It's amusing that W. S. Van Dyke is best known for his Thin Man series of the thirties-films in which people hardly get out of bed let alone into the open air-when his natural bent was for location shooting in the great outdoors. Two years before he took over for Flaherty directing White Shadows of the South Seas, MGM sent Van Dyke to the forests of Canada to shoot two pictures in succession, War Paint (1926) and Winners of the Wilderness. His star in both was the U.S. Cavalry officer turned MGM cowboy, Tim McCoy. Winners of the Wilderness deals with the French and Indian Wars and a young officer in Braddock's army who lusts after the French commander's daughter (Joan Crawford). They take turns taking each other prisoner. The film is still cited for the realism and authenticity of its historical detail and battle scenes.