canadian Rockies and featuring Mounties, which has received three film adaptations (in 1928, 1936 and 1954), the most iconic one being the 1936 version, which starred Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy. And it is just about the only work that plays the trope completely straight. The sentimental singing style that characterizes the aforementioned duo was quite typical for Hollywood at the time, but today comes across as rather melodramatic. Generally, when singing Mounties occur in any more recent works, it will be a parody of the musical, or at any rate will be Played for Laughs.

A subtrope of the Canadian Western.

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Examples:

Advertising

• This commercial for the Ocean Spray Cran-Apple drink features a Mountie and his lady who argue about whether the drink is sweet or tart, before agreeing that it is both - in song.
• Parodied in this advert for Labatts lager starring Tony Slattery who is sneaking swigs from a can while serenading his lady.

Films — Live-Action

• The 1999 live-action version of Dudley Do-Right shows Dudley and Nell singing the Genre Savvy duet "When I'm Calling You."
• As mentioned in the description and under "Theatre", the Broadway musical Rose Marie, where the trope in all likelihood originated, was filmed three times, in 1928 (silent), 1936 and 1954. The best-known version, the 1936 one, did a lot to bring the idea of the singing Mountie into the collective consciousness; however, it also changed the original plot and shifted the title character's love interest from Jim - a wanted miner pursued by the Mountie to the Mountie himself. The 1954 version, filmed in color in Cinemascope, significantly reworked the musical again, introducing a love triangle between a now teen-aged Rose Marie, the Mountie (whose ward she is), and the trapper Jim.
• The 1937 film Renfrew Of The Royal Mounted features the title character and his colleagues singing musical numbers. Given that this was released in the year after the best-known version of Rose Marie, this is still a work where the trope is not Played for Laughs.
• In Smokey and the Bandit 2, Buford T. Justice calls in two of his cousins to help take down the Bandit. One of them is a Canadian Mountie who sings through all of his scenes.

Live-Action TV

• In the Barney & Friends home video "What a World We Share", Barney and the kids go to Canada, where they meet Monty the Mountie. Monty sings two songs with them, one about being cold and one about silly sounds.
• Constable Benton Fraser of Due South sings multiple times throughout the series, and on one occasion a train car full of his fellow Mounties joins in.
• F Troop: An entire episode, "The Singing Mountie", was devoted to such a character, RCMP "Sgt. Ramsden", played by Paul Lynde. Ramsden, who turns out to be an impostor, likes to communicate through song, which turns out to be rather annoying. This is a glaring anachronism, as the series takes place from 1865 to about 1867, when Canada was only in the process of being created (Confederation taking place on July 1, 1867), did not yet include the Northwest Territories, and the North West (not yet Royal Canadian) Mounted Police was still not a thing, being created in 1873.
• Monty Python's Flying Circus: A chorus of Mounties accompanies the lumberjack in the "Lumberjack Song". But when his lyrics reveal an effeminate side to him and he outs himself as a transvestite, they grow fed up, break off the singing, and leave, as does the lumberjack's girlfriend.

Music

• "Indian Love Call" from Rose Marie is parodied in this Hollywood medley by Bing Crosby and Nanette Fabray.
• "The Mountie Song" by The Arrogant Worms is a Mountie who wants to do actual police work, but is stuck pulling ceremonial duties or answering inane questions from stupid tourists.

Puppet Shows

• The Muppet Show: In this segment, Cloris Leachman sings a medley of songs from operettas with a group of pig Mounties.
• Sesame Street: The song "When I'm Calling U" is a direct parody of the musical, with Mountie "Nelson" and young maiden "Jeanette" singing a love duet about words that start with the letter U. As is typical in this show, there is a big U in the foreground. At the very end of the song, it turns around to reveal a face and says: "Unbelievable!"

Theatre

• Rose Marie: The 1924 musical is probably the Ur-Example and the second filmed version, the well-known 1936 Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy feature, in particular the melodramatic duet "Indian Love Call", is the Trope Codifier. The third and thus far final film version, released in 1954, retooled the story and filmed it in believable-looking sets amidst the Canadian wilderness.
• Little Mary Sunshine is a 1959 musical that is an Affectionate Parody of classic operettas and musicals, in particular "Rose Marie". It is set in the Colorado rockies, and thus features a troop of "forest rangers", who however are dressed in uniforms more or less like those of the RCMP. By the end of the show, several rangers are paired off with a girl and there is even a song called "Colorado Love Call."

Western Animation

• The Loud House: In the special episode "Schooled!," a Canadian border guard sings to Lincoln about all the parts of Canadian daily life, such as moose, maple syrup, beavers, and hockey.
• The Ren & Stimpy Show: Mercilessly parodied in "The Royal Canadian Kilted Yaksmen". Ren and Stimpy are members of the aforementioned outfit and are on a suicide mission somewhere in the Canadian wilderness. They have been ravaged by the elements and the force of nature, and Ren can't take it anymore. Stimpy attempts to animate him by having them sing "the Royal Anthem of the Kilted Yaksmen". On the repeat, their yak mounts and the creatures of the wilderness around them join in. There is a strong dissonance between the rousing tone of the singing and the cynical lyrics, sung to the tune of "My Country 'Tis of Thee":
  Our country reeks of trees!
  Our yaks are really large.
  And they smell like rotting beef carcasses.
  And we have to clean up after them
  And our saddle sores are the best
  We proudly wear womens' clothing
  And searing sand blows up our skirts
  And the buzzards, they soar overhead
  And poisonous snakes will devour us whole
  Our bones will bleach in the sun
  And we will probably go to "BURP!" [hell]
  And that is our great reward
  For being the-uh roy-oy-al Canadian Kilted Yaksmen
• Tom & Jerry Kids: In the Droopy and Dripple short "Pooches in Peril," the father-son dog duo are RCMP officers. Wherever they go, they sing a theme song that includes the chorus "Mounties! The Mounties! Rah, rah, rah!"

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